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They sang of Ram, the prince of Kosala, and his brothers. They sang of the princess Sita, born of the earth and brought up by King Janak. They told how Ram had won her hand in marriage by stringing the great bow of Shiv. They sang of old King Dasaratha's favourite queen Kaikeyi and her evil counselor Manthara. They told of the old king's sorrow as his favourite son Ram was banished into the forest, together with his lovely wife Sita and loyal brother Lakshman. The twins then sang of the treachery of Marichi and the wickedness of Ravan, of Sita's long and lonely imprisonment on the golden island of Lanka. They sang of Ram's grief, and his anger. They sang of Hanuman the monkey and Jambavan the bear, and of the valiant army who set out to rescue Sita. They told of the battle between Ram and Ravan that raged for ten long furious days. They told of Ram's return to Ayodhya with Sita, and of his coronation as king. They told also of Ram's decree that Sita be banished to the forest, for pure and blameless though she was, the people of Ayodhya were not willing to accept her as such after her long stay in Ravan's prison. They told of Sita alone in the forest, till rescued by the ascetics of Valmiki's ashram.
Ram listened, spellbound. He realised that the two young boys could be no other than his own sons. He was overjoyed, and overwhelmed with sorrow at the same time. He held the boys close, and asked them about their mother Sita.
Lav and Kush were almost too amazed to answer. They couldn't believe that they had found their father, that the king whose horse they had stopped was Ram himself!
'I need to find your mother now,' he told his sons. 'Both she and I have done penance enough, and it is time she came back to Ayodhya and took her rightful place by my side.'
Lav and Kush, the Royal Twins cont'd...
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