Kausalya

This article is about the mother of the Hindu god Rama. For the actress, see Kausalya (actress). For the singer, see Kousalya (singer).

Kausalya
Kausalya give birth Rama.
Epic	Ramayana
In-universe information
Family	Sukaushal (father) Amritaprabha (mother) Bhanumantha (Brother) Sumitra(sister-wife) Kaikeyi(sister-wife)
Spouse	Dasharatha
Children	Rama (son) Shanta (daughter) Lakshmana (step-son) Bharata (step-son) Shatrughna (step-son)

Kaushalya was the eldest consort of King Dasharatha among his three wives, the mother of Lord Rama and the eldest queen of Ayodhya in the Indian epic, the Ramayana.

She is the daughter of the King Sukaushal and Queen Amritaprabha of Kosala kingdom (Modern day Odisha).

She shared a sisterly relationship with Sumitra and Kaikeyi. She tells Sumitra about Kaikeyi that you both are like my sisters. Tulsidas describes the incident in the following lines:

सिथिल सनेहुं कहै कोसिला सुमित्रा जू सौं, मैं न लखि सौति, सखी! भगिनी ज्यों सेई हैं॥

Rama leaving for fourteen years of exile from Ayodhya. Rama, his wife and brother, dressed in the clothes of bark that Kaikeyi has made them put on, ride off in a chariot driven by Sumantra and surrounded by the towns' people. Dasaratha emerges from his palace and goes through the gate of the city surrounded by his queens. Dasaratha and Kausalya according to Valmiki's text hurry after the chariot until Rama, unable to bear the sight, has to tell Sumantra to quicken his pace so that they would be left behind. Queen Kaushalya was the incarnation of Dhara (Brahmani), wife of Dronavasu. She received a boon from lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu says - "I will be born as your son in the "Treta Yuga". In the next birth, Kousalya was born as Yashodha, foster- mother of Krishna.

See also

• Sumitra
• Kaikeyi