Sumitra

Quality 0.50 · 0 views · Updated 2 months ago

Queen of Kosala in Hindu epic Ramayana

title: "Sumitra" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["solar-dynasty", "characters-in-the-ramayana", "queens-in-hindu-mythology"] description: "Queen of Kosala in Hindu epic Ramayana" topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumitra" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Queen of Kosala in Hindu epic Ramayana ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox royalty"]

FieldValue
titleQueen of Kosala
birth_placeKashi
typeHindu
imageDasharatha give Payasa to his wives.jpg
captionSumitra with Dasharatha during the distribution of Payasa
houseAyodhya
spouseDasharatha
issueShanta
Unknown daughter
Lakshmana
Shatrughna
dynastyKashi (by birth)
Raghuvamsha-Suryavamsha (by marriage)
religionHinduism
::

| title = Queen of Kosala | birth_place = Kashi | type = Hindu | image = Dasharatha give Payasa to his wives.jpg | caption = Sumitra with Dasharatha during the distribution of Payasa | house = Ayodhya | spouse = Dasharatha | issue = Shanta Unknown daughter Lakshmana Shatrughna | dynasty = Kashi (by birth) Raghuvamsha-Suryavamsha (by marriage) | religion = Hinduism

Sumitra (, IAST: Sumitrā) is a princess of Kashi and the queen of Kosala in the Hindu epic Ramayana. Sumitra is the second queen consort of Dasharatha, the king of Kosala, who ruled from Ayodhya. Regarded to be a wise and dedicated woman, she is the mother of the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna.

Etymology

The name Sumitra is of Sanskrit origin, and could be divided into Su meaning good, and Mitra, meaning friend*.* Thus*,* her name means 'a good friend' or 'one with a friendly nature'. She is known in other languages as Tamil: சுமித்திரை (), Burmese: Thumitra, Malay: Samutra, Khmer * and * Samutthra Thewi).

Legend

Birth

While Valmiki is silent on her parentage, later texts variously described her as a princess of Kashi or of Magadha, and belonging to the Haiheya clan. She is called the daughter of Magadha, as per Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsham. Kalidasa wrote, तमलभन्त पति पतिदेवताः शिखारिणामिव सागरमापगाः॥ मगधकोसलकेकयशासिनां दुहितरोऽहितरोपितमार्गणम् ॥ १७॥ "The daughters of the kings of Magadha, Kosala, and Kaikeya delight in accepting as husband the king Dashratha, the same way as rivers descending from mountains embrace the ocean."}}

Marriage and children

Sumitra was married to king Dasharatha as his second queen consort. In the Balakanda chapter of the Ramayana, Sumitra first appears.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Four_Sons_of_Dasaratha.jpg" caption="Sumitra giving birth to her twins, Lakshmana and Shatrughan"] ::

Sumitra performs the asvamedha yagna alongside Dasharatha and his two other wives in hopes of blessings for children. At the sacrifice conducted by Rishyasringa to obtain sons for the childless Dasharatha, a divine being emerged from the flames with a golden vessel filled with divine payasam (a milk delicacy) prepared by the gods. Dasharatha offers half of this divine food to Kausalya, a quarter to Sumitra (i.e., literally 'half of that which remained'), an eighth to Kaikeyi (i.e., again, 'half of that which remained'), and then, upon reflection, gives the final eighth to Sumitra again.

Consequently, Kausalya gives birth to the prince Rama and Kaikeyi to Bharata. Having received two portions, Sumitra became the mother of twins, Lakshmana and Satrughna.

Her elder son Lakshmana married Urmila, daughter of Janaka, King of Mithila and her younger son Shatrughan, married Shrutakirti, daughter of Janaka's brother Kushadhvaja.

Daughter Shanta and Unknown Daughter

In some later textual accounts, Shanta and Unknown daughter is described as Sumitra's 2 daughters, and the eldest children, of Dasharatha. However, in the Balakanda of the Ramayana, Valmiki writes of Shanta only as the daughter of Romapada, the king of Anga, who was a friend of Dasharatha. At no point is Shanta's mother named.

