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Sarg 64-Dasharath Dies After Telling the Shaap Story

Dasharath repeatedly remembered the incident and cried for his sons. He said to Kaushalyaa - "I did this Paap in ignorance [still it was a Paap] so I thought to get rid of it. I filled the pitcher with water and arrived at the place where his parents were waiting for him. There I saw the blind and weak couple sitting. There was nobody there to protect them. They were waiting for their son to come.

As they heard the sound of my foot steps, he said - "Son, you are very late. Bring us the water. Because you were late so your mother had some bad ideas about you. Now you come soon, and if you have committed any fault, don't think about it because you are a Tapaswee. You are our eyes, you are our protector. Why don't you speak something?" I trembled and said - "Hey Mahaatmaa I am not your son. I am the king Dasharath and because of my bad Karm I have come to see this sorrow. I came here, at the bank of Sarayoo River, to prey. I heard the sound of filling water in the pitcher. I thought it was an elephant, so I shot a poisonous arrow. Later when I came to the bank, I found a man wounded by my arrow. He died almost immediately. He expressed sorrow about his parents. Your son was killed by my arrow, but only in ignorance. therefore be pleased with me and order me as what should I do."

Because I told everything clearly to Rishi, he did not give me Shaap. It was my mistake. At that time I was standing near Rishi. His eyes were red, he was fiercely angry, and he was crying.

Hearing this his parents said - "Raajaa, Whatever you did was inauspicious. If you did not tell us the truth yourself, your head must have been broken into thousand pieces. If any Kshatriya kills any Vaanprasthee knowingly, then in spite of having control on his Indriyaan, he gets destroyed. If any Rishi is doing Tapasyaa and any Brahm-Gyanee kills him knowingly, his head breaks. Since it was done in ignorance, that is why you are still alive. Now you take us to that place where our son is lying, because we want to see our son once."

I myself took them there. They touched his body and fell on his body and cried - "Son, You are not greeting us today? Who will read us Shaastra and Puraan? Who will bring us Kand, roots, fruits and now I will have to take care of your blind mother too. She was alive only because of your love. Wait for a while, don't go to Yam Raaj yet, go tomorrow with us, because we cannot live without you. We will pray Yam Raaj to pardon our son. He will surely give you to us. He will not allow you to die hit with the weapon."

After that they offered Jalaanjali to their son, and said - "You have killed my son, now you kill me too. Because you have made me sonless, therefore I give you Shaap that you also die in the sorrow of your son. Whatever is our condition now, you will be in worse than this condition." Thus they gave me Shaap and burned themselves in a pyre. I am getting this sorrow because of that only, because Muni's words cannot go lie." And Raajaa Dasharath started crying.

He spoke again - "It is certain that I will lose my life in this sorrow, because I cannot see you. At the time of dying people do not see others, therefore you caress me, and if Raam Himself comes here and accepts kingdom, maybe I can live. Whatever I have done to Raam, I shouldn't have done it. But Raam has gone to forest by my orders. It was worthy of Him to obey me, because no father leaves even his worst son. Now I cannot see you, my memory is also leaving me. I can't have sorrow greater than this that at the time of death I cannot see my dear son Raam. He will return after 14 years. Only He will be fortunate who will see Him." And crying thus Raajaa left his mortal body.

Sarg 65-People Find Dasharath Dead

As the morning broke, people arrived at the palace to pray and to greet Dasharath individually, separately and blessed him in several ways. People waited for Raajaa, but they couldn't see him even after a long wait. Then women who were near Raajaa's bedroom came to wake him up and tried to wake him up but he didn't wake up. The women couldn't feel his pulse, so they were frightened.

Kaushalyaa and Sumitraa were lying unconscious. Seeing the condition of these women got scared and started crying. Hearing their cry Kaushalyaa and Sumitraa gained their consciousness but seeing Raajaa got unconscious again. After that all queens of Raajaa cried. The whole palace was filled with people.

Sarg 66-Kaushalyaa's Vilaap for Dasharath

Kaushalyaa put Raajaa's head in her lap and said to Kaikeyee - "O wicked Kaikeyee, Now you enjoy the kingdom, Raajaa has died. Now your all wishes are fulfilled, now you live happily. My Raam has gone to forest and husband has died, I cannot live any more in such condition. Raajaa sent Raam to forest to keep Kaikeyee's words. Raajaa Janak will also be sad hearing this. Seetaa is not worthy for forest life. When She will hear wild animals' sounds, She will cling to Raam. Raajaa Janak is also old. He also loves Seetaa more than his life, lest he also dies with this news. I will end my life today with Raajaa."

Ministers moved Kaushalyaa from there and kept Raajaa's body in a pot of oil. Guru Vashishth performed some other ceremonies. In the absence of sons, it was not considered proper to perform last rites. At that time all women were crying. The whole city was sad.

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