||om tat sat||

ततः प्रभाते जनकः कृतकर्मा महर्षिभिः ।
उवाच वाक्यं वाक्यज्ञः शतानंदं पुरोहितम् ॥

"Then next morning having the works to be completed by the Rishis completed , the knowledgeable Janaka spoke to Satananda as follows".

Balakanda
Sarga Seventy

(Janaka having received the entourage of King Dasaratha previous day took leave to see them next day)

Then next morning having the sacrifice to be completed by the Rishis completed , the knowledgeable king Janaka spoke to sage Satananda as follows."My brother is a follower of Dharma and a brilliant one known as Kusadhwaja. He lives in the holy city of Samkasya which seems to be drinking the waters of the river Ikshumati. It is a city which looks like Pushpaka Vimana. He was the one who helped me for the sacrifice. I want to see him. The supremely radiant one can take part in the happy events along with me. It is my wish".

Even as he was saying this in the presence of sage Satananda some people who are steady in nature came there. King Janaka then ordered them to proceed to the city of Samkasya to bring the tiger among men Kusadhwaja. Thus ordered by the king they went on horses which can travel fast. They went with urgency of the messengers who went to Vishnu on orders from Indra. Having reached the city of Samkasya they met Kusadhwaja and conveyed the thoughts of Janaka as expressed by him. Then Kusadhwaja having heard the message through those best of messengers came to Mithila following the orders of King Janaka. Then he saw the king who is the follower of Dharma.

He bowed to Satananda as well as the righteous king Janaka and took a celestial seat which is fit for kings.

The highly radiant brothers who are great warriors sat down and sent for Sudama the best of ministers. "Oh Best counselors ! Please go quickly and bring the highly respected king of Ikshwakus, who is an undefeated king, along with his sons and ministers". Then Sudama the chief counselor went and met Dasaratha, the best of Raghu lineage. Bowing his head in respect and paying obeisance Sudama spoke to King Dasaratha. "Oh King of Ayodhya ! Vaideha , the king of Mithila wishes to see you along with the priests and gurus". Having heard the message for the best of ministers, the king along with the legions of Rishis and relatives went to Janaka's palace.

Along with his ministers , gurus and relatives , King Dasaratha who is expert in the way of speech spoke to the king Janaka."Oh King ! That the venerable sage Vasishta is the presiding deity of Ikshwvakus and speaker on our behalf in all our actions is known. The venerable sage Vasishta in agreement with sage Viswamitra ad all other sages will tell the assembly about us in the way it should be told". Having said so Dasaratha , the best of men remained silent.

Then the venerable sage who is expert in the usage of words spoke to Janaka and his priest about the line of Ikshvakus.

Sage Vasishta spoke.

" Oh King Janaka let me tell you the lineage of the two princes Rama and Lakshmana from the beginning. The eternal , permanent and imperishable Brahma emerged from the unmanifest Supreme being. From that Brahma is born Maricha. Maricha's son is Kasyapa . Kasyapa gave birth to Vivasvan. Manu was born of Vivasvan. Manu is the first Prajapati . Ikshvaku is the son of Manu. Know him to be the king of Ayodhya".

"Ikshvaku's son is the highly endowed Kukshi. Vikukshi is the son of Kukshi. Vikushi's son is the highly radiant Bana. Bana's son is the highly radiant Anaranya. Anaranya's son is Prithu . Prithu's son is Trisanku . Trisanku's son is the famous Dundumara. Dunduamara's son is Yavanasva ! Yavanasva's son is Mandhaata . Mandhata gave birth to Susandhi who is well endowed".

"Susandhi had two sons Dhruvasandhi and Prasenajit. The famous Dhruvasandhi had a son by name Bharata. Bharata had a highly radiant son by name Asita . The kings of Hehaiya , Talajangha, Sasibindu who are very powerful became his enemies. Unable to battle them the king was retreated from the battle field. The king with limited strength along with his ministers reached the Himalayan mountains and was living on the slopes where river Saraswati appeared. It is known that his two wives were pregnant at that time".

"To destroy the pregnancy one of the step wives poisoned the other named Kalindi . In that beautiful Himalayas slopes there was a sage by name Bhargava Chyavana. That highly distinguished lady , Kalindi, with lotus eyes desirous of having a son made obeisance to that seer from Bhargava lineage. That Brahmin told that lady desirous of a son and wishing for the birth of a son as follows. 'Oh Distinguished lady ! From the foetus you are carrying you will soon have a mighty and highly radiant son. Oh Kamalakshi! Have no fear, he will bear the poison'. The auspicious lady who was sorrowing for her husband bowed to the sage Chyavana and the lady subsequently gave birth to a son".

"Because of being born with poison he was called as "sa gara" or "Sagara". Sagara had a son by name Asamanjasa. Asamanjasa had a son Aamsuman. Aamsuman 's son is Dileepa. Dileepa's son is very famous Bhagiratha . Bhagiratha had a son by name Kakutstha. Kakutstha had a son by name Raghu. the son of Raghu is the highly radiant Pravruddha. Pravruddha became Kalmashada. He had a son by name Samkhana. Samkhana's son is Sudarsana. Sudarsana's son is Agnivarna. Agnivarna's son is Seeghraga. Seeghraga's son is Maru. Maru's son is Prasusukra. Prasusukra had a son by name Ambarisha. Ambarisha had a son Nahusha who was the king of the whole earth. Nahusha had a son by name Yayati. Yayati's son is Nabhaga. Nabhaga's son is Aja. Aja's son is Dasaratha".

"The brothers born to Dasaratha are Rama and Lakshmana. These two born in the line of Ikshvaku are from a clean and auspicious dynasty, known to be ultimate observers of Dharma, upholders of truth ".

"Oh King ! Rama & Lakshmana are fit bride grooms for your daughters. O Best of kings it is most appropriate to give most suitable ones to the most suitable ones"

Thus ends the Sarga seventy of Balakanda in Ramayana

|| Om tat sat ||

रामलक्ष्मणयोरर्थे त्वत्सुते वरये नृप ।
सदृशाभ्यां नरश्रेष्ठ सदृशे दातुमर्हसि ॥

"Oh King ! Rama & Lakshmana are fit bride grooms for your daughters. O Best of men it is most appropriate to give suitable ones to the suitable ones."

||om tat sat ||

||om tat sat ||