Shravan Kumar’s devotion to his parents

The Ramayan is an ancient Sanskrit epic written by the famous sage Valmiki. It describes Lord Rama's effort to rescue Sita from the demon king Ravana. It also describes the challenges faced by Lord Rama, Laxaman, and Sita when they were exiled from the kingdom for 14 years. Following is a story from “The Ramayana”.

In ancient India, there lived a poor boy named Shravan. He lived with his elderly parents. His parents were very old and blind. Shravan had devoted his life to serving his blind parents. He took care of every wish of his parents. His whole life was centredon serving his parents.

Once his parents expressed their desire to go on a pilgrimage but since they were blind, they could not go there alone. So, Shravan decided to take his parents to the pilgrimage. He made two large strong baskets and tied each basket on either side of a long bamboo stick. He made his parents sit on each basket and carried them on his shoulder. He then left for the pilgrimage carrying his parents on the shoulder. Shravan was so devoted to his parents that he did not feel their weight.

Shravan took his parents to pilgrim places. After a few months, they reached the outskirts of Ayodhya, the holy birthplace of Shri Ramchandra Bhagwan. They were resting in a forest and his parents were thirsty. So, Shravan went in search of water for his parents. He saw the river Saryu flowing nearby. As he bent down to take water, an arrow pierced his chest. King Dashrath had hit him by accident. The king was in the forest hunting for a deer. In fading light of the dusk, he mistook Shravan for a deer because of the gurgling sound of the water. The king then realised his mistake and ran towards Shravan. Even in his last breath, Shravan asked King Dashrath (Lord Ram’s father) to satisfy the thirst of his parents and let them know about the tragedy.

King Dashrath felt very bad and went to the blind couple with water. The parents were very sad to hear this and wished to be taken to Shravan. The king took them to Shravan. The old parents grieved at their son’s death. Dashrath bowed down and begged for forgiveness. Shravan’s father said, “Kind man, we do not want to curse you, as the power to curse is only in God’s hands. But we see your future. As we shall die longing for our son, you too shall die longing for your son.”

Soon the old parents died longing for their dear son. The couple’s words later turned out to be true for Dashrath. He, too died, longing for his son Shri Ram.

Moral:

Always respect and obey your parents. Serve them with utmost devotion.

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