From that day onward, Lava and Kusa began traveling over the earth, reciting Ramayana. In the course of their wanderings, Lava and Kusa came to the city of Ayodhya, within the Kośala province. Lord Rama happened to see the two boys wandering through the streets, dressed as rishis. Because they were reciting His transcendental pastimes and were being acclaimed by the citizens of Ayodhya, Lord Rama brought them back to His palace with great pleasure. Lord Rama respectfully escorted the two boys into the royal assembly so that they could recite Rāmāyaṇa for all to hear. Lord Rama noticed that the twins possessed bodily features more like those of warriors than scholars, but other than this, He had no idea of their actual identities. As Lava and Kuśa began unfolding the wonderful narration, Lord Rama and His brothers soon became so absorbed in hearing that They forgot about everything else.
This is the effect of Krsna consciousness. Although we are living in this world, if we absorb our thoughts in Rāmāyaṇa and other such literature, we can remain aloof from material contamination and in our consciousness reside in the Kingdom of God.
"The real story begins"
Since a very remote time, the earth had been ruled by the descendents of Ikşvāku, the eldest son of Vaivasvata Manu. Within the Kosala province, Manu had built his capital city, Ayodhya, on the banks of the river Sarayü. Later on, under the rule of Iksväku's descendent, Maharaja Dasaratha, Ayodhya flourished wonderfully.
The city was well laid out with broad and straight avenues washed by perfumed water sprayed from the trunks of elephants. The arched gateways to the city were made of marble, and the gates were made of gold and silver, inlaid with valuable jewels. Ayodhya's walls were strongly fortified and thousands of warriors were posted to protect the city from invaders. Throughout the city were seven-story palaces, surrounded by beautiful parks and gardens, within which were ponds filled with lotus flowers.
The sounds of parrots and peacocks could be heard everywhere, along with the vibrations of musical instruments. Gentle breezes carried droplets of water from the numerous fountains, cooling the passers-by in the heat of summer. In this way Ayodhya appeared to rival Amaravati, the abode of Indra, the king of heaven.
The streets of Ayodhya were always filled with travelers. Kings and princes from all parts of the world came to pay their annual tribute, as well as respects, to the emperor. Mahārāja Dasaratha was a great räjarși, considered to be almost on the level of a maharși [ A great sage]. He was devoted to truth and greatly loved by all his subjects. Mahārāja Dasaratha was an atiratha, capable of fighting with many thousands of opposing warriors. Because of his piety, as well as that of the citizens, Vedic civilization was practiced to its perfection. All kinds of opulence were wonderfully exhibited, whereas material miseries, which are the results of sinful life, were practically non-existent.
in Ayodhya, all the four social orders-brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaidyas and sodras-participated cooperatively for the peace and prosperity of the kingdom. No one was cheated and no one was miserly. Arrogance and atheism, as well as harsh behavior and speech, were conspicuous by their absence.
And yet, despite possessing all this opulence and prestige, Maharaja Dasaratha was unhappy because he had no son to perpetuate his dynasty. Finally, after much deliberation, he decided to perform a horse sacrifice (aśvamedha-yajña) for attaining the fulfillment of his desire. With this in mind, Mahārāja Dasaratha sent his chief minister, Sumantra, to call for his family priests.
When the brahmanas, headed by Vasistha[Vashishtha is best known as the priest and preceptor, teacher of the Ikshvaku kings clan.] and Vämadev [ In Hinduism Vamadeva (Sanskrit: वामदेव) is the preserving aspect of the God Shiva, one of six aspects of the universe he embodies, as well as the name of an ancient rishi], had assembled, Mahārāja Dasaratha said to them as follows, "O best of the twice-born, for so long I have desired to beget a son, but my hopes have been in vain. Because I have no heir, I can no longer even pretend to be happy. My days are simply filled with grief. After thinking over the matter very carefully I have decided to perform a horse sacrifice, with your permission. All of you know śästra (religious texts) very well and so I request you to lead me on the right path."
The brahmanas unanimously agreed to the king's proposal, and so he immediately ordered his ministers to begin preparations. Sumantra then took Mahārāja Dasaratha aside and told him something he had formerly heard Sanat-kumāra relate to an assembly of great rishis. "You will be very interested to hear this narration, my dear King," Sumantra said, "because it predicts that in the future you will become the father of four glorious sons."