Ramayana: "Uttarakanda"

 Ramayana Seventh Kanda: The Uttarakanda

Uttarakanda is not part of the original Valmiki Ramayana. The Valmiki Ramayana consists of six books: Balakanda, Ayodhyakanda, Aranyakanda, Kishkindhakanda, Sundarakanda, and Yuddhakanda.

However, the Uttarakanda is a later addition or an appendix to the Valmiki Ramayana. It is not considered an integral part of the original composition by Sage Valmiki. Uttarakanda is sometimes attributed to different authors and is also known as the Uttararamayana or the "Later Ramayana."

During Ram’s period of rule, an intemperate washerman, while berating his wayward wife, declared that “he is not Rama who would take his wife back after she had lived at the home of another man”. This statement was reported to Rama, who understood that the accusation on Sita was baseless.

Rama yielded to public opinion and thus Sita was forced to go to the forest for a second time, even as she was pregnant where rishi Valmiki provided shelter in his ashram, located in a forest on the banks of the River Tamsa. Sita delivered twin sons named Luv and Kush.

There is also a different tale that Sita delivered one son Luv. Once, Sita was going for a bath to the nearby river (tamsa), she requested muni Valmiki to take care of her son Luv, and muni nodded his head in agreement while he was busy writing. After going some steps she realized that muni was continually absorbed in writing, so she took Luv with herself.

After some time when muni looked for the child who was supposed to be somewhere around, he could not find Luv. Muni wasn’t aware of the fact that Sita herself had taken Luv with her. Muni was worried what he would say when Sita returned and asked for her child. So he created a boy child from nearby Kush (a grass employed for making mats and roofs of kutiya’s in ancient India) and gave life to it.

When Sita came back, Muni was shocked to see that Luv was with her, so he asked Sita to take care of both children as her own children. Since Valmiki muni used Kusha to make the child, the child was given the name Kusha.

Valmiki formally began training luv & kush when they were around 5 years of age. He educated them in archery and they were able to release arrows at the speed of sound and brought up in ignorance of their identity. Also, he trained them about divine & celestial warfare. He made them masters in archery so that no one on this earth could defeat them in war.