Epic Ramayana describes King Dasharatha, the then king
of Ayodhya, having three wives named Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumithra. Their
greatest worry was that they had no male children, and so they had no heir
to the throne. Rishi Vasistha suggests him to perform Puthra Kamesti Yagna,
through which he can have a desired child. He also tells him to bring Maharshi
Rushya Shrunga to perform this Yagna for him. Immediately King Dasharath gives
his consent, and heads to Maharshi Rushya Shrunga's ashram, to get him. Maharshi
agrees and will accompany Dasharath to Ayodhya (Capital of Avadha) and performs
the yagna. As the result of yagna, Yagneshwar appears and hands Dasarath a
bowl of Payasam and asks him to give it to his wives. Dasharath gives one
half of the payasam to his elder wife Kausalya, and another half to his younger
wife Kaikeyi. They both give half of their portions to Sumithra. After few
days all three Queens conceive. On the ninth day (Navami) of Chaithra Masa
(last month in Hindu calendar), at noon Kaushlya gives birth to Lord Sri Ram,
Kaikeyi gives birth to Bharath, and Sumithra to twin boys, Lakshman and Shatrughan.
Lord Ram is the seventh incarnation of
Lord Vishnu, who takes birth on earth when Adharma over rules Dharma. He protects
all his devotees by vanquishing the roots of Adharma. Lord Ram was born on earth
to destroy the demon named Ravan.
Natal chart of Sri Rama
Valmiki in his Sanskrit text Ramayan describes
the natal or birth chart of young Rama, and this day is celebrated as Ramanavami
festival throughout India and amonst Indian diaspora:
“On completion of the ritual
six seasons have passed by and then in the twelfth month, on the ninth day of
Chaitra month [March-April], when the presiding deity of ruling star of the
day is Aditi, where the ruling star of day is Punarvasu (Nakshatra), the asterism
is in the ascendant, and when five of the nine planets viz., Sun, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, and Venus are at their highest position, when Jupiter with Moon is ascendant
in Cancer, and when day is advancing, then Queen Kausalya gave birth to a son
with all the divine attributes like lotus-red eyes, lengthy arms, roseate lips,
voice like drumbeat, and who took birth to delight the Ikshwaku dynasty, who
is adored by all the worlds, and who is the greatly blessed epitome of Vishnu,
namely Rama.”
- Book I : Bala Kanda, Ramayana by Valmiki,
Chapter (Sarga) 18,
Verse 8, 9, 10 and 11.
