Shravan Kumar's Loving Service

Long ago, a tapasvi lived in a forest with his wife. Both were old, and both were blind. They had only one son, whom people call Shravan Kumar. Shravan loved his parents very much. Every day he brought them water, fruits and roots, and he helped them with everything.

One day his parents said, "Son, we wish to visit the holy places." In those days there were no cars and no trains. So Shravan made a kanwar, a bamboo pole with a basket hanging from each end. He seated his mother in one basket and his father in the other, put the pole on his shoulder, and set off. On the way he described every place to them, so that they could see it all with the eyes of the mind.

At last they reached the bank of the Sarayu river, near Ayodhya. Night had fallen, and his parents were thirsty. Shravan made them comfortable and went to the river with a pot to fetch water.

That same night, young Prince Dasharath of Ayodhya had come to the Sarayu to hunt. Dasharath was very skilled at aiming at a sound. In the dark he heard the gurgling of a pot being filled with water. He thought an elephant was drinking, and he let fly an arrow without seeing.

Then he heard a human cry. Dasharath ran there in alarm. He saw that his arrow had struck a young tapasvi. In a soft voice Shravan said, "My parents are sitting thirsty. Please give them water and tell them the whole truth." Saying this, Shravan left this world.

Dasharath's heart filled with sorrow. He carried the pot of water to the parents. Hearing unfamiliar footsteps, the father said, "Son, why did you take so long?" With folded hands, Dasharath told them everything truthfully.

The parents wept bitterly. Dasharath took them to the riverbank. Then Shravan appeared in a shining, heavenly form. He comforted his parents and went to heaven with Indra Dev, the king of the devtas.

The grieving father said to Dasharath, "Just as we are sad today, parted from our son, one day you too will know the sorrow of being parted from your son." Soon after, the two of them also went to heaven to be with their beloved son.

Many years later, when Shri Ram went to the forest, King Dasharath remembered these words. And the story of Shravan Kumar's loving service is still told with love in every home.