Aja and Indumati: Grandfather of Shri Ram

The story

Aja was the son of Raghu. Kalidasa tells his story in some of the most admired cantos of the Raghuvamsha. Princess Indumati of Vidarbha held a swayamvara, an assembly at which she would choose her own husband. Her companion led her past king after king, describing each one's glory, and Indumati moved on from each as a lamp passes along a street at night, leaving every face in darkness behind it. Before Aja she stopped, and placed the garland on him.

They ruled Ayodhya together and had a son, Dasharatha. One day, as they sat in a garden, a garland of heavenly flowers fell from the veena of the sage Narada passing overhead and touched Indumati. She fell lifeless. She had been, in a former existence, a celestial being under a curse that would end at the touch of those flowers.

Aja's lament over her is famous in Sanskrit poetry. Guru Vasishtha sent word to console him: the wise do not grieve without limit, for the body is a meeting that must end in parting. Aja listened, and did not abandon his duty. He lived on for his young son's sake until Dasharatha was ready to rule, and only then gave up his life.

Why he matters

Aja is the link between the giver Raghu and the father of Ram. His story also shows a side of the dynasty that is easy to miss among the vows and conquests: these were people who loved deeply. Dasharatha's death from grief at Ram's exile, and Ram's own sorrow for Sita, run in the family.

What we learn

The Raghuvamsha does not scold Aja for grieving. It shows him carrying the grief and his responsibility together, for as long as his child needed him. That is a truer picture of duty than pretending not to feel. See Courage and patience in adversity.

Next in the line: Dasharatha.