Birth of Kuśa and Lava (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa)
The Janma Khaṇḍa of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa tells of the births of Kuśa and Lava with several details that are found only in this text. Kuśa is born in the usual way to Sītā at Vālmīki’s āśrama, and Rāma secretly comes in the Pushpaka Vimāna to see his newborn son. Lava is not born in the usual way. Vālmīki makes him from a blade of kuśa grass by the power of his tapas (austerity), at a moment when Kuśa was out of Sītā’s arms. The text also tells how Lakshmaṇa was ordered to cut off Sītā’s arm, and how Viśvakarmā made an artificial arm to spare her.
Lakshmaṇa’s order and Viśvakarmā’s arm
Before the birth, Rāma gave Lakshmaṇa an order that caused him great pain. He was told to cut off Sītā’s arm. Lakshmaṇa was deeply troubled by the command and could not bring himself to carry it out on Sītā.
Viśvakarmā, the divine builder, stepped in. He made a perfect artificial arm from divine materials. It looked and felt exactly like Sītā’s own arm, and it took the place of the real arm that Lakshmaṇa was meant to take. Lakshmaṇa put the artificial arm in a sealed box (peṭikā) and kept it. Sītā’s real arm stayed whole.
Years later this arm would matter in the assembly (sabhā) where Sītā was recognised. Rāma would ask Lakshmaṇa to bring it out as proof. Even after many years it was still whole, with flesh and blood, and this showed Sītā’s divine nature to the whole assembly. (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Janma Kāṇḍa, chapter 4)
Kuśa’s birth and Rāma’s secret visit
Sītā gave birth to Kuśa at Vālmīki’s āśrama in the forest. The birth came at an auspicious moment. Vālmīki and the women ascetics of the āśrama were present. When the child was born, the devas in svarga played their instruments and showered flowers, but quietly, so that the world would not notice.
At the moment of Kuśa’s birth, Rāma knew of it through his divine awareness. He mounted the Pushpaka Vimāna at Ayodhyā and travelled in secret to the āśrama. Hidden from all eyes, he saw the newborn Kuśa, embraced him in his heart, blessed him, and went back to Ayodhyā before dawn. This was a father’s first sight of his son, an act of love done in secret. It fitted the larger plan of loka-śikshaṇa (teaching the world). The world was not yet to know that Rāma had a son. (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Janma Kāṇḍa, chapter 4)
Lava made from kuśa grass
The birth of Lava is unusual. One day Sītā needed to bathe in the river. She carried the infant Kuśa to the riverbank. She put him down on the ground for a moment while she went into the water. When she came back, the child was not where she had left him. She was frightened as only a mother can be.
Vālmīki understood what had happened and acted quickly. He took a blade of kuśa grass, filled it with the power of his stored tapas, and spoke the right mantras. From that blade of grass he made a living child, the same as Kuśa in form and radiance. The child was named Lava. The name comes from the word lava, meaning “a small cut”, or the blade of kuśa grass itself.
When Sītā returned, she found two children. One was Kuśa, whom the attendants of the āśrama had found and brought back. The other was the new child Lava, whom Vālmīki gave to her. Both were raised from then on as Sītā’s sons, though it was known that Lava came from Vālmīki’s creative tapas.
Rāma speaks of this openly later in the assembly: “I know that Kuśa is my own born son, and that Lava was created from kuśa grass by you out of compassion when Sītā was alarmed.” (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Janma Kāṇḍa, chapter 4)
Their training at Vālmīki’s āśrama
Vālmīki raised both Kuśa and Lava at the āśrama, together with Sītā. He taught them the four Vedas, the Vedāṅgas and the science of weapons. Most of all, he taught them the whole Rāmāyaṇa, the very account of their own father, set to music. The two boys learned to perform the Rāmāyaṇa in perfect melody. They sang its twenty-four thousand ślokas in seven musical modes, and made their voices the instrument of the ādikāvya (the first poem).
Vālmīki also gave Kuśa the Śrī Rāma Rakshā Stava. It is the highest kavaca (protective prayer). It had been received from Bhagavān Śiva through Viśvāmitra. Pārvatī had used it to protect Skanda in his battle with Tārakāsura. This kavaca was Kuśa’s divine armour. (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Janma Kāṇḍa, chapters 4–5)
Sources
- Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Janma Kāṇḍa, chapter 4
- Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Janma Kāṇḍa, chapters 4–5 (the training and the Śrī Rāma Rakshā Stava)