Acts of Selfless Service and Agastya Narrates Tales of Shveta, Danda to Rama

We need to remind ourselves that the purpose behind creating and writing this blog on Lord Rama is to dissipate his form, virtues in the outer world and be of service to him. Many view that writing about an ideal or God is a form of seva or selfless service, especially when it is done to educate, inspire, uplift and bring clarity to others in their regular lives and those on spiritual path. Writing about the spotless Rama, a story which has been believed and passed on for thousands of years for the good of others is a service to humanity. In these tough times, we need to remind us that we are walking along the path of serving humanity or doing seva in general. That is the only good we can do. Because service to Rama is service to humanity and service to humanity is service to God. When we are channeling our inner creativity to share truth, spread the story of Rama and helping create better communities, countries and world, it can be called as a beautiful form of seva. 

While I am involved in this form of seva for the past three years writing on the most divine and radiant story ever heard to light up our lives, let me also tell about the different forms of services that can be rendered by common men and women. Spiritual practices like prayer, meditation, chanting, or studying sacred texts, when done sincerely, can be a form of inner service. Offerings like writing, music, or art inspired by love for the divine—can be seva when shared with the intent to uplift or inspire. Guiding others—especially children or new seekers—on their spiritual or moral path can be a powerful form of service. Serving in a temple, mosque, church, gurudwara, or other sacred space, whether by cleaning, organizing, or helping others participate can be a form of seva. There are many varied ways we can render service to God through service to humanity but the most important ideal to take away is we should be in a path to render divine service. By virtue of God given strength, I could make use of this space ever since I came to US and be of service to one and all. I am sure we are all taking one form or other seva based on our own limits and capabilities and doing great service. 

Even if I am drifting a bit, in the west, the majority who follow Christianity consider Jesus Christ to be the greatest servant of humanity of all time. He healed the sick, uplifted the poor, forgave even his enemies, and ultimately gave his life for the sake of others—a profound act of love and service that reverberates across centuries. In our own epic, as iterated many times, Lord Hanuman is revered as the param bhakta (supreme devotee) or ultimate servant of Lord Rama. But what truly makes Hanuman the greatest servant is his bhava—his inner attitude. He never sought recognition or reward. When Rama once asked him how he saw their relationship, Hanuman replied: “When I believe I am the body, I am your servant. When I believe I am the soul, I am a part of you. But when I know the truth, you and I are one.” That depth of devotion—where service becomes love, and love becomes oneness—is what makes Hanuman’s example so timeless and powerful. We can imbibe these acts of extreme self-less service and at least try to be a tiny fraction of these powerful figures to serve the world for the better. It can be the biggest positive difference we can make. 

Coming back to the story, we are delving on the story of the poor Brahmin’s son who lost his life due to a penance performed by a Shudra. In the Treta Yuga, Rama comes across Shambuka, a Shudra ascetic who is engaging in forbidden penance. To uphold dharma and restore order, Rama beheads him, which in turn revives the son of a Brahmin. The gods are pleased with Rama's actions, and he later visits Rishi Agastya, who honors him and presents him with a divine ornament. At first, Rama hesitates to accept it, but after learning about the divine origins of kingship, he decides to take it. Agastya then shares a fascinating story about a vast wilderness and a beautiful lake where he witnessed a radiant youth, a celestial being known as Nakin, descend from a divine chariot. This youth shockingly consumed a corpse before leaving. Agastya, both shocked and intrigued, questions the young man, sensing there might be a deeper spiritual mystery behind this unsettling act. 

 

In chapter 78, Shveta tells his story. 

 

Rishi Agastya continued his story to Rama, recounting a mysterious encounter with a radiant celestial being by the serene lake in the forest. When Agastya questioned this divine figure about the strange and disturbing act of eating a corpse, the celestial being respectfully responded with joined palms, revealing his identity and tragic tale. 

