Kaikeyi's Two Boons

Having given orders for the coronation, King Dasharatha went happily to Kaikeyi's apartments to tell her the good news himself. Her couch was empty. A maid said fearfully, "The queen is in the chamber of anger."

There the king found Kaikeyi lying on the floor in soiled clothes, her hair loose, her jewels scattered about. The old king was alarmed. He stroked her head. "Who has hurt you? Tell me which innocent man I should punish, which guilty man I should set free. I and all I have are yours. No one is dearer to me than Ram, and I swear by that same Ram: whatever you ask, I will give."

Kaikeyi had been waiting for that oath. She sat up. "Let the gods bear witness. You promised me two boons. Today I claim them. First: with the very preparations made for Ram, let my Bharata be crowned. Second: let Ram go to the Dandaka forest for fourteen years, in bark and matted hair, this very day."

Dasharatha thought he must be dreaming. Then he fell to the ground like a felled tree. When he came to himself he folded his hands and clasped her feet. "What has Ram done to you? I will give Bharata the kingdom, but do not send Ram to the forest. The world might live without the sun, crops without water, but I will not live without Ram."

Kaikeyi was as unmoved as stone. "It is not the custom of the house of Raghu to break a promise. Keep your word, or I will drink poison in front of you." All night the king wept. He could not break his word, and he could not bring himself to say it to his son.

Ram's answer

Morning came. Everything was ready, but the king did not appear. When Sumantra went to call him, Kaikeyi said, "Send Ram here."

Ram came. He saw his father sitting with a withered face, able to say only "Ram" before his tears came. Ram was alarmed. "Mother, have I done something wrong? Why does my father not speak to me?"

Kaikeyi told him everything without hesitation, and added, "The king cannot bring himself to tell you. Until you leave for the forest he will neither bathe nor eat."

Valmiki writes that Ram's face did not change at these words, just as the beauty of the moon does not lessen in the night. He said, "Is that all? Mother, at my father's word I would leap into fire, drink poison, drown in the sea. You have asked the kingdom for Bharata; I would gladly give Bharata my life. My only regret is that my father did not tell me this himself. Send messengers to bring Bharata. I will leave for the forest today."

Then he said, "I have no greed for wealth. Think of me as one who, like the sages, stands only on dharma." He walked reverently around his father and Mother Kaikeyi and went out. He sent back the royal umbrella and the fans. People looked at his face. It held the same calm it had held the day before.

In a single night everything had changed. But the one on whom the heaviest blow fell was the one who stood steadiest.