Such was the greatness of the King Dasharatha but he had no sons and which caused him great grief. He decided to perform the great Ashwamedha Yajnya. This is a ceremony that only great emperors could perform because there would be challenges from other kings which the performer had to meet with success. So generally this was not attempted by many kings. The custom was that the king who performs these let's go of a horse which would go round all the neighboring countries and would return home without anyone capturing it. This would then mean that all the other kings accept the authority of the King who performs this Yajnya. On the contrary, if the horse was captured by some king then the king who performs the Yaga should fight a war with that king and win him. So Dasharatha consulted all his ministers and got their approval. He wanted his Guru Vashishtha to supervise the whole arrangements concerning the ritual and religious aspects. Dasharatha then asked his minister Sumantra who was the senior-most and also the charioteer to go and fetch the Guru Vashishtha and others.
Sumantra said that he had to inform Dasharatha of an important matter. With his permission, Sumantra narrated what had happened. A very long time ago he happened to hear from the mouth of Sanaka which needed to be known now by Dasharatha. This happened several thousands of years ago according to Sumantra. Let us not discuss the time scale here. Sanaka is one of Brahma's mind born sons along with Sananda, Sanatana and Sanatkumara. They are supposed to be eternal and immortal as Brahma is!
Sumantra said that Sanaka was predicting what was going to happen in the future. Sanaka said "To the great rishi Vibhandaka (son of Kashyapa) a son would be born called Rishyashringa who would become very famous. He would spend all his time serving his father in the Ashram hence totally ignorant of any worldly things. At that time Romapada would be ruling Anga country which would suffer from severe drought. The only way to get rain was to bring the great Brahmin Rishyashringa to his country. This he would do by sending beautiful women who lure Rishyashringa to come with them to Anga. As Rishyashringa had never seen women he will take them to be rishis from some land and follow them to Angal country. Of course, he will bring the rains, and to thank him the king Romapada will give his daughter Shanta in marriage to him". Sanaka continued "King Dasharatha will be ruling Ayodhya at that time. The king will have no progeny and hence will perform a big Yajnya and he will invite Rishyashringa and his wife to come to conduct that Yajnya. As a result, Dasharatha will be blessed with sons". Sumantra told all this and requested Dasharatha therefore to go and invite Rishyashringa and his wife Shanta who were living in Anga country to come to Ayodhya. Dasharatha complied with his request and with permission from Guru Vashishtha set forth with his four wives to Anga. He met the king Romapada who was also his friend and explained the reason for his visit. He succeeded in bringing Rishyashringa and his wife to Ayodhya where they lived for some time.
King Dasharatha then decided to start the Yajnya and took the permission of Rishyashringa. He then called for the great rishis, those who had mastered The Vedas, such as Vamadeva, Jabali, Kashyapa, and the Guru Vashishtha, and requested them to perform the Ashwamedha Yajnya strictly as per the rules. Dasharatha told them that he had been under great grief because he had no children and he hoped to be blessed by the Yajnya that was going to be performed He stressed the difficulties of performing such great Yajnya and the need to perform it without any shortcomings at all. Dasharatha often repeats that this Yajnya is so difficult that not many kings even attempt to perform it. From this, we can understand the magnitude of the preparations and the need to have experts conduct the ceremonies. They started the preparations and let the special horse to go around various countries. Anyone challenging the supremacy of Dasharatha should hold the horse and prepare to face the consequences of war.
The Yajnya began in spring almost a year after the planning started. The preparations were also elaborate. King ordered to bring to the site Yagasala, sculptors, architects, learned men, carpenters, those who were experts in water divining to dig wells, and many workers. Thousands of bricks were also ordered.
It is interesting to note that the making of bricks was already known at that time. It is well known that in Harappan (around 2000 BCE) and pre-Harappan civilizations well-cut bricks with precise dimensions were used to build the cities, the samples of which we can still see today in Lothal in Gujarat
Vashishtha was given full responsibility for the organization of the ceremony. The area where the Yajnya was to be done was selected as per the rules on the northern bank of the river Sarayu. Valmiki gives a detailed description of the arrangements and the ceremony which is quite interesting. Let us see some of them.
The construction of Yaga sala was very elaborate. Mathematicians and astrologers were called to calculate every detail. The yagashala (fire altar) had special shapes. Several residences were built for the invitees. Sweets, food, and drinks were prepared in a large scale. Special instructions were given that all should be properly served. It is noteworthy that it was insisted that all the Varnas (category) of people should be equally and well treated without exception. All those workers should be well fed and rewarded properly. Vashishtha asks Sumantra to send invitations to various kings. They were Mithila's king Janaka, King of Kashi (Varanashi existed even then), Dasharatha's Sambandi the king of Kekaya country (Kaikeyi's father), and his son and Romapada. Of great interest is to note that also kings from Eastern countries, Sindhu, Sauveera, Saurashtra, Southern countries, and also several other friends and relatives. It is known to all that even now when a wedding invitation is sent, it is specifically mentioned that the person comes with his family and friends. A detailed description of how the Yajnya was conducted is given by Valmiki. The ceremony started with "Pravargya", followed by "Upasath" and "Pratasavana". There was a great feast where old and young, Brahmins as well as Shudras, sanyasis, and rishis, ladies, and children all ate. It is stressed that all ate within limits and there was no overeating! During the feast several Brahmins chanted Vedas, some carried on discussions to exhibit their talents.
I remember as a young boy during feasts either at a wedding or a religious function when the Payasam was served, some will start singing and show their talents. This would go on and become an excuse for serving more Payasam and this session went on for some time.
