King Dasaratha, the noble and courageous descendant of the Surya dynasty, ruled over the kingdom of Kosala from the capital city of Ayodhya. He had three queens: Kausalya, Sumitra, and Kaikeyi, Dasaratha was blessed with fame, glory, peace, and prosperity. But he had one great sorrow; he did not have any children.

One day, King Dasaratha went hunting in the forest. He and his men roamed the forest when suddenly they heard a gurgling sound in the distance. Thinking it to be a animal drinking water, the king shot his arrow in that direction.

When Dasaratha came to the spot he found a youth lying seriously wounded by the arrow. He was shravana Kumar, the only son of an old and blind couple. He had come to fetch water to quench the thirst of his parents resting in the forest. Shravana carried his old parents on his shoulders, in a palanquin, where ever he went.

Even while dying, Shravana could only think of his helpless parents. He held Dasaratha's hands and asked him to take the pitcher of water to his parents. Unsuspectingly the old couple drank the water, but an extremely sorrowful Dasaratha could not withhold the truth. He told Shravana's parents how he had unknowingly killed their son.

Shocked by the news, the grieving parents cursed Dasaratha with putrasoka, which meant that he would go through the same agony of child loss.

Years later, this curse led to the exile of Rama, and Dasaratha suffered the pain of separation from his favourite son.