Unable to withstand Ravana’s atrocities, Devas prayed and surrendered to God seeking relief; at the same time, Dasaratha was conducting Ashwamedha and Putra Khameshti yagam. Lord Narayana assured the devas that He would soon descend upon earth and advised them to wait in Kishkinta until such time, in the guise of monkeys. Narayana then mulled over whose son He should be born as, said Dhamal Perundevi in a discourse. While mortals pray for a good, healthy child, God had to carefully consider which dynasty, which bhoomi and who His parents should be. Witnessing Dasaratha’s Putra Khameshti yagam, Narayana’s face bloomed like a lotus.
ADVERTISEMENT
While Dasaratha assumed that he was not blessed with any children due to accumulation of sins, he had, in fact, undertaken so many virtuous deeds that no ordinary child could be equivalent to the sum of his punyam; therefore God decided to be born as Rama to Dasaratha and Kausalya. He chose the sacred land of Ayodhya and the illustrious Ikshvaku clan and Sri Ranganatha of Srirangam as His family deity.
Rama was born on sukla paksham, in the Tamil month of Chittirai, under the incomparable Punarvasu, the only star with no marana yogam. Punarvasu means reclaiming lost things (Rama reclaimed both his kingdom and his abducted wife Sita). Punaha Vasu is also a clear indication that Vasudevan would be His father in the next Avatar as Krishna.
While He was named as Rama for His beauty, siblings were likewise named for their characteristics. Lakshmana, inseparable from Rama, spent his life in servitude of Rama; Bharata, the epitome of governance, consecrated Rama’s padukas and placed in the seat of power, while Shatruguna was a byname for someone who controlled his senses at all times.