| Great Kings & Queens |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
DILEEPA |
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| Blessing Are
Fruitful The subjects were overjoyed that the royal couple had returned. After a few months, queen Sudakshina became pregnant. She gave birth to a son on an auspicious day. The king's joy knew no bounds. He gave gifts to everyone. He fed all the poor, and gave them clothes. All his subjects also felt happy that the future king was born. Just then the royal teacher Vasishtha came from his ashrama to Dileepa's capital. The king went out to meet him and welcomed him. He told him the good news by saying - "Your blessing have borne fruit. I have a son, thanks to the boon granted by the divine cow Nandini." Then Vasishtha described to him the greatness of a cow thus: "There is no living being more sacred than a cow. Grazing a cow,rearing it and milking it - these are not lowly jobs. A cow should be looked after with reverence. Looking after a cow augments our money and grains. You did not hesitate to do service to a cow though you are a king. You guarded it in the jungle and you offered yourself to the lion which come to kill the cow and eat it. Your history of wor- shipping the cow and getting the wishes fulfilled is an example to people." Dileepa thought of a name for his son. He called him 'Raghu' in the sense of one who was learned in the shastras and who vanquished the enemies in war. |
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