Valmiki also gives a detailed description of the various procedures adopted. He talks of twenty-four posts made of Vilva, Devadaru trees, and so on, well decorated with a cloth. The offerings to Devas were carried out. There were cows, snakes, and birds collected in one place. Three hundred cows and the best horse belonging to Dasharatha were tied to the wooden posts. The proper place where the Yaga (offering into the fire) was performed called the Fire Altar was constructed with well-cut bricks of appropriate size. The design was done by Vedic Brahmins. It had the form of a Garuda with golden wings.
Actually, a lot of Mathematics and Trigonometry were involved in constructing the Fire Altar or the Yagashala as the place was called. This involved geometrical calculations. Some authors have written on such matters. I will explain the details. For instance, there were five layers of bricks and the total number was 396. This was to represent 360 days in a year and 36 additional days as the days of the intercalary months. This comes from the fact that the number of days in a year is close to 364 days. The sum of the bricks in the fourth and fifth layers (47+138 =185 plus one for filling=186) represents the number of 'tithis' in half-year. There was a lot of symbolism involved. The falcon-shaped construction was typical and there was also a circular arrangement. Different shapes were used for attaining different objectives and this was determined by Vedic Brahmins who were well read this science. Sometimes some parts of the brick construction were also covered with gold as Valmiki says here. We find details of the construction of Fire Altars for instance, in Taittiriya Samhita.
In the procedure, Kausalya killed (with pleasure) the horse that had traveled around the countries and returned victoriously, with three swords! Then she spent the night with the horse meditating on the Yaga. All this is a bit unusual if not shocking to us as we expect no such killings. But this was in vogue at that time. The horsemeat was then separated and sixteen Brahmins then offered all the parts of the horse into the fire. The ceremony went on for three days. On the first day, 'Agnishtomam is performed; on the second and third days 'Ukhtyam' and 'Atiratraha' are performed. If one attempts to write fully the description it would be too long and I think it is not of great use because many of the terms in Sanskrit. are not translated but just employed as such. After the Yaga was over, the king offered generously gifts to the Brahmins who were all very pleased. They all blessed the king.
Then Dasharatha asked Rishyashringa to bless him with progeny (Putrabhagyam). The great Brahmin said that the king would be blessed with four sons. He also said that he was going to perform a Yaga related to getting children.
It is generally said that Dasharatha performed a Yaga called Putrakameshti Yaga. But in Valmiki Ramayana, such a word does not occur.
As Rishyashringa was performing the Yaga all the Devas came and assembled (it is not clear where they assembled but apparently in Devaloka. It seems that this event took place sometime before). They all then addressed Lord Brahma and said that there was a Rakshasa king called Ravana who by Brahma's grace had acquired a lot of power and become invincible. He was troubling all the worlds and destroyed the Brahmins who conducted yagas. Devas were helpless because of the power he had acquired from Brahma. Even the Sun and the Moon were afraid of him. Even the wind and the seas became still in front of him and awaited his orders to move. They all prayed to Lord Brahma to protect them from Ravana. Brahma said that the time had come for the end of Ravana. Lord Brahma said that Ravana wanted from him a boon by which neither the Devas nor the Rakshasa nor the Gandharvas can put him to death. As he considered the human beings insignificant he did not ask for protection from them. So Brahma said that he would be killed by a man. At this point, Vishnu appeared in all his splendor and glory armed with his mace, his discus, and his conch. Lord Brahma and all the Devas prayed to him and sang in his praise. Lord Brahma prayed to Lord Vishnu to divide himself into four parts and be born to the three wives of Dasharatha the king of Ayodhya. He prayed that The Lord be born as a man in the world and kill Ravana.
Lord Vishnu agreed to help the Devas and pondered about taking birth in the world as a man. The difference between God being born in the world and the normal man is that He wills and does so whereas the man has no choice. Lord Vishnu then said, "I will be born on the earth and destroy Ravana with all his relatives and friends and will reign in the world for tens of thousands of years". Then He made himself into four parts and desired Dasharatha as his father. All the Devas, Rishis, and Gandharvas sang in his praise and worshipped Him.
As one reads Valmiki Ramayana it appears that the above things were happening in Devaloka before Dasharatha was performing the Yaga related to childbirth (Putriyam Ishtihi). One generally calls it Putrakameshti Yaga but Valmiki does not use this word.
In Ayodhya when Rishyashringa performed the Yaga and while he was making the offerings in the fire there arose from the fire a figure with matchless brilliance dressed in red and as tall as a mountain. The Purusha (Valmiki uses the word Bhooth meaning a ghost but which is not the appropriate word here. So I use the word Purusha) wore many jewels, had a big red mouth, and so on. He carried in his hand a gold vessel which was filled with wonderful (Divya payasa) 'Payasam'. He addressed the king Dasharatha and said that he was a Purusha from Brahma. King paid him respect and asked what he could do for him. Then the Purusha said that as a fruit of his worshipping the Devas, the king had been offered the vessel of Payasam. Dasharatha should give that to his wives to be eaten and they will be blessed with sons. The king was so pleased; he accepted the vessel and thanked the Purusha who then disappeared.
Dasharatha rushed to his queens. He gave half the content of the vessel to Kausalya. Then he gave half of the remaining half (that is fourth) to Sumitra. Kaikeyi gets half of what remains, which is one-eighth. The remaining portion which is also one eighth he gave to Sumitra again. This is rather an interesting if not a queer way of distributing. But it happened so. In a short time, they became pregnant for the happiness of all and Dasharatha was so pleased that he resembled Indra in Devaloka. Dasharatha returned to Ayodhya happily after suitably honoring the Brahmins and priests and so on. Dasharatha took Rishyashringa and his wife along with him to Ayodhya.
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