One day while King Dasarath was hunting near a river, he heard a sound. He shot an arrow in the direction of the sound. This arrow hit a boy named Shravan Kumar. King Dasarath ran to the river and saw the young boy lying there with an arrow in his chest. The King begged his forgiveness and asked how he came to be there. Shravan Kumar said that he was taking his blind elderly parents on pilgrimage.
Along the way they felt thirsty, so he had come to bring water from the river. He then requested the king, “Please take this water to my parents so that they do not die of thirst.” King Dasarath took the pitcher full of water to Shravan Kumar's parents and offered it to them. The blind couple understood from the king's voice that he was not their son and asked, “Who are you?” King Dasarath replied, “I shot your son by mistake and he died. But before dying he asked me to quench the thirst of his parents. So I have brought water for you.”
Shravan Kumar's parents said, “We cannot drink water from the hands of the person who killed our son. We would rather die.” And as they died, they cursed him saying, “You will also die due to separation from your son, just as we are dying now.” Years later, when Lord Shri Rama was exiled and left for the forest with Laxman and Sita, King Dasarath did indeed give up his life due to the grief of separation from his son.
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