He introduced himself as Shveta, the elder son of King Sudeva of the Vidarbha kingdom. Sudeva had two sons—Shveta and Suratha—by two different queens. After their father’s death, Shveta was crowned king by the people. He ruled for a thousand years with justice and dharma, taking care of his subjects with wisdom and fairness. When he began to feel the signs of aging, Shveta renounced the throne and passed the kingdom to his younger brother, Suratha. Then he retired to the forest to live the life of an ascetic and focus on spiritual practice. 

He settled near the beautiful and remote lake Agastya had visited and began performing intense penance and austerities for thousands of years. These efforts were so powerful that they earned him a place in Brahmaloka—the highest heaven, said to be the abode of Brahma, the Creator. 

However, instead of experiencing bliss and peace, Shveta was plagued by a strange and painful hunger and thirst. Confused and distressed by this suffering, he approached Brahma and asked why he was feeling such discomfort in a divine realm where such bodily needs should not exist. Brahma responded by explaining that although Shveta had performed impressive austerities, he had done so without making charitable offerings or sharing his resources. Because of that, he would now have to feed on the only offering he had ever truly made—his own body. 

Brahma told him that the flesh he had once carefully nourished during his years of penance would now become his food in heaven. The body would not decay, but Shveta would be doomed to consume it endlessly, suffering from a never-ending hunger. However, Brahma gave him a sliver of hope: a great sage named Agastya, also known as Kumbhayoni, would one day come to the forest and release him from this painful fate. 

For countless years since then, Shveta had been living in this bizarre and tragic condition, feeding on his own flesh without finding relief or satisfaction. The pain and hunger never ended. When he finally saw Agastya arrive, he realized that the long-awaited moment of salvation had come. In desperation, Shveta pleaded with the sage to help him. He offered Agastya anything he could give—gold, riches, food, clothing, ornaments—anything that might earn him the release he had longed for. 

Touched by Shveta’s suffering and moved by compassion, Agastya agreed to accept the radiant gem Shveta offered as a gift in return for granting his release. The moment Agastya accepted the divine jewel, Shveta’s cursed body melted away, and he was freed from his torment. Filled with peace and joy, the celestial being ascended to Svarga, the heavenly realm, finally liberated from his suffering. 

Agastya concluded the story by telling Rama that this was the origin of the radiant jewel he had offered him. It was not merely a beautiful ornament but a sacred object tied to a powerful tale of penance, karma, and deliverance.  

In chapter 79, the story of hundred sons of Ikshvaku is told. 

After hearing the extraordinary story of King Shveta from Rishi Agastya, Rama, filled with awe and respect, asked a thoughtful question: Why was the forest where King Shveta performed his penance completely devoid of animals and birds? Why did Shveta choose such a barren, lonely place to practice asceticism? 

In response, Agastya began explaining the deeper history of that land. He took Rama back to the earliest times, to the golden age (Satya Yuga), when Manu, the first ruler of the earth and the lawgiver of mankind, reigned. Manu’s son was the noble and powerful Ikshvaku, an ancestor of Rama himself. When Manu decided to withdraw from the world and take to spiritual life, he handed over the kingship to his eldest son Ikshvaku, saying, “You shall become the founder of royal dynasties on earth.” 

Ikshvaku promised to obey, and Manu, greatly pleased, offered him important advice. He told his son that ruling with justice was his sacred duty. He warned Ikshvaku to never punish the innocent, but at the same time reminded him that punishing the guilty according to law was necessary for the good of society and for the king’s own path to heaven. Manu emphasized that a king must be extremely careful and fair when using power. After giving this wise counsel, Manu departed for Brahmaloka, the eternal realm of Brahma, the Creator. 

After his father’s departure, Ikshvaku ruled well and sought to continue his lineage. Through sacrifices and acts of generosity, he was blessed with a hundred sons. Among them, the youngest was not like the rest. He lacked intelligence and virtue and refused to follow the guidance of his elders. Because of his poor behavior, Ikshvaku named him “Danda,” meaning “punishment” or “rod,” suggesting that trouble would eventually come to him. 

