Roshni - Scion of Ikshvaku
Roshni is a daughter of Manthara, a wealthy merchant of Ayodhya in Scion of Ikshvaku (Ram Chandra Series #1) by Amish Tripathi.
All the four princes of Ayodhya considered her as a sister. Her character was very nicely written in the book.
However, we rarely ever heard of her.
It was told to him that there is a very powerful young and wise sage Rishyasringa whose chastity and character is unparalleled in this whole universe as this sage is not even aware of the existence of women.
If he performs a yagna then rain and prosperity will come to his kingdom.
It was then Shanta who took up the task, not fearing the wrath of his Father Vibhandak went to the forest to bring Rishyasringa and persuaded him to perform the yagna.
All the four princes of Ayodhya considered her as a sister. Her character was very nicely written in the book.
However, we rarely ever heard of her.
Valmiki Ramayana does not mention sister of Ram.
However, in many other scriptures, there is a story of his elder sister Shanta.
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| Shanta with four Ayodhya princes in forest |
She was a child from Kaushalya. Shanta is given in marriage to Rishyashringa, a sage whose celibacy causes drought in Lompada’s kingdom.
STORY OF RISHYASHRINGA
Rishyasringa was born miraculously of an antelope with the horns of a deer on his forehead. He is the son of Rishi Vibhandak, descendent of Kashyapa. Another legend has it that Rishyasringa is the son of celestial nymph Menaka. Rishi Vibhandak, Rishyasringa`s father was enticed by the celestial dancer Menaka by order of Lord Indra, the king of gods. Lord Indra was frightened and afraid of the meditative powers gained out of penance by the Rishi Vibhandak. The power could prove fatal to the very existence of the heavenly world. With the union of Vibhandak and Menaka, Rishyasringa was born. Immediately after the child's birth Menaka left the little boy, her husband and went back to heaven. After this incident, Rishi Vibhandak hated the womenfolk. Rishyasringa was thus brought up in the forest with his father and saw no other human being. He never saw any women and was not told of their existence.
In the course of time, Anga suddenly started facing severe droughts and Famines. The King Consulted the wise Rishi & Munis for a solution.
It was told to him that there is a very powerful young and wise sage Rishyasringa whose chastity and character is unparalleled in this whole universe as this sage is not even aware of the existence of women.
If he performs a yagna then rain and prosperity will come to his kingdom.
It was then Shanta who took up the task, not fearing the wrath of his Father Vibhandak went to the forest to bring Rishyasringa and persuaded him to perform the yagna.
She eventually married Rishyasringa.
| Following the marriage, the rains come back. |
But the story of Roshni in the Scion of Ikshvaku is totally different. She was the daughter of Manthra and a very lovable Rakhi sister of the four princes.
But neither the story of Shanta nor Roshni was described in Valmiki Ramayana.
I think the character of Shanta and Roshni was quite similar. Both were brave, calm and loving personalities.
We believe the story that we read in Valmiki Ramayana or the 1986 TV serial. But there are other different versions of Ramayana and Mahabharata which unfolds the story of other characters. Amish distorted many stories of Ramayan in Scion of Ikshvaku and took a lot of freedom in writing the book. It is because that lot of his readers are of age between 18-30 so that there isn't a controversy yet regarding this.
Update - Read the latest book by Amish - Legend of Suheldev: The king who saved India. It was recently released. You can order it online using the link below.
Read Ramchandra series and Shiva trilogy by Amish using the links below.
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