King Raghu was Bhagwan Ram’s great-grandfather. They belonged to the Suryavansh of the Ikshvaku dynasty, but king Raghu’s grandeur left his mark on history in such a manner that their dynasty is still known today as the Raghuvansh.
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Mahakavi Kalidas’s Mahakavya ‘Raghuvansh’
Mahakavi Kalidasa is the author of the Sanskrit mahakavya Raghuvansh. It tells the tales of the Raghu dynasty in 19 cantos divided into three parts; beginning from the family of Raja Dilip and his descendants which includes Raghu, Aj, Dasharath, Ram, Luv-Kush till Agnivarna.
Before King Raghu was born
King Dilip and his kingship are described after a few stanzas that emphasise the poet’s reverence and the majesty of the dynasty. Not having a child was king Dilip’s biggest sorrow. He travels to the ashram of the Rishi Vashishtha with his wife Sudakshina to seek his guidance. Vashishtha tells King Dilip that the sacred cow Surabhi has cursed him because he had offended her, and he asks him to take care of Nandini, her female calf. The king devotes his time to the calf, following it on its adventures and defending it from harm. When Dilip raises his hand to pull an arrow and defend the calf from a lion one day, he finds himself inexplicably frozen. He asks the lion to kill himself rather than the calf despite the lion’s objections, and when all of this is shown to be an illusion, Nandini bestows upon him the blessing of becoming parents.
Birth of Prince Raghu
A baby boy is born to Queen Sudakshina and King Dilip, who is named Raghu. Raghu’s formative years and academic life are described in the Mahakavya.When Raghu’s father, King Dilip, performs the Ashvamedh Yajna and Indra dev catches his roaming horse, Raghu battles Indra, who is impressed by him. After appointing Raghu as king, his father leaves into the jungle.
Splendour of King Raghu
In the epic poem, Raghu sets out to conquer in all four directions, and this is very well described. Just as Raghu is about to give everything up and distribute all of his wealth, Kautsa, a recently graduated pupil, shows up and requests an enormous sum of money to offer to his teacher as guru-dakshina. Raghu decides to wage war on Kuber, the god of wealth, in order to fulfil his ambition. However, just as he makes this decision, Kuber showers his treasury with money. Raghu gives Kautsa much more than he asked, and Kautsa, only accepting what is necessary to pay back his master, is praised by everyone.
Glory of Raghuvansh
Raghu has a son named Aja, who grows up and attends the princess Indumati’s svayamvar. At Indumati’s svayamvar, a large number of princes from various regions are eager to be chosen by her. Indumati walks across a lot of them before choosing Aja. Aja is wedded to Indumati, but the furious rival princes attack him on his way home. Aja’s father Raghu names him king and departs to the forest, when he defeats everyone and makes it home. Dasharath is born as the son of Indumati. One day, Indumati dies in a tragic accident, and Aja grieves deeply over her loss. He endures eight years of agony before his son is eligible to be crowned as a king. He then passes away and reunites with his wife.
Descendants of king Raghu
Dashrath has three sons Ram, Laxman, Bharat and Shatrughan. Bhagwan Ram’s son Kush takes over the throne and then he is blessed with a son named Atithi. Atithi is succeeded by 21 other kings, last of whom was king Agnivarna, who lived a life of pleasure and was never bothered about the kingdom. Later on he suffers from various diseases and dies. His pregnant queen takes charge of the kingdom after his death.
Pulastya Pulhashram is located in the Myagdi district in Nepal, near Pulachaur village. It is one of those sites known as Siddhi Peeth, and it is also mentioned in Shrimad Bhagwad Maha Puran.
Many well-known rishi-muni including Shiva, Pulastya, Pulaha, Vishrava, and Kapil – visited this place, lived here and attained the ultimate knowledge. Some legends say that this is the place where Ravan was born and brought up.
Rishi Pulastya’s timeline also interconnects the era of Ramayan and Mahabharat. One of the stories says that Pulastya Rishi relocated the Govardhan Hill to Mathura. Actually, he was taking it to Kashi, but due to Govardhan’s greed to see Krishna and attain moksh, he tricked Pulastya into establishing him there. Angry Pulastya cursed him of ever-diminishing height and to disappear ultimately.
Pulastya is a notable ‘Gotra’ or Brahmin clan lineages in India. The gotra helps people establish their roots as a part of Vedic traditions, not just family lineage.