Rama's exile

Sumitra is known to encourage her son Lakshmana to go into exile with Rama. Sumitra is described to have found a lot of happiness around her son Lakshmana, with the latter being described as the 'enhancer of her joy' and is also known as Saumitra ().

Despite this, she sends her son in his brother's service. Before his departure, Sumitra tells Lakshmana, "Ram is your elder brother, and the future king. Do not neglect your duty. Serve and guard him, and show your devotion, at all times."

Assessment

Neither the principal queen nor the favoured wife, Sumitra was single-minded in her devotion to her husband and to the senior queen, Kausalya. Considered as the wisest of Dasharatha's three wives, she supported Lakshmana's decision to accompany Rama, to serve him during his exile, and comforted Kausalya after the departure of her son.

In the Ramayana, Sumitra is faultless and charming and skilled in her employment of words. Sumitra's husband, Dasharatha deems her worthy and is fearful of losing the respect in her eyes. He says,

Literature

After the exile of Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana, the benevolent Sumitra consoles Queen Kausalya with her persuasive words: During Rama's consecration, Sumitra offers her blessings to the prince:

In popular culture

Films

  • Suma portrayed Sumitra in the 1997 Telugu film Ramayanam.
  • Dishi Duggal voiced Sumitra in the 2010 animated Hindi film Ramayana: The Epic.
  • Sandhya Janak portrayed Sumitra in the 2011 Telugu film Sri Rama Rajyam.

Television

YouTube

  • Priyankshi Keswani portrayed Sumitra in 2024 YouTube series Valmiki Ramayan.

References

References

  1. Damani, Gaurang. (2021). "Essence of the Fifth Veda". Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House.
  2. (8 June 2023). "Sumitra is calm and composed". The Hindu.
  3. Dharma, Krishna. (2020-08-18). "Ramayana: India's Immortal Tale of Adventure, Love, and Wisdom". Simon and Schuster.
  4. Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra. (1953). "Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of Gupta Dynasty". [[University of Calcutta]].
  5. (1986). "The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume II: Ayodhyakāṇḍa". Princeton University Press.
  6. Goldman, Sally J. Sutherland. (2018). "Women at the Margins: Gender and Religious Anxieties in Vālmīki's Rāmāyaṇa". Journal of the American Oriental Society.
  7. "The Ramayana in Sanskrit: Book 1: Chapter 15".
  8. www.wisdomlib.org. (2015-09-21). "Sumitra, Sumitrā, Su-mitra: 22 definitions".
  9. "The Ramayana in Sanskrit: Book 1: Chapter 8".
  10. Goldman, Robert P.. (1984). "The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India". Princeton University Press.
  11. www.wisdomlib.org. (2019-11-10). "Ramayana: Chapter I".
  12. "Ramayana {{!}} Summary, Characters, & Facts".
  13. aravamudan, krishnan. (2014-09-22). "Pure Gems of Ramayanam". PartridgeIndia.
  14. P. R. Mitchell. (2009). "Ramayan: India's Classic Story of Divine Love". iUniverse.
  15. "The Ramayana in Sanskrit: Book 2: Chapter 35".
  16. "The Ramayana in Sanskrit: Book 2: Chapter 39".
  17. "The Overlooked Brilliance of Sumitra". Pragyata.
  18. www.wisdomlib.org. (2020-09-21). "Queen Kaushalya finds peace in the consolation of Queen Sumitra [Chapter 44]".
  19. www.wisdomlib.org. (2019-09-21). "Rāma's Consecration [Chapter 4]".
  20. "Ramayanam Reviews".
  21. Nagpaul D'souza, Dipti. (17 September 2010). "Epic Effort". Indian Express.
  22. "Telugu Review: 'Sri Rama Rajyam' is a must watch". CNN-IBN.
  23. (23 August 2008). "All Indian life is here". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
  24. "StarPlus' Siya Ke Ram: Everything you should know about the show". The Times of India.
  25. "Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush".
  26. "Shrimad Ramayan Review, Episodes 1 and 2: A cinematic visual spectacle on small screen".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

solar-dynastycharacters-in-the-ramayanaqueens-in-hindu-mythology