Unable to find a proper kingdom for this wayward son, Ikshvaku decided to create a new territory especially for him. He established a land between the Vindhya and Shaivala mountain ranges, a region that had not yet been ruled. There, Danda founded a splendid city and named it Madhumanta. The place was surrounded by majestic mountains and had great natural beauty. 

To ensure proper guidance for his young and flawed son, Ikshvaku appointed Shukra Deva—a highly pious and wise sage—as Danda’s spiritual advisor and teacher. With Shukra’s counsel, Danda ruled the kingdom and governed the city with great order. The citizens lived happily, and the kingdom flourished, almost like the heavens under Indra’s rule, with Shukra Deva playing the role of Brihaspati, the divine guru. 

Danda, with his teacher’s support, maintained peace and prosperity in his kingdom despite his personal limitations. The city of Madhumanta became a shining example of beauty and order. This region, however, would later become cursed due to Danda’s future misdeeds, which Agastya implies but has not yet revealed to Rama at this point in the story. 

Thus, Agastya began unfolding the background behind the desolation of the forest, showing how once it was a thriving kingdom with royal and spiritual foundations, before it became the barren land where King Shveta would later perform his penance. 

This concludes chapters 78 and 79 of Uttara Kanda where we had learnt about the stories of Agastya liberating Shveta and narrating about the history of barren land where the penance was performed, to Rama’s question. We can see the conversation between Agastya and Rama following gifting the jewel for killing Shambuka and restoring order, old Brahmin’s sons life. The jewel was given by Shveta to Agastya for liberating him from the misfortune of eating human flesh. Agastya narrates the story of Shveta when Rama asks him the story behind the radiant jewel. The tale of hundred sons of Ikshvaku and youngest son ‘Danda’ was also narrated and given more details to Rama on his own Ikshvaku lineage. We can look at the continuation of this tale on Danda in subsequent chapters.

Ram Darbar Installation in Ayodhya and Shambuka is slain by Rama

While we are learning about the great story of Rama, let us also educate about the happenings in today’s world in his famed temple in Ayodhya. We came to know that Ram Lalla or Lord Ram in child form has been installed in Ayodhya during its opening ceremony on January 22nd ,2024. In addition to Ram Lalla, the main idol of Ram Darbar has been consecrated last week on June 5,2025 at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya. The consecration included the installation of eight deity idols, marking a significant spiritual milestone, following the temple inauguration a year ago. While Ram Lalla, the child form of Lord Rama, is the main idol in the sanctum sanctorum on the ground floor, the Ram Darbar represents Raja Ram, the kingly form of Lord Rama at the center of first floor. Ram Darbar features Lord Rama in his royal form, seated on a throne, alongside Mata Sita, Lakshman, Bharat, Shatrughna, and Hanuman.  

This event can be described as a step towards Ram Rajya, celebrating the culmination of centuries of faith and struggle. The consecration of Ram Darbar introduces a regal dimension to the temple, symbolizing Rama in his royal grandeur. It allows devotees deeper engagement with the deity’s majesty, transitioning from the intimate child-form to the sovereign king.  The temple attracted around 55 million or 5.5 crore pilgrims since inauguration, a record for a Ram mandir or any mandir in India. An economic report by Jefferies projected the temple could eventually attract 50 million annual visits, surpassing major pilgrimage sites such as Tirupati, Mecca, and the Vatican. It has already surpassed the established pilgrim destination Tirumala where around 35 million took darshan in the same period. As mentioned in this space last year, this consecration event reiterates Ayodhya’s transition from a contested site to a national spiritual hub, heralding a wave of cultural renaissance and awakening for India. The nation is truly transformed into one kingdom of Rama and the people are slowly championing as true devotees of Rama. Our little efforts online in learning about him must aid towards building the glorious figure in our receptacles to paint, persuade and pervade his form in outer world. 

