While Dasharatha, desiring a son, is childless, the gods, oppressed by a giant adversary, betake themselves to Vishnu, seeking aid. They sing a hymn of praise, a part of which is given here.
O thou who didst create this All, Who dost preserve it, lest it fall, Who wilt destroy it and its ways-- To thee, O triune Lord, be praise.As into heaven's water run The tastes of earth--yet it is one, So thou art all the things that range The universe, yet dost not change.Far, far removed, yet ever near; Untouched by passion, yet austere; Sinless, yet pitiful of heart; Ancient, yet free from age--Thou art.Though uncreate, thou seekest birth; Dreaming, thou watchest heaven and earth; Passionless, smitest low thy foes; Who knows thy nature, Lord? Who knows?Though many different paths, O Lord, May lead us to some great reward, They gather and are merged in thee Like floods of Ganges in the sea.The saints who give thee every thought, Whose every act for thee is wrought, Yearn for thine everlasting peace, For bliss with thee, that cannot cease.Like pearls that grow in ocean's night, Like sunbeams radiantly bright, Thy strange and wonder-working ways Defeat extravagance of praise.If songs that to thy glory tend Should weary grow or take an end, Our impotence must bear the blame, And not thine unexhausted name.Vishnu is gratified by the praise of the gods, and asks their desire. They inform him that they are distressed by Ravana, the giant king of Lanka (Ceylon), whom they cannot conquer. Vishnu promises to aid them by descending to earth in a new avatar, as son of Dasharatha. Shortly afterwards, an angel appears before King Dasharatha, bringing in a golden bowl a substance which contains the essence of Vishnu. The king gives it to his three wives, who thereupon conceive and dream wonderful dreams. Then Queen Kausalya gives birth to Rama; Queen Kaikeyi to Bharata; Queen Sumitra to twins, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Heaven and earth rejoice. The four princes grow up in mutual friendship, yet Rama and Lakshmana are peculiarly drawn to each other, as are Bharata and Shatrughna. So beautiful and so modest are the four boys that they seem like incarnations of the four things worth living for--virtue, money, love, and salvation.