Dasaratha and the blind parents

Dasaratha and the blind parents

There was a king called Dasaratha. He was capable of fighting ten enemies at the same time. He also knew how to send an arrow to the source of the sound. One day, he went for hunting in the forest. Though he spent lot of time chasing several animals, he could not kill any of them.

At this time one sage boy called Shwetha Kethu, came to the forest carrying his very old father and mother .They were both blind. They wanted some water to drink. So he placed them on a foot of a tree and walked to the nearest river. He was taking water from the river.

Dasaratha heard the sound of his taking water from a distance. He thought that I was an elephant drinking water. So he took his bow and arrow and shot an arrow. This arrow hit Swethakethu on his chest. He shouted in pain. Dasaratha ran there and found that Shwetha Kethu was dying. Shwetha Kethu pardoned Dasaratha’s mistake and requested him o take water to his old parents. Dasaratha agreed and took water to them. They took the water thinking it is Shwethakethu but once Dasaratha told them the truth, they became very angry and cursed Dasaratha, “In future you will also part with your son.” This is why Dasaratha had to send Rama to the forest even though he did not like it.