The ancestral chain Dilipa – Raghu – Aja – Dasharatha – Rama.
King of Kosala with the capital Ayodhya. Son of Aja and Indumati, married with Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra.
Dasharatha and Kausalya are the reborn Kashyapa and Aditi.
With Kausalya he had a daughter, Shanta. She was given to king Romapada and his wife Vershini for adoption. She married sage Rishyasringa.
Being childless for a long time, he had a fire sacrifice performed by Rishyasringa combined with the desire for a heir, Putrakamyeshti. Agni arose from the fire with a bowl of rice pudding in his hands, that should be distributed among his wives.
Kausalya ate half, Sumitra a quarter plus an eighth, Kaikeyi an eighth. After that all wives gave birth to a prince. Kausalya Rama, Kaikeyi Bharata. Sumitra the twins Lakshmana and Shatrugna. Rama and Bharata were of dark, the twins of fair complexion.
Dasharatha’s Wives |
Sons and Daughters in Law | Grandchildren |
Kausalya from Kosala | Rama and Sita | Kusha, Lava |
Kaikeyi from Kekaya | Bharata and Mandavi | Pushkala, Taksha |
Sumitra from Kashi | Lakshmana and Urmila | Angada, Dharmaketu |
Shatrugna and Shrutakirti | Chitraketu, Subahu | |
(There are different versions) |
Sita and Urmila were sisters. Mandavi and Shrutakirti were the daughters of king Janaka’s brother Kushadhvaja und his wife Chandrabhaga.
See also Ramayana