Shrimad ramayanam

Chapter 6

"Maiya bass!!!Ab hum aur bhojan nahi kar sakte,warna humara udar fatt jaega!!"Shanta whined like a child at which all the guests chuckled.

"Nahi Matashri,aur khilao inhe.Ashram mei to bilkul nahi khati, isliye itni patli rehti hai"Shrungi replied with a naughty voice.

Like this their cute banter continued for a while.

After lunch, arrangements were made for all the sages for their living and das,dasis were appointed for them.
Raja Dashrath was busy doing donations to everyone belonging to the 4 varnas.

Special midday meals were there for the Vaishyas and Shudras as well.

Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudras from all four directions were invited.
Sumantra was appointed to invite Old King Ashwapati of Kekeya(father in law of Dashrath)

,King Bhanuman of Kosal

And Magadhnaresh Praptigya

After inviting all the kings from all the directions, arrangements were made to gather the offerings of Yagya.Like this a few months passed.

The day of Yagya arrived.All the people of Ayodhya and the invited guests gathered on the banks of river Sarayu at the spot where the yagya was going to take place.Shrungi being the wedded sage,was given the rights to perform the divine yagya.
Firstly he meditated to gather all his energy and thereby decided to complete the yagya successfully.
After meditating he said,"Mahaan Raja Dashrath,hum  putra prapti ke liye atharvaveda ke mantro se "PUTRESHTI" nam ka yagya karenge.Vedokt vidhi ke dwara ye yagya safal hoga,isme koi sandeh nahi.
Saying this,he started to perform the Auspicious PUTRESHTI Yagya with all the gathered sages and offered the offerings to the sacred fire.All the Devas, gandharvas and maharshis gathered to have their portion of offerings.
Suddenly all the Sages and the kings saw a gigantic man emerging from the yagyakund.
His body was dark and reddish in colour, wearing red clothes,his voice was hard like Dundubhi.His beard, moustache and hair were smooth in complexion.

(I didn't find pic of any such person 😛)

He was holding a big golden plate with its lid made of silver.
Sweet fragrance of kheer was coming from the plate.
The divine person said,"Rajan,aap devtao ki Puja karte hai.Isliye aapko ye vastu prapt hui hai.Ye Divya kheer devtao dwara banayi gayi hai.Iska Sevan karnese aapko Putra prapti hogi isme sanshay nahi.Iss Divya kheer ko aap apni raniyo ko dijiye aur ise khane ko kahiye."

Saying this he bent down and gave the plate to Raja Dashrath.Dashrath was happy just as if a poor person has got wealth.Taking the plate in his hands,he touched his forehead to it thereby paying obeisance to the divine food.Then he deed the pradakshina of the Person,to which he disappeared.

The news about the yagya reached to the chambers of Rani Kaushalya,where all the queens were sitted together with Shanta.The news made all of them excited and happy.They appeared as if like the Moon during the Sharad kal.

Taking the kheer,he rushed towards his palace.Reaching in the chamber,he said excitedly,"Raniyo,meri baat suno.Yagya safaltapurvak Purna hua hai.Falswarup hume ye kheer prapt Hui hai.
Iska Sevan karnese hume tejaswi putro ki prapti hogi."
Dashrath divided the kheer into two halves.The first half was offered to Kaushalya.The second half was divided into two parts,out of which one was offered to Sumitra.The remaining part was again divided into two parts and one of them was offered to Kaikeyi.One part was still remaining in the plate.Raja Dashrath was thinking for a while and finally offered it to Sumitra again.
This day was celebrated like a festival in Ayodhya.
All the kings gave various gifts to the Dashrath and his queens and then returned to their Kingdom.
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"Pranam Swami,Aapne Hume bulaya."Shanta said as she entered her chamber.She saw Shrungi and Vibhandak with all their things packed.
They told her that they have to leave for Angadesh the next day itself.
Shanta became sad because of the departure she would face again.But the Sadhvi perspective in her awakened and she became normal.
She went into the chambers of Kaushalya where all the queens were gossiping about their future plans after the birth of the sons.Sumitra saw Shanta standing at the door and told her to come in.
Shanta sat near kaushalya and placed her head in the lap of Kaikeyi.
All the queens smiled at her cute antics.However she would be grown,she would be their first child.Kaikeyi was caressing her head and asked,"Kaho beta,kya baat hai?"
Shanta said,"Mata,kal hume wapis Angadesh ke liye nikalna hai.Swami ne Hume ye bataya."
All the chatter stopped.The mothers became emotional.Kaushalya said,"Kuch din aur ruk ja na.Apne bhaiyo ka janm dekh le aur fir chali ja."
Shanta replied with tearful eyes,"Nahi mata.Itne din rukna uchit nahi hoga.Lekin aap chinta Mt karna.9 Maas baad hum fir aaenge.Apne bhaiyo ke sath khelne.Unka namkaran hone ke baad hi hum jaenge."
Saying this she embraced all her mothers.They were having tears in their eyes.
The very next day,Raja Dashrath gave farewell to his daughter with tearful eyes.