Women in Mahabharata - Renuka
She is the daughter of King Prasenjit of Ayodhya, married to Gadhi-Satyavati's son Jamadagni. She is also known as Kaamali.
She has five sons- Rumanvana, Suhotra, Vasu, Vishvavasu and Rama. As per Harivamsha she has three sons: Shunahshefa/Devarata, Shunapuchha and Rama.
Once when she and Jamadagni had been playing fetch in a scorching, summer afternoon. Her feet are burned on the hot ground, so Jamadagni asked Surya to redress the situation, and the god gifted him two items- an umbrella and a pair of sandals. According to the legend this is how humans came to own these items.
One day Renuka is out to fetch water from the river Reva-Narmada, and she sees the Kings Kaartaveeryarjuna and Shalva-Chitraratha (in other versions, a gandharva) frolicking in the river.
Jamadagni catches her eavesdropping on them, and in his anger orders his sons to murder her. The older four sons refuse, but the youngest, Rama, complies, being known hereafter as Parashu-rama, after the instrument with which he had committed matricide.
In some versions, she is brought back to life by a boon sought by Parashurama, but in some others she remains dead, and in any case the blemish of this act follows him for the rest of his life.
Shunashhefa was given to Vishvamitra, Satyavati's brother, by Jamadagni. He made Shunashhefa become the animal to be sacrificed at a yajna of the king Haridashva, however the boy was saved by the gods.
