Raghu: Difference between revisions

The Great Emperor Raghu was a valorous king of the Ikshvaku dynasty. According to the Raghuvamsha, Dilīpa and his queen Sudakshina. His name in Sanskrit means the fast one, deriving from Raghu's chariot driving abilities. So celebrated were the exploits of Raghu, that his dynasty itself came to be known as the Raghuvamsha or the Raghukula after him. The history of his dynasty is elaborated upon by Kalidasa in his Raghuvamsha.

Lineage

A number of Puranas, which include the Vishnu Purana, the Vayu Purana, the Linga Purana, mention Dirghabahu as the son of Dilīpa and Raghu as the son of Dirghabahu. But the Harivamsha, the Brahma Purana and the Shiva Purana mention Raghu as son of Dilīpa and Dirghavahu as his epithet. The lineage described in the Raghuvamsha mention Dilīpa as the father of Raghu. According to most of the Puaranas, as well as Kalidasa, Raghu was succeeded by his son Aja, who was the father of Dasharatha, the father of Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna.

Life

Raghu was a great donor. It is said that no one returned from his palace empty-handed.

Raghu's father Dilīpa was a very pious king, and performed as many as 100 yajnas or sacrificial rituals. Until he did so, only Indra, king of the Gods, had earned that distinction. In a bid to prevent Dilipa from equaling his record, Indra placed many hurdles in the path of the successful completion of the 100th sacrifice, but Raghu was able to prevail upon the great-grandfather of Rama. There are indications that in the classical period, Raghu was a heroic personality of far greater importance than what one would imagine today. The mahakavya (epic) composed by the classical poet Kalidasa on the lives of the ancestors of Rama is entitled Raghuvamsha or the "Dynasty of Raghu". Indeed, Rama himself is known by many appellations (such as Raghava, Raghunandan and Raghukula Nayaka), indicative of his belonging to Raghu.

BiographyKing Raghu as given in the Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa

The life story of the ancient king of Ikshwaku dynasty, who ruled over the Kingdom of Ayodhya some 3,500 years ago, was immortalized in the great epic poem Raghu Vamsa written by Kalidasa, the most famous poet and play-write in Sanskrit literature. In this epic poem Kalidasa has described the important events in the life span of the great king from his birth to death In as many as 525 Slokas(stanzas) right from chapter II to chapter VIII . The content has been divided under the following heads. CONTENTS 1. Birth of Raghu 2. Education and training of Raghu 3. Associate kingship 4. The 100th horse-sacrifice 5. Raghu fights with Indra 6. Coronation of Raghu as the King 7. Conquest of the sub-continent 8. Viswajiti Sacrifice and Squandering of wealth 9. Interaction with a young scholar named Kautsa 10. Decision to invade the capital of Kubera 11. Birth of prince Aja 12. Retirement and the end of King Raghu

I. Birth of Raghu: King Dilipa and his queen Sudakshina did not have any children for a long time in spite of the fact that they had performed 99 Aswamedha Yagnas ( Horse Sacrifices).. One day they went to the hermitage of their family Guru, Sage Vasistha and consulted him regarding their long standing grievance. The sage asked the couple to stay in his ashram for a few days during which time the king would take care of his cow Nandini. The king took the cow daily to the forest and guarded it till sunset against wild animals that may harm the cow. King Dilipa served the cow for 21 days. On the last day while he was watching over the cow something like an illusion was created before his eyes. All of a sudden the cow began to emit pitiful cries as she had perceived a threat to her life. The king looked around and saw a lion running towards the cow. When the lion was about to pounce upon the cow the king stood between the lion and the cow. He asked the lion why he was trying to kill the holy animal. The lion replied that it was his birth right to kill any animal in the forest and feast upon it. He also said that he was an agent of Lord Shiva who had asked him to protect the greenery of the forest and ensure that the herbivorous animals do not come and eat away the green grass and other medicinal plants. The king wanted to protect the cow at any cost. So he told the lion that it could eat him instead of the cow. Saying these words the king closed his eyes expecting the lion to jump upon him. But nothing like that happened. When the king opened his eyes there was no lion. He saw that the cow was looking at him amusedly. At the same instant a bunch of flowers fell on the head of the king from above. The cow was so pleased with him that it asked the king to drink her milk of desire . King Dilipa enjoyed the drink. After sunset the king informed his teacher about the incident. The sage was pleased to learn about the incident and asked the couple to leave his hermitage and go happily to their palace. He assured that a son will be born to the king in due course of time.

