The Death of King Dashrath

When Sumantra returned to Ayodhya with an empty chariot, the whole city wept again. Dashrath asked, ‘What did my Ram say? What did Sita say?’ Sumantra gave him every message. The king's grief grew deeper. He stayed in Kaushalya's palace and repeated Ram's name day and night.

One night Dashrath told Kaushalya about something from his youth. As a young prince he had gone hunting near the Sarayu. In the dark he heard the sound of water being filled and thought an elephant was drinking. He shot a shabdabhedi arrow towards the sound.

But it was not an elephant. It was a young ascetic filling water for his blind, aged parents. Popular tradition calls him Shravan Kumar. As he died, he asked Dashrath to take water to his thirsty parents. Dashrath carried the pot to them and, trembling, told them everything.

Hearing of his son's death, the old father cursed Dashrath: ‘Just as I give up my life in grief for my son, one day you too will die grieving for your son.’ And the old couple gave up their lives right there. Dashrath said, ‘Kaushalya, today that curse is coming true.’

On the sixth night after Ram left, crying ‘Ha Ram, ha Ram’, King Dashrath breathed his last. In the morning the palace was filled with wailing. Bharat and Shatrughna were still in Kekaya. Guru Vasishtha had the king's body preserved in oil and sent swift messengers to bring Bharat home, telling them not to say what had happened.