Kuśa and Lava

Kuśa-Lava, simply known as Kusha and Lava, Sanskrit: कुश-लव, Telugu: కుశలవులు, Hindi: कुश और लव.

Kuśa and Lava are the twin sons of Śrī Rāma and Sītā. They were born at the āśrama (hermitage) of Vālmīki Maharshi and raised there by the ṛshi (seer) after Sītā was left in the forest.

They were the first singers of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. Vālmīki taught them the whole text of 24,000 ślokas (verses). They carried it into the world through their sweet public singing. Their appearance in Rāma’s court, singing his own story before he knew who they were, is one of the most moving moments of the itihāsa (sacred history).

Birth and upbringing

Rāma bowed to public opinion and asked his brother Lakshmaṇa to take the pregnant Sītā and leave her at Vālmīki’s āśrama in the forest. Vālmīki received Sītā with compassion and gave her protection. The twins were born in that holy forest.

They grew up as muni-kumāras (young ascetics) in bark and deerskin. They lived as forest-dwelling brahmin students. They did their sandhyā-vandana (daily prayers at the junctions of the day), studied the Vedas, and served Vālmīki Maharshi as their guru. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapter 4, tells this.

Training in the Rāmāyaṇa

After he composed the Rāmāyaṇa, Vālmīki taught the whole text to Kuśa and Lava. He taught it as full musical performance, not only as recitation. They learned it in the style of sāma-gāna (sung chant), with proper laya (rhythm), fit for vādya-yukta gāna (singing with musical instruments).

They became masters of the text. They could sing all seven kāṇḍas, all 500 sargas and all 24,000 ślokas. Everyone who heard them was moved to tears. Their mastery was devoted as well as skilled, because they were singing about their own father and mother. (Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapter 4)

The performance before Rāma

Kuśa and Lava sang the Rāmāyaṇa in public, and in time in Rāma’s own court in Ayodhyā. Rāma heard of two young brahmin ascetics who sang an extraordinary poem, and he called them. As they sang before the full assembly, all who were present were overcome by the beauty of the poem, the sweetness of their voices and the depth of their feeling.

Rāma was deeply moved. He also saw how much the boys looked like him. He did not yet know who they were.

Those who saw Kuśa and Lava wondered that two boys looked so alike, and so like Rāma, as if Rāma had been divided into two forms. Rāma honoured them with gold and gifts. In time Vālmīki came and spoke for them, and the truth of their birth was made known. Father and sons were united. (Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapter 4)

First singers of the Rāmāyaṇa

Vālmīki composed the Rāmāyaṇa through yogic vision. Kuśa and Lava brought it into the world through song. They are the first to carry the Rāmāyaṇa tradition, the two voices through which the Ādi Kāvya (the first poem) first entered the world as something heard and felt.

The Uttara Kāṇḍa account

The Uttara Kāṇḍa says that after the Aśvamedha yajña (horse sacrifice), Vālmīki brought Sītā before the assembly. She entered the earth (bhūpraveśa). Rāma then arranged the succession. Kuśa was made king of Kuśāvatī in southern Kosala. Lava was made king of Śrāvastī in northern Kosala. (Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 106)

The Tulasī Rāmāyana, Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa

Upbringing and education

The Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa of the Tulasī Rāmāyana says that Lava and Kuśa were born and raised at Vālmīki’s āśrama in the deep forest after Sītā was left there. Vālmīki taught them the Vedas, all the sciences and all the martial arts, including the use of divine weapons. He also taught them the whole Rāmāyaṇa in sāma-gāna. The boys shone like young suns, and their faces looked very much like Rāma’s. (Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa, Chapters 7–9)

The Aśvamedha horse

Rāma’s Aśvamedha horse came into the forest near Vālmīki’s āśrama while Lava and Kuśa were playing in the woods. They read the challenge letter tied to the horse’s forehead. It said that anyone strong enough should bind the horse and face the forces that went with it. The boys did not hesitate. They caught the horse, stood against the guarding soldiers and drove them off with their arrows. (Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa, Chapter 9)

The battles

Two young muni-kumāras then defeated every champion Rāma sent against them.