                         Within three months news was spread around that the queen has conceived and that the king will be blessed with a son in about six months. There was no limit to the happiness of the citizens of the capital.  The queen gave birth to a baby boy, who was named as Raghu.

2. Education and training of Raghu: The king and the queen took care of their healthy child. As soon as he reached the age of five his ‘Upanayana samskara’ ( a ceremony marking the initiation of a boy to education ) was conducted . This is termed as the second birth of an Aryan child. The boy was handed over to his teacher. All the education and training that is necessary for the prince of a state was given to the boy. King Dilipa being an expert archer himself took care of imparting the skill of shooting arrows to his son Raghu. Very soon the prince grew up into a handsome young man who was more energetic than his father. 3. Marriage and Associate Kingship : The king procured a worthy bride for him and celebrated his marriage, and also made him an associate king, so that he may receive the practical training of how to rule, under his guidance. In all respects Raghu seemed more majestic with arms like beams, broad shoulders, mighty neck and a chest which looked like a portal. It looked as if the Goddess of Fortune which had favoured king Dilipa till, now had shifted her attention to the junior King. 4. 100th horse -sacrifice by king Dilipa: King Dilipa had by that time finished 99 horse sacrifices and did not venture on the hundredth sacrifice so that he may maintain his friendly relations with Indra, the King of Gods, because Indra is the only king who performed 100 horse sacrifices and became eligible to occupy the throne of kingship over the clan of Gods (Aryans). An interesting conversation took place the night before the day of commencement of the 100th Aswamedha Yagna. Sudakshina the wife of the King looked apprehensively at her husband . She was the lady who sat by the side of her husband while he was performing the previous horse sacrifices. The king looked at her and asked for the reason for her concern. Then she told him that it may not be easy to complete the hundredth sacrifice, because a no human being could perform hundred sacrifices till that date, She told him that only God Indra, the king of Gods was able to complete hundred sacrifices and He is the only person who is famed as the god who could perform 100 sacrifices. She told him,” Indra is a God.. .. And we are only human beings. Do you think that Indra would like to see that a mortal could perform 100 sacrifices and become as powerful as the king of Gods? Would Indra allow such a thing to happen? King Dilipa thought for a while, looking at the East which was already getting red and heralding the arrival of dawn within a short time. His thoughts turned suddenly towards his son. He told her.” Do you remember the words the teacher of Raghu told us, at the end of his education his convocation ceremony)? He informed us ,” If anyone could match up to Indra’s might it is your son Raghu”. Then the king declared,” This time Raghu will lead the army that goes behind the horse and will cover all Kingdoms with the horse. He summoned for Raghu and when he arrived they told him about their fears. Raghu replied without any hesitation. He requested them to appoint him as the commander in chief of the army that will be following the sanctified horse. The king gave his permission without any hesitation..

                Next morning the happiness of the army new no bounds when they saw that  their prince had arrived to  lead the army that goes behind the horse. The sacrificial horse was sanctified and   was left to roam around all the neighboring kingdoms.  It is customary that the kings who acknowledge the superiority of the owner of the horse would  welcome  the horse  and submit huge amount of money to the chief of the army following the horse.   If they do not allow the movement of the horse in their kingdom, it will be considered as a challenge to the sovereignty of the   king who owned the horse, and he would have to fight with the mighty king. Normally no body stops the horse because it is the chosen horse selected for the holy sacrifice. Prince Raghu followed the horse with his royal friends. The horse after covering the high ways of one or two kingdoms stopped at night. The army had their dinner and was slowly going to sleep. The horse was left to roam about eating green grass.  Early morning a soldier came running towards the prince and told him that the horse was nowhere to be seen..   While Raghu was trying desperately to locate the horse, the holy cow Nandini which was helpful in causing the birth of Raghu, appeared before him and gave him supernatural power of vision. Endowed with that power Raghu looked towards the  east and  found that the great God  Indra was driving away in his chariot with the horse which was tied to the chariot and hence compelled to run behind

