Kaushalya wanted to know about the incident, so she asked him to narrate the story. “As a young man,” Dasharatha said, “I was very proud of my prowess as an archer. I could hit a target merely by hearing a sound from it. I went hunting one night and sat waiting for the prey on the banks of River Sarayu. I thought I heard the sound of an elephant drinking at the river and shot off an arrow in that direction. But imagine my horror when I heard a human scream! I ran towards the target and found I had shot a young man. His name was Shravana Kumar. He lived in a hermitage near by, caring for his blind, old parents and had come to fetch water for them. ‘Take this water to them and let them drink, before you tell them of my death. Remove the arrow; it hurts!’ said Shravana.
Shravana Kumar
