History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c95.275

v7.c95.275

The Rāmāyaṇa gives expression to the belief that sorrow in the present life is the result of similar actions done in past life or lives. When Rāma left Ayodhyā as an exile for the sake of fulfilling the promise given to queen Kaikeyī by king Daśaratha, Kausalyā, mother of Rāma, laments 'I believe indeed that in a past life I must have made many persons lose their sons or I must have harmed (or killed) living beings; it is therefore that this (sorrow) has befallen me', 'I think beyond doubt that in a former life, I, a wretched woman, must have cut off the breasts of cows (or mothers) when their calves (or children) desired (to drink milk at the breasts) of their mothers'.²⁵⁵³