.5. Raghu fights with Indra : Raghu challenged the great king of Gods in a voice that pierced the sky. He said, “O king of Gods! Sages praise you as the chief of those who share all the offerings made during the course of sacred rituals. Then why are you trying to disturb the sacred sacrifice contemplated by my father? He is doing it to gain heaven’s bliss. Please let the horse go free as it is most needful for the completion of the rite. . Don’t you know that the guardians of law should never stoop to illegal activities?” The king of Gods restrained the movement of his chariot. And he said-“Noble prince, you are speaking correctly. But don’t you know that people who prize their fame should always guard it against attack. Your father is trying to rob me of my fame as the king, who performed 100 horse sacrifices. I have occupied this position because of my hundred sacrifices. Don’t you know that other Gods like Vishnu and Lord Shiva also guard their titles with the same zeal? When Raghu tried to challenge Indra for a fight,  ? The mighty King of Gods said –“Don’t you know my great power? Did I not cut the wings of great mountains with my thunder bolt? Did I not kill the terrible Asura byname Vritra with my invincible weapon? Did I not vanquish the 60,000 sons of the emperor Sagara?” Raghu was enraged and challenged Indra for a combat. He told Indra-“ Then protect yourself with your choicest weapon”. Raghu shot a golden arrow which pierced the body of Indra. While Indra was taking out his bow Raghu shot another arrow which smote Indra’s hand. Then a fierce war of arrows between the two warriors took place. Raghu’s arrow broke out the bow-string 0f Indra. Then Indra threw down his bow and took out his invincible weapon ‘ Vajra’ ( the diamond), which is like a flaming thunder bolt. Indra hurled it against Raghu. Raghu was struck by it and fell down on earth. But pretty soon he recovered from the shock and stood out restraining the progress of Indra who was alllpraise appreciated the strength of the Virtue possessed by Raghu. He understood that even the great Vajra cannot harm a virtuous person. The fight went on but Indra triumphed over Raghu in the end. Indra was greatly pleased with the bravery exhibited by Raghu. Although he could not restore the horse back to Raghu,. He informed Raghu that he may forget about the horse, and instead he may ask for any boon that will be granted immediately. Raghu thought for a while and told Indra,,” Please ensure that my father gets the fruits of the completion of the horse sacrifice, though it is not finished. Indra nodded his head in assent and assured Raghu that he will inform his father accordingly. Raghu saluted the great God and returned home with his army.. 6. Coronation of Raghu: Raghu was given a tumultuous welcome . A few days after the above incident King Dilipa made his son a full-fledged king and retired to forests taking his wife along with him. 7. Conquest of the sub-continentand Viswajiti Sacrifice: Raghu meted out equal justice and maintained cautious vigilance during his reign. But within a short period he started on an expedition to conquer all the known kingdoms of the sub-continent. First he proceeded in the eastern direction and reached up to the Bay of Bengal, where he, conquered the Suh and Vailaga Kingdoms. There after crossing the river Kapisa went through the Utkala and Kalinga kingdoms (modern state of Orissa). Then he proceeded further to the south and subdued the Pandya kings. Then he reached the coast of the Arabian Sea after crossing the Sahya Mountains (Western Ghats on the west coast of South India) and subjugated the Aparanta ( west-end )districts and then proceeded north wards along the coast of the Arabian sea. Then he defeated the Persian kingdoms situated in Saurastra and above. Ultimately he reached the mighty river Indus (Sindhu) where he defeated the Huns and the Kambhojas. Then he proceeded to the Himalayan region where he conquered the UtsvaSamketas. The he Descended to the plains of North-East India and finally conquered the Pragjyotishapura and Kamarupa kingdoms North- East states of India.After completing his conquests King Raghu returned to his capital laden with gold and silver. 8. Viswajiti Sacrifice and distibution of all his weath : After the conquest the king performed a great sacrifice called Viswajiti (conquest of the world during the course of which he gave away all his wealth to worthy people and reduced himself to the level of a pauper. He spent his time in a cottage surrounded by utensils made of clay. 9. Interaction with a young scholar named Kautsa : Kautsa was a student of the great Rishi Varatantu. He completed all his studies under the Guru. At last his Gurudeclared that his education was complete and that he may now leave the hermitage, go home, marry and lead a happy life. Kautsa thanked his Guru and asked him what he should pay as honorarium to him for taking care of him for about 14 years. Varatantu said that he need not pay anything as he had rendered a remarkable service to him. But Kautsa was not ready to leave without paying something to his teacher. So he went on pestering his teacher by asking him what he would take as Guru-Dakshina. At last the teacher lost his self-control and told the student- “I have taught you 14 branches of knowledge. So please go and get me14 crore (140 million) gold coins. Kautsa saluted his teacher and came out of the hermitage. He wanted to approach the great king Raghu and seek necessary amount towards guru-dakshina. As Kautsa approached his Yaga- S’ala (the tent under which holy rituals are conducted, King Raghu saw him and went forward to receive him. The king welcomed the young and learned Brahman into the tent, made him sit comfortably and brought holy water to wash his feet in an earthen vessel. After seeing the clay articles spread around, Kautsa understood the financial status of the king. But the king made him sit comfortably by providing drinking water and eatables and slowly enquired about his Guru the great sage Varatantu. He asked whether his Guru was doing well, whether the residents of the forest school are getting food supplies regularly, whether they were free from the fear of robbers and wild animals etc. Kautsa answered all the questions politely and after a while he stood up and asked for the permission of the king to leave. King Raghu was taken aback at this request. He stood in front of the scholar and addressed him-“O great scholar. You have come to the residence of Raghu, your king. You should have come here certainly with a request to be made to the king. Do you think, you can leave my residence with empty hands, even without expressing what it is you wanted from the King? Don’t you think that it will be an insult to the king Raghu if you go away like that? ” Then Kautsa narrated the details of the demand made by his teacher. King Raghu took some time to think about the amount of money needed and he told the scholar, “Please spend this night in my Yagna-Shala (ritual- tent), sleep like a fifth fire at the center of four holy fires that are already burning here. We will think about the action to be taken tomorrow. Kautsa agreed to wait till morning and slept in the holy tent 10. Decisionto invade the capital of Kubera:

