Canto 1: Bāla-kāṇḍa (Boyhood)Chapter 18: The Advent of Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and ŚatrughnaText 1.18.15
Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 18: The Advent of Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna
Text 1.18.15
पुष्ये जातस्तु भरतो मीनलग्ने प्रसन्नधीः।
सार्पे जातौ च सौमित्री कुलीरेऽभ्युदिते रवौ॥
puṣye jātas tu bharato mīna-lagne prasanna-dhīḥ
sārpe jātau ca saumitrī kulīre ’bhyudite ravau
puṣye = under the nakṣatra Puṣya; jātaḥ tu = was born; bharataḥ = Bharata; mīna-lagne = with the horizon in Pisces; prasanna-dhīḥ = was happy in mind; sārpe = under the nakṣatra Āśleṣā; jātau ca = were born; saumitrī = the two sons of Sumitrā; kulīre = in Cancer; abhyudite = on the horizon; ravau = with the sun.
Bharata was born under the nakṣatra Puṣya with the horizon in Pisces and happy in mind. The two sons of Sumitrā were born under the nakṣatra Āśleṣā with the sun on the horizon in Cancer.
[11] āśleṣā nakṣatraṁ sarpā devatā. (Śruti)
This describes the time of birth of Bharata, Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna. Sārpe indicates that the two sons of Sumitrā were born under a nakṣatra that had the snake as its presiding deity.[11]
Rāma’s nakṣatra is Punarvasu and He was born on the ninth day of the lunar month. Bharata’s nakṣatra is Puṣya. The nakṣatra of Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna is Āśleṣā. Bharata, Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna were born on the tenth day of the lunar month.
NOTE. In Bhagavad-gītā 4.6, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has clarified the nature of the birth of His forms thus:
ajo ’pi sann avyayātmā bhūtānām īśvaro ’pi san
prakṛtiṁ svām adhiṣṭhāya sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā
“Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.”