Raghuvamsa is believed to be a lineage of warrior kings tracing its ancestry to
SuryaIn Hinduism, Sūrya is the chief solar deity, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...
.
KalidasaKālidāsa was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language. His floruit cannot be dated with precision, but most likely falls within the Gupta period, probably in the 4th or 5th century or 6th century.His place in Sanskrit...
's famous work,
RaghuvamshaThis article is about Kalidasa's maha-kavya, epic poetic work. For the dynasty, see Raghuvamsa.Kalidasa's Raghuvamsha tells the story of the family of Dileepa and his descendants, including the conqueror Raghu. The warrior Raghu leads a military expedition to Transoxiana...
describes the greatness of this race. This was a race which produced great kings like
HarishchandraHarishchandra, in Hindu religious texts is the 28th king of the Solar Dynasty. His legend is very popular and often told as a benchmark for an ideal life. He was renowned for his piety and justice. His name is Sanskrit for "having golden splendour"....
,
DileepaDillipa in Hindu mythology is said to have been one of the most righteous and chivalrous emperors that the Solar Dynasty or the Ikshvaku dynasty, had ever produced. He was not blessed with a child for a long time and that caused great worry in his mind. In the matter of begetting an heir, he took...
,
RaghuEmperor Raghu was a valorous king of the Ikshvaku dynasty. The name in Sanskrit translates to the fast one, deriving from Raghu's chariot driving abilities. So celebrated were the exploits of Raghu, that his dynasty itself came to be known as the Raghuvamsha or the Raghukula after him. The history...
,
AjaIn Hindu mythology, Aja is the son of king Raghu, and thus a scion of the Ikshavaku dynasty, who claimed descent from the sun-God Surya. His paternal grandfather was the pious king Dileepa...
,
DasarathaThe life story of Dasharatha is narrated principally in the Hindu epic Ramayana. He was a descendant of Raghu and a king of Ayodhya. He was the father of Rama, Rama being the heroic prince of Ramayana and an avatar of God Vishnu according to Hindu tradition...
and
RamaRama or Ramachandra is the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a legendary king of Ayodhya in ancient India...
. Lord
RamaRama or Ramachandra is the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a legendary king of Ayodhya in ancient India...
's father was Dasaratha, who was born to Aja. Aja's father was the great king Raghu, after whom the dynasty was known as Raghuvamsa, or
the dynasty of Raghu. Raghu's father was emperor Dileepa.
He was a great emperor of the Raghuvamsa and was very pious.
Raghu was the son of Dilipa.
Raghuvamsa is believed to be a lineage of warrior kings tracing its ancestry to
SuryaIn Hinduism, Sūrya is the chief solar deity, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...
.
KalidasaKālidāsa was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language. His floruit cannot be dated with precision, but most likely falls within the Gupta period, probably in the 4th or 5th century or 6th century.His place in Sanskrit...
's famous work,
RaghuvamshaThis article is about Kalidasa's maha-kavya, epic poetic work. For the dynasty, see Raghuvamsa.Kalidasa's Raghuvamsha tells the story of the family of Dileepa and his descendants, including the conqueror Raghu. The warrior Raghu leads a military expedition to Transoxiana...
describes the greatness of this race. This was a race which produced great kings like
HarishchandraHarishchandra, in Hindu religious texts is the 28th king of the Solar Dynasty. His legend is very popular and often told as a benchmark for an ideal life. He was renowned for his piety and justice. His name is Sanskrit for "having golden splendour"....
,
DileepaDillipa in Hindu mythology is said to have been one of the most righteous and chivalrous emperors that the Solar Dynasty or the Ikshvaku dynasty, had ever produced. He was not blessed with a child for a long time and that caused great worry in his mind. In the matter of begetting an heir, he took...
,
RaghuEmperor Raghu was a valorous king of the Ikshvaku dynasty. The name in Sanskrit translates to the fast one, deriving from Raghu's chariot driving abilities. So celebrated were the exploits of Raghu, that his dynasty itself came to be known as the Raghuvamsha or the Raghukula after him. The history...
,
AjaIn Hindu mythology, Aja is the son of king Raghu, and thus a scion of the Ikshavaku dynasty, who claimed descent from the sun-God Surya. His paternal grandfather was the pious king Dileepa...
,
DasarathaThe life story of Dasharatha is narrated principally in the Hindu epic Ramayana. He was a descendant of Raghu and a king of Ayodhya. He was the father of Rama, Rama being the heroic prince of Ramayana and an avatar of God Vishnu according to Hindu tradition...
and
RamaRama or Ramachandra is the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a legendary king of Ayodhya in ancient India...
. Lord
RamaRama or Ramachandra is the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a legendary king of Ayodhya in ancient India...