• Śatrughna came first with an army. Lava and Kuśa used the Mohanāstra (a weapon that puts the enemy into a swoon) and he lost consciousness.
• Lakshmaṇa came next. He and Lava traded strong blows, and Lakshmaṇa was quietly amazed at the boy’s strength. Lakshmaṇa struck Lava down with one arrow. Kuśa answered with the Mohanāstra and bound even Lakshmaṇa, who is said to be able to bind even the Trimūrti. Saumitri (Lakshmaṇa) fell unconscious.
• Bharata was sent with the whole army: vānaras, rākshasas and the armies of Ayodhyā, under Sugrīva, Vibhīshaṇa, Jāmbavān, Hanumān and Aṅgada. Even this great army was defeated. Lava’s arrow sent Sugrīva a yojana (a long measure of distance) through the air. Kuśa bound the hands and feet of Jāmbavān. Hanumān and Aṅgada were caught and bound. Bharata himself fell.

(Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa, Chapters 9–10)

Meeting their father

Word reached Rāma that all his brothers and champions lay defeated, and he marched to the battlefield. He called out the names of his heroes, and his voice alone woke them. Then he went to where Lava and Kuśa stood guard over the bound horse, and he saw the two boys for the first time.

When he saw them, joy, wonder and a tenderness he could not explain rose in Rāma’s heart. He asked them gently for their names and family. The boys answered: “Our mother’s name is Jānakī. We do not know who our father is. The Maharshi raised us. Our names are Lava and Kuśa.”

Another round of fighting followed, and even Rāma fell for a time to the reach of the Mohanāstra. But Kuśa came near the fallen Rāma, saw his divine radiance, felt ashamed and drew back.

Then Vālmīki Maharshi arrived and told them the truth. The boys were Rāma’s own sons, born of Sītā at the āśrama, with the Sun as witness. Rāma’s heart overflowed. He embraced his sons warmly, smelled the fragrance of their heads, and was filled with vātsalya (a parent’s tender love). The devas poured amṛta (the nectar of life) from the sky, and it woke all who lay wounded or unconscious on the field. (Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa, Chapter 11)

The kingdoms in the Tulasī account

In the Tulasī account of Rāma’s mahāprasthāna (his final departure), the kingdoms were given this way.

• Kuśa became king of Dakshiṇa Kośala (southern Kosala, centred on Ayodhyā).
• Lava became king of Lava-pura (northern Kosala, later called Śrāvastī).

(Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa, Chapter 16)

The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Janma Khaṇḍa

The Janma Khaṇḍa gives the fullest account of how Kuśa and Lava were born, raised and recognised. It has several features of its own.

Different births. In the Janma Khaṇḍa, Kuśa and Lava did not share one birth. Kuśa was born to Sītā in the usual way. Sītā once left the infant Kuśa alone by mistake. Vālmīki then made Lava from a blade of kuśa grass, using his tapas (austerity) to form a living child just like Kuśa. Rāma himself says this in the royal assembly at the recognition. (Janma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 4)

The leaving was agreed beforehand, and Sītā knew. The Janma Khaṇḍa says Sītā was not sent away without knowing. Rāma told her the whole five-year plan before she left. Father and mother were both part of this loka-śikshaṇa (teaching for the world). (Janma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 3)

The performance in the assembly. Kuśa and Lava sang the Janma Khaṇḍa itself, the very khaṇḍa that tells of their own birth and childhood, before the whole royal assembly gathered for the 100th Aśvamedha. The sons sang the story of their own births before a father who did not know them. (Janma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8)

The sign in the duel. At the height of the duel of astras (divine weapons) between Kuśa and Rāma, the arrows from Rāma’s bow fell at Kuśa’s head, in respect. The arrows from Kuśa’s bow fell at Rāma’s feet, in devotion. This was a divine sign that showed the bond of father and son to all who watched, without a word. (Janma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 7)

The arm made by Viśvakarmā. At the recognition, Lakshmaṇa brought out the artificial arm that Viśvakarmā had made years before. It still had flesh and blood in it after all that time. When it was shown to the assembly, it dissolved, its purpose done. (Janma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8)

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapter 4
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 69–70, 96–100, 106
• Tulasī Rāmāyana, Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa, Chapters 7–12, 16
• Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Janma Khaṇḍa, Chapters 3–9