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Why Dasaratha Had to Send Sri Ram to the Forest?

Dasaratha, the king of Ayodhya and father of Sri Ram, had to send his son to the forest for 14 years due to a curse. King Dasaratha was a great warrior and he had even helped Indra in the war in against demons. He was one of the greatest archers and could hit an arrow on target by merely listening to the source of the sound.

One day the king was on a hunting expedition near a forest in Ayodhya. The king could not find any animal for a long period of time. Then he suddenly heard a sound of some animal drinking water.

He shot an arrow in the direction of the sound and suddenly he heard the cry of a man.

To his utter dismay, the king found that he had shot a young man. The young man was Shravan Kumar a devoted son. He used to carry his blind parents in two baskets and carry them by tying the baskets to the two ends of a strong pole.

When the unfortunate incident took place, young Shravan Kumar was collecting water for his blind parents.

Shravan Kumar pardoned Dasaratha but requested him to take water to his old blind parents.

Dasaratha took the water to the blind parents. He then informed them about their son’s death. The angry parents then cursed Dasaratha that he will die due to the pain caused due to the parting of his son.

Dasaratha died after he was forced to send Sri Ram to forest.