Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/159

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Turning to the story of the Ramayana, we find that Dasaratha, a distinguished king of the Kosalas, had his capital in Ayodhya, or Oudh, whose ruins are still shown to travellers in some shapeless mounds. King Dasaratha had three queens honoured above the rest, of whom Kausalya bore him his eldest son Rama, while Kaikeyi was the mother of Bharata, and Sumitra of Lakshmana and Satrughna. Dasaratha in his old age decided on making Rama the Yuvaraja, or reigning prince, but Kaikeyi insisted that her son should be Yuvaraja, and the feeble old king yielded to the determined will of his wife.

Before this Rama had won Sita, the daughter of Janaka, King of the Videhas, at a svayamvara, or court of love, in which the bride chooses her husband. Kings and princes had assembled there, but Rama alone could lift the heavy bow and bend it till it broke in twain. But now, when Ayodhya was still ringing with acclamation at the prospect of Rama's installation as