Dasharatha's Heartfelt Plea to Kaikeyi Fails
Ayodhyakanda - Sarga 12
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Ayodhyakanda - Sarga 12
King Dasharatha's heart-wrenching plea to Queen Kaikeyi, begging her to reconsider Rama's exile. His anguish and love for Rama collide with Kaikeyi's unyielding demands in this poignant Ramayana passage.
After hearing Kaikeyi's cruel words, King Dasharatha became deeply disturbed and suffered great agony. For a moment, he was lost in thought, wondering:
"Is this a dream? A delusion of my mind? Or perhaps a mental affliction?"
Unable to find comfort, the king, struck by Kaikeyi's words, eventually regained consciousness. Distressed and disgusted, Dasharatha sat on the bare floor, sighing deeply like a highly venomous serpent trapped by magic spells. In his anguish, he exclaimed, "Oh, what a pity!" before falling unconscious once more, his mind overwhelmed with grief.
When he finally regained consciousness, the king, filled with anger and sorrow, addressed Kaikeyi:
"O cruel woman of wicked conduct! You who would destroy this royal lineage! What wrong has Rama done to you? Or what wrong have I done? Rama has always treated you like his own mother. Why are you bent on harming him alone?
You were admitted to my house as a princess, but now I see you're like a venomous snake, admitted unknowingly for my own destruction. When the whole world praises Rama's virtues, for what offense shall I banish my beloved son?
I could give up Kausalya (Rama's mother), Sumitra (Lakshmana's mother), my kingdom, or even my own life, but I cannot give up Rama, who is devoted to his father. My greatest joy comes from seeing my eldest son. Without Rama, I lose consciousness. The world can exist without the sun, crops can grow without water, but my body cannot survive without Rama.
O sinful woman! Let this cruel resolve be abandoned. I even touch your feet with my head. Be gracious to me. Why have you conceived this most cruel design? If you wish to test my love for Bharata, let it be so. But your earlier praise of Rama must have been to gain his service."
After saying this, King Dasharatha, overcome with grief, fell silent. Kaikeyi did not respond to the wailing king, leaving him to gaze at her with unwinking eyes, unable to believe the cruelty of his beloved queen.
King Dasharatha continued his appeal to Kaikeyi, emphasizing Rama's virtues and his own love for his son:
"O timid lady! How can you take delight in banishing Rama, the righteous and illustrious, to the forest for fourteen years? How can you bear to see him, with his delicate body and pious mind, dwelling in a dreadful forest?
Rama has always been more attentive to you than even Bharata. I see no reason for you to favor Bharata over him. Who else but Rama, the best of men, could serve you with more respect, correct judgment, and obedience?
No censure or calumny against Rama can come from the thousands of women in the palace or the numerous dependents. Rama, a tiger among men, captivates the people of his kingdom with his gentle speech and kind actions."
Dasharatha then listed Rama's virtues:
He conquers men through virtue
He wins over the poor through charity
He gains the respect of elders through service
He defeats enemies in battle with his bow
"Truthfulness, charity, austerity, sacrifice, purity, straightforwardness, learning, and service to elders - all these are firmly established in Rama," Dasharatha declared.
The king's anguish grew as he contemplated the consequences of Kaikeyi's demands:
"I cannot remember Rama ever speaking an unkind word. How can I, for your sake, deliver such unpleasant news to my beloved son? What recourse is there for me other than Rama, in whom forgiveness, self-control, truthfulness, and harmlessness towards all beings reside?
O Kaikeyi! Have mercy on me, an old and miserable man who has reached his end. I will give you anything that can be attained on this earth, which has the sea as its boundary. Let not anger possess you!"
Dasharatha then touched Kaikeyi's feet, pleading, "Be a protector of Rama. Let not unrighteousness take hold of me in this matter."
Despite Dasharatha's heartfelt pleas, Kaikeyi remained unmoved. She spoke harshly:
"O King! You who gave me a boon today and now speak differently - you create a blemish on all kings. Remember the examples of King Shibi (who gave his own flesh to a bird) and King Alarka (who gave away his eyes). Even the ocean, having made a promise, never crosses its limits. Bearing in mind these precedents, do not make your promise untrue."
Kaikeyi continued her cruel demands:
"Let it be unrighteous or righteous, real or false - there should be no change in whatever you promised me. If Rama is crowned, I shall indeed die before your eyes by drinking abundant poison now itself in front of you."
Dasharatha, hearing these words which were like a thunderbolt to his heart, sank down like a tree cut at its roots. He gazed at Kaikeyi with unwinking eyes, unable to comprehend the transformation of his once-beloved queen into this cruel being before him.
King Dasharatha, upon hearing Kaikeyi's unwelcome demands for Rama's exile and Bharata's coronation, was overwhelmed with distress. For a moment, he couldn't speak, his senses perturbed. He gazed at Kaikeyi, his once-beloved queen who now spoke such disagreeable words, with unblinking eyes.
The king lamented:
"Why have you been shown this worthless thing that appears worthwhile? Like a woman whose mind has been perverted by an evil spirit, you are not ashamed to speak to me thus. In the beginning, I did not know your wavering conduct. But now, I see it in you. It is perverted.
From whom has such fear arisen in you that you ask for Bharata to be seated on the throne and Rama to stay in the forest? If you want to do a favor to your husband, to the world at large, and to Bharata, give up this sinful intention of sending Rama to exile."