The temple is viewed by many as a beginning, a catalyst to bring about values associated with Ram Rajya: unity, fairness, and righteousness. This moment represents the emotional and cultural foundation of such an ideal — a moral compass. The little push and massive faith within crores of people, finding a way to Ram mandir is extremely heartening to see after centuries of suppression of the very noble ideals. We are nudging at the doorstep of Ram Rajya — but it is up to society, leaders, and institutions to walk inside and make this really count. The people are ready and India is ready for social, cultural and economic transformation. Let us all allow to herald a thousand-year Ram Rajya after a thousand-year suppression. 

Coming back to the story, in the last post, we saw the reason uncovered by Narada behind the death of Brahmin’s son and Rama pursuing it to rectify the error in disposal of kingship. Sage Narada reveals that a Shudra’s unauthorized penance in Treta Yuga has disrupted cosmic order, causing the tragedy. Rama, honoring dharma, preserves the child’s body and sets out in the celestial Pushpaka chariot to find the cause. After surveying the western, northern, and eastern lands without finding fault, he discovers an ascetic hanging upside down by a southern lake. Rama respectfully questions the hermit’s caste and purpose, knowing the answer may restore balance and fulfill his duty as guardian of divine law. The following chapters will look at Rama’s dispensation of judgement. 

In chapter 76, Shambuka is slain by Rama. 

In the remote southern region, Rama encounters an ascetic performing intense penance suspended upside down. Upon inquiry, the ascetic reveals he is a Shudra named Shambuka, practicing severe austerity to attain heaven in his current body. Aware that in the Treta Yuga such penance is prohibited for Shudras under the established varna-dharma, and recognizing the act as the cause of cosmic disorder and the premature death of a Brahmin’s son, Rama fulfills his duty as king. He draws his sword and beheads Shambuka. At the very moment of his death, celestial voices erupt in praise, and flowers rain from the heavens. The Gods, led by Agni and other divine beings, hail Rama’s upholding of dharma and offer him a boon. 

In deep humility, Rama requests that the Brahmin’s son be brought back to life, admitting that the child’s death was a result of his own failure in maintaining cosmic order. The Gods, pleased with Rama’s devotion to justice, grant the boon: the boy is resurrected at the very moment Shambuka is slain. 

With righteousness restored, the Gods invite Rama to join them at the hermitage of the great Rishi Agastya, who is due for a special consecration ceremony after twelve years of penance submerged in water. Rama ascends the Pushpaka Vimana, his divine chariot, and follows the celestial beings to the ashram of Kumbhayoni, another name for the venerable Agastya. 

Agastya welcomes Rama with warmth and reverence, acknowledging his heroic deeds and divine nature. The sage honors Rama, calling him the Blessed Lord, Narayana himself, and invites him to rest the night at his hermitage. Recognizing Rama’s act of restoring dharma and the Brahmin’s child, Agastya offers him a divine ornament, a radiant jewel crafted by the celestial architect Vishvakarma. He insists that Rama, as protector of the world and friend to sages, is most worthy of such a divine gift. 

Initially, Rama declines the ornament, citing the Kshatriya duty of refusing gifts from Brahmins, as only Brahmins are traditionally permitted to accept gifts. He questions how he might rightfully accept it. Agastya responds with a profound teaching on the origin of kingship. In the Golden Age (Krita Yuga), there were no human kings. The people, seeking order, appealed to Brahma, the Creator, to appoint a ruler like Indra, the king of the gods. Brahma summoned the gods and requested that each surrender a portion of their powers. From this collective divine energy, the first human king, Kshupa, was created. 

This king embodied aspects of the gods: Indra’s power to command, Varuna’s strength for health and order, and Yama’s capacity for justice. Agastya explains that kingship is itself divine, imbued with celestial authority. As Rama embodies these powers—especially that of Indra—he is entitled to receive gifts like the ornament, not for personal gain, but as the guardian of righteousness on earth. 

