THE PRINCES IN ASHRAM

When the princes reached the age of twelve, King Dasharatha

decided to teach them the art of archery. He himself was an

expert archer

. More precisely, he was able to kill an animal just

on hearing its sound.

Once, on account of this art, the king had killed a young man

named Shravan Kumar unknowingly. However, he appointed a

guru to teach the princes

Under the guidance of the king and the guru the princes became

experts in archery very soon. The king was very happy to see

such a progress.

According to tradition, it was now time to send the princes to

school. So, King Dasharatha decided to send the boys to the

gurukul of Guru Vashishtha for the formal education of the

princes. The princes had to give up royal clothes and wear an

ordinary dress.

It was necessary for the all round development of the princes

that they study with other children. As per rule, all were treated

equally in the gurukul.

THE PRINCES IN ASHRAM

 

After their training in weaponry, the princes went to the ashram

of Guru Vashishtha to learn Vedas and other shastras. But

before the same, a ceremony of wearing the sacred thread

‘yajnopaveet' was performed by the guru. It was known as the

“Yajnopaveet Samskar'.

As per convention, the princes had to wear ordinary clothes like

others. There was no difference among the pupils in the ashram.

The Guru was treated as a god.

The Guru treated all the children as equal despite the difference

in their social status. He used to teach religious books, Vedas,

social manners and ethical values to the children.

All the princes learnt their lessons well along with the other

children from different families.