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therefore, is a later development in
terms of the evolution of societies.
There were periods when clan
societies and kingdoms existed sideby-side,
and the transition from one to
the other was gradual. Epics in
particular record this transition,
nostalgically trying to recall a society
that has changed.
The Buddhist Variant
The Jataka stories are a compendium
of birth stories that claim to be
narrating the earlier lives of the
Buddha in various ways at various
times. The central character is an
earlier avatara of the Buddha. In one
of these, called the Dasaratha Jataka,
Dasaratha, the raja of Banaras has
three children by his senior wife:
Rama Pandita, Lakkhana and Sita
Devi. On the death of his senior wife,
a junior wife is raised to the senior
status. She is the mother of Bharata
and she begins to assert herself. The
father is a little worried that she might
harm the children of the elder wife
and he suggests to the children that
they go into exile. They agree on a
twelve-year exile to the Himalaya, not
south India (exile in many Buddhist
exile stories take people to the
Himalaya). Nine years after this,
Dasaratha dies. Bharata refuses to
Myth Retold – Romila Thapar
succeed him because he believes his
elder brother should do so. After
much wandering in the Himalaya he
finds the three exiles. He breaks the
news to them of Dasaratha’s death.
Lakkhana and Sita Devi faint with
grief. And then Rama Pandita
preaches to them on the
impermanence of life and the
inevitability of death. This is the crux
of the story, illustrating Buddhist
teaching. Rama Pandita refuses to go
back because he had vowed to his
father that he would stay away for
twelve years. He gives his chappals to
Bharata and says, “Put them on the
throne and they’ll guide you.” After
twelve years are up, Rama, Lakkhana
and Sita return to Banaras. Rama and
Sita rule for 16,000 years.
What is clear from the story is that
the idea of primogeniture is very
important in early kingship. The
eldest son is always the successor to
the ruler. The term ‘raja’ is ambiguous.
Given the context of the story it is not
referring to kingship but to a situation
that is prior to kingship. ‘Raja’ is
derived from the root ‘raj’ meaning one
who shines, the one who is the best,
who is in the forefront. It can
therefore mean a chief. Later on, kings
picked up the term and expanded it
into fancier terms like maharaja,
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