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Shatrughna

 
Wikipedia: Shatrughna
This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

Shatrughna (Sanskrit: शत्रुघ्न Śatrughna, Malay: Satrugna, Thai: Phra Satrut) was the youngest brother of Lord Rama in the Hindu epic Ramayana . He is the twin brother of Lakshmana.

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Birth and family

Shatrughna was born to the virtuous king of Ayodhya, Dasaratha, and his third wife, Queen Sumithra. The other two queens, Kaushalya and Kaikeyii, had sons as well. Kaushalya had Rama, and Kaikeyii had Bharat. They were Shatrughna's half-brothers. Other than the half-brothers, Shatrughna had a brother, Lakshmana. Shatrughna's name means "destroyer of enemies". Shatrughna was married to Shrutukeerti, the daughter of Prince Kusadhbojan and his wife, and cousin of Sita, daughter of King Janaka and his wife.

Rama's Exile

When Rama is exiled, Shatrughna drags Kaikeyī's old nurse,Mantharā, who was responsible for poisoning the queen's mind against Rāma, and makes an attack to kill her, but he is restrained by Bharata, who feels that Rāma would not encourage such an act.

Bharata goes to Rama and asks him to come back to Ayodhya, but Rama refuses. Bharata rules Ayodhya from Nandigramam, and is an excellent leader, often referred to as the avatar of dharma. Shatrughna is instructed to stay in the palace during this time.

The slaying of Lavanasura

Although he plays a relatively minor role in the Rāmāyaṇa, Shatrughna is important to the main story and goal of the epic. His chief exploit was the killing of Lavanasura, the demon King of Mathura, who was a nephew of Ravana, the King of Lanka who was slain by Rama.

Lavanasura was the son of Madhu, the pious demon-king after whom the city of Mathura was named. Madhu's wife and Lavanusara's mother was Kumbhini, a sister of Ravana. Lavanasura was the holder of the divine Trishula (Trident) of Lord Shiva, and nobody was able to kill him or prevent him from committing sinful activities.

Shatrughna begged Rama and his elder brothers to allow him the opportunity to serve them by killing Lavnasura. Shatrughna killed the great demon with an arrow imbibed with the power of Vishnu.

Retirement

After Rama, the seventh Avatara of Vishnu completes 10,000 years of perfectly pious rule upon earth, he walks into the river Sarayu to return to his true and eternal Mahavishnu form. Bharata and Shatrughna follow him into the river, and merge into Mahavishnu.

External links

Temple

The Shatrughna Temple is located at Payammal in Thrissur District of Kerala in India.


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