Romapāda

Romapāda was the king of Aṅga deśa (the land of Aṅga). A long drought fell on his kingdom because of a pāpa (sin) against a brāhmaṇa. He ended the drought by bringing the young ṛshi (seer) Ṛshyaśṛṅga to Aṅga, and he gave his daughter Śāntā to Ṛshyaśṛṅga in marriage. This marriage later became the family bond that led to the Putrakāmeshṭi yajña (fire ritual for obtaining a son) of King Daśaratha.

The drought and its cause

Romapāda had made a promise to a brāhmaṇa and had not kept it. After this, the rains failed in Aṅga. Year after year no rain fell. The crops failed, the cattle died, and the kingdom fell into deep distress. Romapāda asked learned brāhmaṇas for a remedy. They told him that only the presence of Ṛshyaśṛṅga, the deer-horned ṛshi, could bring the rain back. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa tells this in the Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapter 9.

The plan to bring Ṛshyaśṛṅga

Ṛshyaśṛṅga’s father, the ṛshi Vibhāṇḍaka, was fierce, and everyone feared his anger. So Romapāda could not approach the young ṛshi in an ordinary way. Instead he sent gaṇikās (courtesans) into the forest. Ṛshyaśṛṅga knew nothing of the world, and he saw these women only as wonderful beings who made him curious. The gaṇikās won his interest and led him, stage by stage, into Aṅga. The Bāla Kāṇḍa tells this in Chapters 10 and 11.

The rain and the marriage

As soon as Ṛshyaśṛṅga crossed into Aṅga, rain fell at once and in plenty. Romapāda received the ṛshi with full royal honour. He gave him Śāntā in marriage. Śāntā was Romapāda’s adopted daughter. She was born to Daśaratha and given to Romapāda in adoption. Romapāda gained twice: his kingdom was restored, and he became united by family with the most powerful living ṛtvij (priest who conducts a yajña). The Bāla Kāṇḍa tells this in Chapter 11.

The account in the Mahābhārata

The Vana Parva of the Mahābhārata (Chapters 110 to 113) tells the same account. Ṛshi Lomaśa tells it to Yudhishṭhira during their tīrtha-yātrā (journey to holy places), at the place connected with Aṅga. In this telling too, Romapāda had wronged a brāhmaṇa by breaking a promise, and the drought was the result. His brāhmaṇas told him that only Ṛshyaśṛṅga could end the famine. Ṛshyaśṛṅga was born in the forest to Vibhāṇḍaka and an apsarā (a heavenly woman).

Romapāda sent a courtesan into the forest. She found the young ṛshi, who had never seen a woman. She won him with her care and beauty, and she persuaded him to follow her by boat along the river to Campā, the capital of Aṅga. As soon as Ṛshyaśṛṅga crossed the border of Aṅga, the rains fell. Romapāda received him with the highest honour and gave him Śāntā in marriage. She was his adopted daughter, born first to Daśaratha.

Vibhāṇḍaka came looking for his son and followed him to Romapāda’s court. Romapāda’s ministers had arranged for cows and gifts to be offered along the route, so that Vibhāṇḍaka’s anger cooled before he arrived. He accepted the marriage and blessed the couple. Years later, Daśaratha asked for Ṛshyaśṛṅga’s help. Romapāda then let Ṛshyaśṛṅga and Śāntā go to perform the Putrakāmeshṭi yajña, from which Rāma was born.

Romapāda in the Anuśāsana Parva

In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīshma gives a list of kings who became famous for dāna (giving). The same king appears there under the name Lokapāda. He gave his daughter Śāntā to Ṛshyaśṛṅga, and by this gift he became worthy of honour and received all that he wished for.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapters 9 to 12
• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 110 to 113
• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 137