Introduction
Shravana Kumar is the young ascetic whom Dasharatha accidentally killed while hunting. In Valmiki's Ayodhya Kanda, the boy is not given a name. He is described as a hermit's son who was fetching water for his blind parents. The name Shravana Kumar comes from later and popular accounts.
This article primarily follows the Valmiki Ramayana. Where a well-known detail comes from a later retelling or tradition, the article identifies it.
Family
- Father: Shravana's father
- Mother: Shravana's mother
The accident
When Dasharatha was a young prince, he went hunting at night. He heard a sound at the river and, thinking it was an elephant drinking, shot an arrow. He had killed a boy who was filling a water pot for his blind parents.
The curse
Dasharatha took water to the parents and confessed. The father cursed him: the king too would die grieving for a son. The parents died on the funeral pyre of their son.
The curse fulfilled
The curse was fulfilled many years later. When Rama was sent into exile, Dasharatha remembered it and died of sorrow, six nights after Rama left.
In popular tradition
In popular accounts the boy is known as Shravana Kumar and is known as the ideal son, who carried his blind parents on pilgrimage in baskets hanging from a pole across his shoulder. This pilgrimage story is not in Valmiki.