Dasharatha was a great man who was always bound for greatness. He was the son of a King and Queen and became King after his parents died. Dasharatha was known for being the greatest warrior. He could defeat anyone and anything and had won many wars. Dasharatha had conquered the entire world. He had three wives: Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. Each wife was from a different kingdom. Dasharatha yearned to have a son but had been unsuccessful with all of his wives. He longed for one of his sons to become the next greatest warrior and to defeat his ultimate enemy.
Dasharatha started to become antsy. He could not understand why he was not able to bear any sons. He continued to pace his beautiful castle and as he continued to walk up and down the halls he was reminded of his great lineage. This only made him more frustrated, seeing all the great kings that had come before him. All he wanted was to be the father of the next great king. As he continued to pace and think of what he could do he finally came up with an idea. He must have two sacrifices. He thought this would appease the Gods and hopefully aid in him becoming a father to a son.
So that is exactly what Dasharatha did. He performed two different sacrifices, the first one was a horse sacrifice and the second was the burning of sage. Dasharatha continued to sit there and plead for a son as the flames grew high. As the sacrifices continued on Kaushalya gave birth to a daughter but this still was not what he wanted. Dasharatha wanted a son. The final fire began to dim and Dasharatha began to doubt that he would ever be the father of a son.
All of a sudden, out of the flames, Agni appeared. Agni was a fire God who had come to help Dasharatha. Agni stated, "I have this kheer for you. Feed this to your wives and you will be the father of many sons." Dasharatha could not believe it. He immediately thanked Agni and did what he was told. Dasharatha was willing to do whatever it took in order to have a son. Dasharatha took the large pot of kheer to his wives and he instructed all three of them to eat it. Kaushalya was the first to eat the kheer. She ate half of the entire pot. Next, Sumitra ate the kheer but she only ate a quarter of the pot. Finally, Kaikeyi ate the kheer from the pot but she did not enjoy it. She handed it back to Sumitra who ate some more but Kaushalya ate the most.
Once the kheer had been eaten all three of the wives began to give birth, resulting in four sons. Kaushalya, being the queen who ate the most kheer, gave birth to a son named Rama, the next great king. Sumitra gave birth to two sons, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Kaikeyi gave birth to the final son, Bharata. Dasharatha was overjoyed with the amount of sons he now had.
This Kheer was so important because it aided in the birth of Rama. The kheer was given to Dasharatha by the Gods. Not only was he desperate to be the father of sons but the Gods' also had a plan of their own. They knew by gifting him with the kheer he would have a son that would be the next great king who would destroy Ravana. Through Dasharatha's wishes and the God's plans Rama was able to be the warrior to destroy Ravana and become an amazing king.
Author's Note: I chose to write this story about Dasharatha and Kheer and the significance it had in his life. Rama is such a big aspect in our Indian Epics class and I thought it would be fun to see a little back story on how Rama came to life. Not only was Rama planned and wanted by his own father, the Gods played a very large role in making sure Rama was the next great king. Food is such an important aspect in so many cultures and Kheer is viewed as such a special dish that this story brought all of that together. This story connects my topic of food with my favorite Indian Epic that we have read this year, the Ramayana. Kheer is made by boiling rice, broken wheat, and tapioca with milk and sugar. It is then flavored with raisins, cardamom, saffron, cashews, pistachios or almonds. Kheer is most often served as a dessert in Indian regions but varies from country to country. Kheer is often served for special events or celebrations and is also served in temples. The dish is essential in many Hindu festivals and celebrations. It can often be cooked within the temples because it can be considered a sacred food. Temples all over India cook Kheer and distribute it. Kheer is also used as a food to give to the deities as a religious offering. Kheer has been a significant and popular dish in many different regions in India for hundreds of years and continues to be a sacred food that is eaten for special celebrations.
Bibliography: Dasharatha and His Use of Kheer