Kausalya

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This article is about the mother of the Hindu god Rama. For the actress, see Kausalya (actress). For the singer, see Kousalya (singer).

Kausalya
The Birth of rama.jpg
Kausalya give birth Rama.
AffiliationShatrupa
Personal information
ParentsSukaushal (father)
Amritaprabha (mother)
ConsortsSumitra (co-wife)
Kaikeyi(co-wife)
ChildrenRama (son)
Shanta (daughter)

Kausalya was the senior queen consort of Kosala in the Hindu epic Ramayana. Kaushalya was the mother of Lord Rama, the hero of the epic, and the senior wife of Dasharatha, who ruled Kosala from its capital Ayodhya.[1]

In some later accounts, Shanta is described as a daughter, and the eldest child, of Dasharatha. However, in the Bala Kanda of the Ramayana, Valmiki writes of Shanta only as the daughter of Romapada, the king of Anga, who was a friend of Dasharatha.[2] At no point is Shanta's mother named.

Legends[]

Rama meets his mother Kousalya in pooja

Valmiki does not mention the names of Kaushalya's parents, but in the 'Ayodhya Kanda'[3] she is described as Kosalendraduhitā (daughter of the king of Kosala).

Some later text calls her the daughter of the King Sukaushal and Queen Amritaprabha of Dakshina Kosala.[4] At her supposed birthplace, there is a temple dedicated to her called the Mata Kaushalya Temple, which is perhaps the only temple in the world dedicated to Kaushalya.

At the sacrifice performed by Rishyasringa so that Dasharatha might have sons, a divine being presented the king with a golden bowl filled with a payasam prepared by the gods. Dasharatha offered half of that divine food to Kaushalya, a quarter to Sumitra (literally 'half of that which remained'), an eighth to Kaikeyi (again 'half of that which remained'), and then, upon reflection, gave the final eighth to Sumitra again. [5]

Rama leaving for fourteen years of exile from Ayodhya. Rama, his wife, and brother, dressed in the clothes of bark that Kaikeyi has made them put on, ride off in a chariot driven by Sumantra and surrounded by the towns' people. Dasaratha emerges from his palace and goes through the gate of the city surrounded by his queens. Dasaratha and Kausalya according to hurry after the chariot until Rama, unable to bear the sight, has to tell Sumantra to quicken his pace so that they would be left behind. Queen Kaushalya was the incarnation of Dhara (Brahmani), wife of Dronavasu. She received a boon from Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu says - "I will be born as your son in the "Treta Yuga".

She was ceased to be Chief Queen consort of Kosala Empire when her husband died and she became Queen dowager until her son's accession to the throne

During her son's reign in the empire, she was the Queen Mother.

She shared a sisterly relationship with Sumitra and Kaikeyi.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "The Ramayana in Sanskrit: Book 1: Chapter 5".
  2. ^ "The Ramayana in Sanskrit: Book 1: Chapter 8".
  3. ^ "The Ramayana in Sanskrit: Book 2: Chapter 59".
  4. ^ Sukhdev Singh Chib (1977). Punjab. Light & Life. p. 2. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  5. ^ "The Ramayana in Sanskrit: Book 1: Chapter 15".

External links[]

Media related to Kausalya at Wikimedia Commons


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