Convinced and reassured, Rama accepts the jewel, which sparkles like the sun, and expresses gratitude. In curiosity and admiration, he then asks Agastya where such a divine ornament came from. The sage responds that he will recount its origin, leading into another sacred story from the Treta Yuga. 

This episode highlights the complexity of kingship in ancient epics: the king is both warrior and protector, enforcer of law and humble seeker of wisdom from sages. Rama’s journey to restore the Brahmin’s son, his consultation with divine sages, and his reverence to Agastya all reflect his ideal status as the Maryada Purushottama—the Perfect Man who upholds the limits and laws that sustain the universe. 

In chapter 77, the story of Svargin is discussed. 

Rishi Agastya recounts to Rama a mysterious and wondrous incident from the Treta Yuga during a period of intense penance. He describes a vast, uninhabited wilderness spanning four hundred miles, where no birds or beasts lived. The forest, though desolate, was filled with exquisite natural beauty—abundant fruits, delicious roots, and trees of varying fragrances. In the heart of this wilderness, Agastya came upon a serene lake about four miles wide, filled with swans, Cakravakra birds, lotuses, and lilies. The lake’s crystal-clear, sweet waters were free from weeds and moss, radiating a sense of divine peace. 

Near this lake, the sage discovered an ancient hermitage, abandoned and silent. He spent the night there and, upon waking at dawn, went to the lake to perform his morning rituals. There, to his astonishment, he saw a dead body floating in the water. The body was strangely pristine—plump, spotless, and radiant. Surprised and puzzled by this odd sight, Agastya stood silently, reflecting on what he was witnessing. 

As he pondered, a dazzling celestial chariot suddenly appeared in the sky, drawn by swans swift as thought. A radiant young man, resembling a god, sat in the chariot, surrounded by thousands of beautiful Apsaras—celestial nymphs—adorned with shining ornaments. Some of the Apsaras were singing melodious songs, while others played musical instruments such as the mridanga (drum), vina (lute), and panava (small drum). Others danced gracefully, and some fanned the youth with ornate chanwaras (fly-whisks) that glowed like moonbeams. 

The young man, lotus-eyed and glowing like Mount Meru, descended from the chariot. To Agastya’s amazement, he approached the lake and consumed the flesh of the corpse. After satisfying his hunger, he entered the water, washed his hands, and rinsed his mouth in the traditional way. He then returned to his heavenly chariot as if nothing unusual had occurred. 

Intrigued and disturbed, Agastya called out to the radiant figure before he could depart. He questioned the divine-looking youth, asking who he was and why he had eaten the flesh of a corpse—an act deemed vile and unfit, especially for one of such celestial appearance. Agastya expressed disbelief that someone who seemed equal to the gods would engage in such repulsive behavior. He sensed a deeper mystery behind the act and, driven by curiosity and respect, asked the stranger to reveal the truth. 

Agastya’s tone was not accusatory but friendly and inquisitive. He wished to understand what he had just witnessed and suspected that the act, although grotesque in appearance, might have a spiritual or otherworldly significance. The radiant youth, described as a Nakin—a celestial or semi-divine being—listened to the sage’s words and prepared to reveal the secret behind his unusual behavior. 

Thus ends this part of the sage’s story, leading into a deeper revelation about the mysterious eater of corpses and the celestial context in which the bizarre event took place. 

This concludes chapters 76 and 77 of Uttara Kanda where we had seen Shambuka is slain by Rama to restore cosmic order and revive the dead brahmin’s son. Everyone from heavens is pleased by this act and Gods invite Rama to join them at the hermitage of the great Rishi Agastya. The revered sage gifts Rama a divine jewel which Rama accepts after initial refusal. When asked by a curious Rama to know from where the ornament came, Agastya recounts a tale from Treta Yuga. He reveals details about a mysterious celestial being who eats a corpse and the context in which the event took place can be seen in subsequent chapters.