King Dilipa, one of the ancestors of Rama, was a very pious king. He had a very devoted wife named Sudakshina. They had everything, except a child. So, King Dilipa went to consult Sage Vasishtha about it. The Sage through his divine vision could understand the reason behind this. He narrated to Dilipa that once when Dilipa and his wife had gone to visit Indra, they didn't notice Surabhi ( the divine cow). Surabhi who was waiting to bless them felt neglected and cursed them saying they'll never get children unless they serve it's offspring. But they didn't hear the curse due to the uproar of the river Ganga. He advised Dilipa and his wife to take care of Nandini, the daughter of Surabhi, with love and devotion. Day and night both of them looked after the cow. Then one day Nandini wandered into the forest and a lion was about to devour it. When Dilipa saw this he immediately tried to retrieve an arrow to shoot it but his arm was paralyzed! The lion told the king, since the cow had trespassed his property, he was going to eat it. But Dilipa offered himself as the food and asked the lion to release Nandini. The lion agreed and Dilipa threw his weapons down and surrendered to the lion. But instead he heard a sweet voice. It was the voice of Nandini. It said that it had created this illusion to test him and was pleased with his devotion. Nandini told him that he would be blessed with a virtuous son. In due time, Sudakshina delivered a son named Raghu.
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