One day, Bhagwan Shri Ram accompanied by his prime minister,
Sumantra, and his three brothers (Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughn) went to the
Kulguru Vashishth’s Ashram. Bowing low before the Saint, Shri Ram said with
folded hands, “Revered Preceptor! I have done a number of Yajnas, so to say.
But my subjects are insisting on a horse-sacrifice Yajna (Ashwamedha Yajna).”
“May your desire be duly fulfilled, Ram” Saying so, the
Saint said to Bharat, “My son! Go and start preparations for the Ashwamedha
Yajna.”
“I’m here to obey you, Guruji,” Saying so, Bharat, Lakshman
and Shatrughn left the hermitage.
When the preparations for the Yajna were over, Lord Shri Ram
and Guru Vashishth inspected them and they felt very pleased to see the
arrangements that the three younger princes (Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughn)
had made. They praised their efforts and blessed them.
Now Shri Ramchandra summoned a number of messengers and gave
them certain directions. Then they were sent to various Kings and Rulers with a
view to informing them of the forthcoming Yajna. Not only this, some messengers
were sent to request the celebrated Saints of the day to come and grace the
occasion. It was done in consultation with Kulguru Vashishth.
Receiving the invitation, a number of Kings and Rulers
arrived at Ayodhya to take part in the Yajna. They included Sugreev, Vibhishan,
Jambvant, Nal & Neel, Vishwamitra also reached the site of the Yajna.
King Janak (Mithila Naresh), on being informed, marched to
Ayodhya along with his four winged army and a large number of Saints including
his Royal Priest Shatanand. Bharat was given the responsibility of entertaining
the guests.
Directed by his Preceptor, God Shri Ram got prepared a Gold
image of his wife Sita because Gurudev Vashishth had told him that no Yajna is
considered to be complete until and unless the wife sits on the left of the
husband, the performer of the Yajna. Everybody who was present on the occasion
praised the Gold image of Janak Kumari.
Two thousand scholarly Brahmanas were deputed to recite the
mantras. Also a beautiful White Horse was decorated profusely and brought to
the site of the performance. Thus the Yajna was started in the month of magha
(January) and Shri Ramchandra made offerings of Yajna material to the sacred
fire as instructed by the priests.
After the completion of the Yajna, the white horse was
brought near the sacred fire and necessary worship was performed. Than a Tilak
was put on the fore-head of the horse, also, a declaration was hung from its
saddle –
“Ram, The Ruler of Ayodhya, claims superiority to all the
Kings. Any on who likes to defy this claim, should catch the horse and invite a
war from the master of horse. If the claim is acceptable, a yearly tribute
should be sent to Ram.”
Then taking out an invincible arrow from his quiver, Lord
Raghuveer handed it across to Shatrughn and said, “Brother! Accost this horse
and return after winning all the Kings.”
“I’ll do the needful, brother.” Saying so, Shatrughn took
the arrow.”
Deputed for the over-all victory, Shatrughn proceeded on
this mission along with the Yajna-horse and a strong contingent of soldiers
with him. The force included four thousand horses, two thousand chariots and
elephants, a large number of campers, entertainers and dancers.
Shatrughn was given special instructions not to trouble
anybody anywhere during the journey until and unless somebody comes forward
with defiance of the declaration hung from the saddle of the Yajna-horse.
The first encounter took place between Shri Ram’s force and
Lavnasur, a very powerful demon chief, who had defeated Devatas, Nagas and a
number of Kings of his area.
Shatrughn besieged the capital of Lavnasur who came out with
a large army to face Shatrughn. A fierce battle followed. Seeing Lavnasur
killing the Koshala soldiers, Shatrughn shot Shri Ram’s invincible arrow at him
and he fell down dead on the ground. As a result, his soldiers ran away and
victorious Shatrughn proceeded forward.
The news of Lavnasur’s defeat and death broke the pride of
other headstrong Rulers and all of them accepted the over-lordship of Shri Ram
without taking courage to any sort of opposition.
Shatrughn went on marching forward extending Shri Ram’s sway
on every region he passed through.
Now Shatrughn entered a dense forest. The White Horse was
being followed by Shri Ram’s army under Shatrughn. It was the very forest where
Maharshi Valmiki had his Ashram and where Luv & Kush lived along with their
mother (Sita).
When the twin brothers Luv & Kush saw the White Horse,
they liked it very much. Luv said to his brother, “Kush! Look at that horse.
How fine it is! I feel like catching it and keeping it for our daily rides.”
“All right; let us catch it.” Saying so, Kush advanced to
catch the horse. Luv followed him closely too. Both the brothers caught the
horse and tied it to a nearby tree.
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