Little Ramayana: Rama is born

Told in English, Telugu.

Long, long ago, there was a beautiful city called Ayodhya. It had tall white houses, green gardens, and a big, shining palace.

In that palace lived a good king. His name was King Dasaratha. He loved his people very much, and his people loved him too.

King Dasaratha had three queens. Queen Kausalya, Queen Kaikeyi, and Queen Sumitra. They were kind and gentle, and they all lived happily together.

But the king had one little sadness in his heart. There were no children in the palace. No little feet running. No little voices laughing. The king would sit by the window and sigh.

Then his wise teacher, the sage Vasishtha, came to him and said, "Do not be sad, my king. Let us pray together. Wait and see, wait and see, something good is coming."

Can you say it with me? Wait and see, wait and see, something good is coming.

So the king called the wise sages. They made a big holy fire and sat around it. They sang prayers, and the fire glowed bright, bright, bright.

And then, something wonderful happened. Out of the fire came a shining, glowing being. In his hands was a golden bowl. And in the bowl was sweet, sweet payasam.

The shining one smiled and said, "King Dasaratha, give this payasam to your queens. Soon you will have children."

The king was so happy! He held the golden bowl very carefully and walked to his queens.

He gave some payasam to Queen Kausalya. He gave some to Queen Kaikeyi. And he gave some to Queen Sumitra. Each queen ate it with a happy smile.

Then they waited. One month, two months, many months. The king was patient. Wait and see, wait and see, something good is coming.

And then, one bright spring day, on the ninth day of the month of Chaitra, the sun was shining warm and golden. That was the day a baby boy was born to Queen Kausalya.

His name was Rama.

Little Rama had a lovely dark face, like a rain cloud full of cool rain. His eyes were soft and big, like lotus flowers. When he smiled, everyone around him smiled too.

Soon more babies came. Queen Kaikeyi had a baby boy named Bharata. And Queen Sumitra had two baby boys, twins, named Lakshmana and Shatrughna.

Four little princes! Four little brothers in the palace!

King Dasaratha laughed with joy. His sadness was all gone. Now the palace was full of little feet running and little voices laughing.

The whole city of Ayodhya celebrated. People hung flowers on their doors. They played drums and sang songs. They shared sweets with everyone. Even the birds in the trees seemed to sing louder that day.

And do you know? We still remember Rama's birthday today. We call it Sri Rama Navami. On that day, Amma makes cool panakam and vadapappu, and we sing songs for little Rama.

The four brothers grew up together, playing and learning side by side. And Rama and Lakshmana became the very best of friends.

But that is a story for another night.

For now, close your eyes and remember. The good king prayed and waited, and something good came. Wait and see, wait and see, something good is coming.

Good night, little one.