's father was Dasaratha, who was born to Aja. Aja's father was the great king Raghu, after whom the dynasty was known as Raghuvamsa, or
the dynasty of Raghu. Raghu's father was emperor Dileepa.
About Emperor DileepaDillipa in Hindu mythology is said to have been one of the most righteous and chivalrous emperors that the Solar Dynasty or the Ikshvaku dynasty, had ever produced. He was not blessed with a child for a long time and that caused great worry in his mind. In the matter of begetting an heir, he took...
He was a great emperor of the Raghuvamsa and was very pious.
Raghu was the son of Dilipa. He was brave and just. He was known for his valour. Thousands of
Brahmins greeted him when he used to go to sleep and when he used to wake up. They always greeted him for a "Good Day".
Once Raghu had performed the Ashwamedh sacrifice. He used to give many gifts to his subjects due to the sacrifice. He never turned down anyone. A disciple of sage Varatantu, Kautsa, had to give teaching fee(Dakshina) to his preceptor (During that time fees had to be given after completing education.) He came to Raghu asking for 10 Lakh Gold coins. Raghu had donated nearly all his wealth. Raghu very well knew that all the piousness of the sacrifice will vanish if Kautsa was sent back unsatisfied. He, therefore decided to attack Kubera, the God of wealth. Kubera, fearing the might of Raghu, made a fall of gold coins in Raghu's treasury.
Thus, the title given to the Epic is 'RAGHUVAMSHA' to emphasize on the valour of Raghu.
About Emperor AjaIn Hindu mythology, Aja is the son of king Raghu, and thus a scion of the Ikshavaku dynasty, who claimed descent from the sun-God Surya. His paternal grandfather was the pious king Dileepa...
Son of Raghu, he was married to Indumati. He was the father of Dasharatha.
Aja, was a valiant and loving son to Raghu, as Raghu was to Dilipa. Aja did many things in his lifetime like freeing a Gandharva (A Celestial Being), from a curse.
Aja was married to Indumati who was the sister of King Bhoja.
Aja was given a spear when he freed the Gadharva, the spear had the power to put enemies to sleep. He used this spear in a battle, when he was defending Indumati. Aja was a great king, like his grandfather Dilipa, his father Raghu, his son Dasharatha, and his grandsons, Rama and Bharata. (Aja had 4 grandsons but two were made kings (Bharata was king when Rama was exiled to the forest for 14 years).
About Emperor DasarathaThe life story of Dasharatha is narrated principally in the Hindu epic Ramayana. He was a descendant of Raghu and a king of Ayodhya. He was the father of Rama, Rama being the heroic prince of Ramayana and an avatar of God Vishnu according to Hindu tradition...
Dasharatha was the king of Ayodhya. He had three main wives: Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra.
At the time of marrying Kaikeyi, he assured her and her family that any son born to her would supersede his other sons and succeed him as king of Ayodhya. However, none of his three wives bore children for many years. Dasharatha then performed a sacrifice, the putra-kameshthi yagna, to secure the birth of a son. Four sons were the born to him: to Kaushalya was born
RamaRama or Ramachandra is the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a legendary king of Ayodhya in ancient India...
, to Kaikeyi Bharata, and Sumitra was blessed with twin sons,
LakshmanaLakshmana ; Javanese language: Lesmono) was the brother and close companion of Rama, and himself a hero in the famous epic Ramayana. Within a number of Hindu traditions Lakshmana is considered to be an avatara, in a secondary form to Rama's main appearance...
and
ShatrughnaShatrughna was the youngest brother of Lord Rama in the Hindu epic Ramayana . He is the twin brother of Lakshmana.-Birth and Family:...
. The story of the lives of his children is the story of the
HinduA Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti and Smriti , lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs which primarily include dhárma, kárma, ahimsa and saṃsāra...
epic, the
RamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is attributed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon . The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India, the other being Mahabharata...
.
Dasharatha was a young man when he accidentally killed Shravana Kumara while hunting in the forest one day. Shravana Kumara's parents cursed Dasharatha, saying that he too, like them, would die of longing for a much beloved son. This is what came to pass; Dasharatha died soon after
RamaRama or Ramachandra is the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a legendary king of Ayodhya in ancient India...
left for exile in the forest, accompanied by his wife
SitaSITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the aviation industry. Originally known as the Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques, the company no longer uses this long name and is now known simply as...
and his brother
LakshmanaLakshmana ; Javanese language: Lesmono) was the brother and close companion of Rama, and himself a hero in the famous epic Ramayana. Within a number of Hindu traditions Lakshmana is considered to be an avatara, in a secondary form to Rama's main appearance...
.
About Emperor RamaRama or Ramachandra is the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a legendary king of Ayodhya in ancient India...
Refer to the pages on Rama, his consort Sita, and to the
RamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is attributed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon . The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India, the other being Mahabharata...
, which is the story of their lives.