Dasharatha's anguish grew as he contemplated the consequences:
"How can I see Rama's pale face when I tell him to proceed to the forest? It would resemble an eclipsed moon. How can I witness my well-made plans, settled with friends, being foiled like an army destroyed by enemies?"
The king's distress turned to anger as he addressed Kaikeyi:
"O cruel one! Petty-minded woman of sinful resolve and wicked deed! What grievance or offense are you finding in me or in Rama? Without Rama, Bharata cannot take possession of the kingdom in any way. I believe Bharata to be even stronger in virtue than Rama.
When many virtuous and learned elders inquire about Rama, what shall I tell them? That Rama was sent to the forest by me, hard-pressed by Kaikeyi? Even if I tell this truth, nobody will believe it."
Dasharatha then turned his thoughts to Kausalya, Rama's mother:
"What will Kausalya say to me if Rama proceeds to the forest? How can I, having done such an unkind act, reply to her? Kausalya, who was always eager to show kindness to me, who was blessed with a dear son, who speaks kind words and deserves to be treated well - she who waited on me like a maid-servant, friend, wife, sister, and mother - for your sake, she was never treated kindly by me."
As his despair deepened, Dasharatha turned to self-reproach:
"That which I did for you now hurts me, like a meal taken with forbidden sauces fills an ailing person with regret. O sinful woman! You have been lovingly maintained by me, sinful as I am, like a rope used for hanging oneself, kept through ignorance.
Enjoying life with you, I could not recognize you as death. I touched you like a cobra touched by a child's hand in a deserted place. This world of living beings is certainly fit to curse me, saying that Rama, the great-souled, is deprived of fatherly protection by me, the evil-minded."
Finally, Dasharatha exclaimed in utter anguish:
"Alas! Extremely foolish is King Dasharatha, whose mind is lustful for a woman and who would send his son to the forest. Rama, emaciated by vows, by study of Vedas (ancient sacred texts), and by service to his preceptors, will again undergo great hardship during what should be his period of enjoyment."
King Dasharatha, overwhelmed with sorrow, continued his lament, focusing on Rama's virtuous nature:
"My son is incapable of saying a second word to me. When told to go to the forest, he will simply say, 'Be it so.' If Rama were to act contrary to my command, it would be most welcome to me. But my darling would never do so.
Rama, who is pure-minded, cannot indeed conjecture my way of thinking. When told to go to the forest, he will say, 'Be it so.' On Rama reaching the forest, Death will take me, who is condemned by all men and unpardonable, to the abode of Yama (the god of death)."
Dasharatha then turned his thoughts to the fate of his other family members:
"With Rama, the foremost among men, having left for the forest and I having died, what sinful act can you think of for the remaining people beloved to me? The queen Kausalya, after losing me, Rama, and sons Lakshmana and Shatrughna, will be unable to endure the woes and will follow me to the abode of Yama."
The king's anguish turned to bitter accusations against Kaikeyi:
"O Kaikeyi! Having thrown Kausalya, Sumitra, along with three sons and myself into the tortures of hell, may you be happy! You will bring disorder to the Ikshvaku dynasty (the royal lineage of Rama), which was eternal, adorned with qualities, and could not be disturbed, now abandoned by me and Rama.
If it becomes agreeable to Bharata to send Rama to exile, let not Bharata perform my funeral rites when life has departed from me. Alas! My adversary! O vulgar lady, Kaikeyi! Become satisfied with your desires! When I am dead consequent on Rama, the foremost of men, having proceeded to the forest, you, a widow along with your son, will then rule over the kingdom."
Dasharatha's words grew increasingly harsh:
"You were residing in my house with the designation of a princess. Now, unequaled ill-fame and lasting insult, as well as disrespect of men, will fall to my share as to a perpetrator of sins. How can my beloved son Rama, who was hitherto travelling as a lord in chariots, elephants, and horses, move on foot in a great forest?"
In his final moments of consciousness, Dasharatha made one last appeal to Kaikeyi:
"O cruel woman of evil intent, given to pursuit of your selfish ends! You have a settled disposition to bring grief to me. What mischief do you expect through me or through Rama, who is always doing benefit to you?
On seeing Rama plunged in adversity, fathers will leave off their sons, and wives too their husbands. The entire world will be exasperated. I, for one, rejoice by seeing that son Rama in the form of a divine boy, adorned with ornaments. By seeing him again and again, I get rejuvenated."
Dasharatha's voice grew weaker as he continued:
"Active life may not be possible even without sun or even if Indra (the king of gods) does not pour rain. But my opinion is that not even one will survive by seeing Rama departing from here.
I lodged in my house, as one would one's own mortal enemy, you, who seek my destruction and are unfriendly. Alas, due to ignorance, a highly venomous female serpent has been held on my lap so long, and therefore I am undone!"
With these final words, Dasharatha, gripped in the heart by his wife who had transgressed all bounds of decorum, sank down like a tree cut off at its roots. He heaved a sigh, uttering "Rama," and fell unconscious, resembling a mad man who had lost his mind, like an ailing man getting upset, and like a serpent losing its fierceness.
This concludes the twelfth chapter (sarga) of Ayodhyakanda, the second book of the Ramayana, the great epic composed by the sage Valmiki.