In India’s Sanatan Dharma, the Ramayana is regarded as a very great and sacred scripture, in which the character of Lord Rama is described. Lord Rama is considered Maryada Purushottam, endowed with fourteen divine virtues. Since, after the original Ramayana of Valmiki, many other versions of the Ramayana were written later, the story of Rama’s birth is found with slight variations in different Ramayanas.
The episode we are discussing here is an incident connected to the Ramayana. Most people know the story as follows: King Dasharatha was skilled in using the Shabd-bhedi Baan (the arrow that strikes by sound). One day, when Shravan Kumar came to the river to fetch water to quench the thirst of his blind parents, King Dasharatha—who had come there for hunting—heard a sound near the river that he mistook for an animal. He released his sound-guided arrow, which struck Shravan Kumar directly, killing him. Later, Shravan Kumar’s parents cursed King Dasharatha.
However, some people raise a question: if King Dasharatha truly knew how to use the Shabd-bhedi Baan, then shouldn’t the arrow have struck the water pot rather than Shravan Kumar himself?
According to the learned scholar of the Puranas, Shri Aniruddhacharya Ji, this episode has a different explanation. When Ravana came to know about the manner of his own death, he thought, “Why not eliminate Dasharatha, the father of the one who will be born as Rama?” From that very day, Ravana began following Dasharatha. One day, while pursuing him, Ravana reached the forest, where Dasharatha had gone hunting.
Dasharatha’s sound-guided arrow actually struck the water pot, not Shravan Kumar. But Ravana killed Shravan Kumar with that very arrow and, using his magical powers, restored the pot to its original state. After killing Shravan Kumar, Ravana left the place.
Later, when King Dasharatha arrived there, he believed that Shravan Kumar had died by his own hand. Consequently, Shravan Kumar’s parents cursed King Dasharatha.