             Raghu spent some time thinking about the kings who can supply such a huge amount of Gold at such a short notice. He came to the conclusion that no king in the sub-continent possesses such an amount   of money at that time, as he had already dried up their resources and brought them up to the level of bankruptcy.  He came to the conclusion that Lord Kubera, Lord of Wealth and the treasurer of Gods could only possess such an amount of gold. He knew that the vaults of Alaka, his capital city, (which is located at a very convenient point on the ancient spice route), hold unlimited number of gold bars. So he decided ultimately to invade the capital of Kubera  early in the morning and get the required amount of Gold. Deciding like that the King ordered that his divine chariot may be brought forward and readied for a long journey.  He took his bath, prayed to his family Gods, worshipped his chariot and sat in it with the intention of sleeping in it for a few hours and then proceeding to Alaka near the mount Kailas, at dawn without any delay.  At dawn when the king woke up he saw his chief treasury officer running towards him. The officer told him that a great miracle had happened last night. There was a continuous downpour of gold coins in the vaults of his treasury and now all the vaults are filled with gold. When Kautsa approached him in the morning the king asked the scholar to take away all the gold. After taking a gift from the king Kautsa was duty bound to bless the king. He said “O great king, what can I bless you  with? I have seen that not only the earth but the sky also is granting your wishes.  So I hereby bless that  you  will soon be  the   proud  father of a worthy son very soon.”  The scholar Kautsa went away carrying all the gold on horses, elephants and other load bearing animals

11. Birth of Prince Aja

                  A son was born to King Raghu. He was named Aja. The boy grew up just like his father. He went to the kingdom of Vidarbha  ( near Nagpur in Maharashtra) and married the princess  Indumati.  King Raghu abdicated his throne in favor of his son when   prince returned from Vidarbha with his bride.
12.  Retirement and the end of Raghu: Then King Raghu  retired peacefully and lived  nearby,  with his wife. He died at a later date.  King Aja arranged a grand funeral for his father.  King Raghu  is remembered   with great respect even today,  even after a span of  3500 years.

References: 1. The Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa with the commentary of Mallinatha, by Sri Moreshwar Ramachandra Kale, Published by Gopal Narayan & Co, Kalbadevi Road, Bombay. 2. www. orchives.org/details/Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa 3. www.hindumythologyforgennext.blogspot.in – Raghu and Indra 4. www.sacred texts.com Kalidasa- Shakuntala and other works- the dynasty of Raghu.

Guru Gobind Singh on King Raghu

Guru Gobind Singh considered Raghu as a great philosopher, ruler and preacher of true religion, in his writing Dasam Granth. He was most prestigious among common person as well as religious institutions. He performed many Yajnas includes Ajamedh, Baajmedh, Gajamedh, Gavalambh and Rajsu Yagya. Under his rule, no one was poor and every one had enough resources to live. The last line of Ath Raghu Raja ko Raaj Kathnang:

That king, skilful in fourteen sciences, ruled for twenty thousand years; he always performed the religious acts of this kind, which none other could perform.176.

See also

• Ikshvaku dynasty
• Raghuvaṃśa