page_title: Sribhargavaraghaviyam
section_title: Narrative
hierarchical_section_title: Sribhargavaraghaviyam / Narrative
caption_attribution_description: English: The marriage of the four sons of Dasharatha with the four daughters of Siradhvaja and Kushadhvaja Janakas. Rama and Sita, Laskhmana and Urmila, Bharata and Mandavi and Shatrughna and Shrutakirti are the four couples
context_page_description: Śrībhārgavarāghavīyam, literally Of Paraśurāma and Rāma, is a Sanskrit epic poem composed by Jagadguru Rambhadracharya. It consists of 2121 verses in 40 Sanskrit and Prakrit metres and is divided into 21 cantos of 101 verses each. The epic is the narrative of the two Rāma Avatars – Paraśurāma and Rāma, which is found in the Rāmāyaṇa and other Hindu scriptures. Bhārgava refers to Paraśurāma, as he incarnated in the family of the sage Bhṛgu, while Rāghava refers to Rāma as he incarnated in the royal dynasty of king Raghu. For the work, the poet was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit in 2005, and several other awards.
  A copy of the epic with a Hindi commentary by the poet himself was published by the Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University, Chitrakuta, Uttar Pradesh. The book was released by the then prime minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee on October 30, 2002.
context_section_description: The epic is composed in 21 cantos of 101 verses each. The first nine cantos describe the incarnation of Paraśurāma, his learning from the god Śiva on mount Kailāsa, the execution of his father's command to kill his mother and three brothers and their subsequent resurrection, his battle with the thousand-armed king Sahasrārjuna, the extermination of Kṣatriya ("warrior") race 21 times from the earth by him, and his confrontation with Śiva's son and the god of wisdom, Gaṇeśa. The next five cantos describe the incarnation of Rāma and his consort Sītā, and their child sports (Līlā). The final seven cantos follow the Bālakāṇḍa of the Rāmacaritamānasa, starting from Viśvāmitra's journey to Daśaratha's capital city Ayodhyā and ending with the marriage rites of the four sons of Daśaratha – Rāma being the eldest – in Mithilā.
  The summaries of the 21 cantos are given below.
  Śrībhārgavāvatāropakramaḥ (Sanskrit: श्रीभार्गवावतारोपक्रमः). The poet invokes the blessings of the goddess of learning Sarasvatī, Gaṇeśa, Śiva's consort Pārvatī, Śiva, Sītā and Rāma, and finally the two Rāmas, the subject of the narrative. Bhṛgu, the seventh son of the creator-god Brahmā, and his wife Khyāti beget a son named Ṛcīka in the seventh Manvantara. Ṛcīka marries Satyavatī, the daughter of the Kṣatriya king Gādhi. Ṛcīka prepares two bowls of Pāyasa for Satyavatī and her mother, with Brāhmaṇa and Kṣatriya qualities, respectively. Satyavatī's mother stealthily exchanges the bowls to get a son with Brāhmaṇa qualities (this son would later become Viśvāmitra). On knowing her mother's act, Satyavatī beseeches Ṛcīka to transfer the Kṣatriya qualities to her grandson, as she is afraid of getting a fierce or violent son. Ṛcīka obliges her and the couple get a son named Jamadagni. Jamadagni marries Reṇukā, the daughter of the sage Reṇu. The couple have three sons. For the fourth son, the couple performs penance to please Rāma. Meanwhile, a son named Arjuna is born to the Haihaya king Kṛtavīrya. Arjuna obtains the boon of a thousand arms from Dattātreya, he is subsequently known as Sahasrārjuna ("thousand-Arjuna"). Sahasrārjuna terrorizes the whole world – he stops the flow of the river Narmadā, defeats and incarcerates the demon-king Rāvaṇa (who is later released on the request of Pulastya), and takes over the Svarga ("heaven") and the offerings of the Yajña ("fire sacrifice") from the Devatās ("gods"). The distressed Devatas go to Sāketaloka with Brahmā and pray to Rāma. Rāma tells the Devatās that his Aṃśa will incarnate as the fourth son of Jamadagni and Reṇukā to slay Sahasrārjuna. This Aṃśa would annihilate despotic Kṣatriya races, offer all lands to the sage Kaśyapa, and would finally reenter him in Mithilā. The Devatās go back convinced and Reṇukā becomes pregnant with Rāma entering her womb.
  Dīkṣā (Sanskrit: दीक्षा). Reṇukā does not feel any weight, nor is troubled by the pregnancy. Jamadagni performs the Puṃsavana ceremony of Reṇukā, traditionally performed in the eighth month of pregnancy. All good omens happen for Reṇukā. The seven seers (Saptarṣi) bless her and the nine planets become favourable. Reṇukā gives birth to a child on the third day of the bright half of Vaiśākha month, known as Akṣayatṛtīyā. The deities, seers, and devotees rejoice. On the instruction of Bhṛgu, the child is named as Rāma by Jamadagni. Rāma is very fond of a toy-axe, and so he is also called Paraśurāma. The child tames and plays with wild animals like lions and tigers. Five years pass by, and ten Saṃskāras ("rites of passage") of the child are completed. Then the Upanayana ("sacred thread ceremony") ceremony of Paraśurāma is performed. Brahmā is the giver of the sacred thread, Śiva initiates the child in the Gayatrī Mantra, and Paraśurāma begs Reṇukā for alms. The canto ends with Paraśurāma going to the Kailāsa mountain to learn from his guru Śiva.
  Gurūpasattiḥ (Sanskrit: गुरूपसत्तिः). Paraśurāma is welcomed by Śiva at Kailāsa. Śiva promises to offer all his knowledge to his disciple. Śiva tells Paraśurāma that he knows him to be the Avatāra of Rāma, who knows everything be
caption: The four sons of Daśaratha get married with the four daughters of Sīradhvaja and Kuśadhvaja in the canto Śrīrāghavapariṇayaḥ
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "200", "Image YResolution": "200", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.6.11", "Image DateTime": "2011:05:27 20:01:50", "Image ExifOffset": "146", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "282", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8816", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "739", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "489"}