“Being under the control of passion and lust, Rama’s father, Maharaja Dasharatha, wanted to fulfill Kaikeyi’s cherished desire, thus he did not go through with Rama’s installation ceremony.” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 47.12)

Download as podcast episode (right click and save)

कामार्तस्तु महातेजाः पिता दशरथस्स्वयम्
कैकेय्याः प्रियकामार्थं तं रामं नाभ्यषेचयत्

kāmārtastu mahātejāḥ pitā daśarathassvayam
kaikeyyāḥ priyakāmārthaṃ taṃ rāmaṃ nābhyaṣecayat

“Alright, I have another exclusive take for you today. You won’t hear this one at your local Sunday program, on a live stream of an esteemed guest riffing on a Bhagavad-gita verse, or even during a casual conversation. It seems only I think of these things, but at least I can share them with you. We will focus on one of the obvious villains in the early portion of the Ramayana narrative. There is an irony to this identification, in that the conflict emerges from a home that should otherwise have no reason for discontent. The story is about Shri Rama, after all. He is the hero of the Raghu dynasty. He is the long-awaited heir to the throne, the son that King Dasharatha was so desperate to welcome.

“Oh, and Rama is also an avatara of Vishnu. In other words, Rama is the Supreme Personality of Godhead appearing on earth. At least that is the premise for our discussion, as devotees accept these truths. We have deliberated on them and find no reason to believe that Maharishi Valmiki was into writing fiction or fantasy novels. No, Rama is living up to the characteristic of causeless and unending mercy, in deciding to appear on this earth. He gave the visual of a human, no less. This was the vyakta to the avyakta. This was the seen to the unseen. This is the prakata-lila, to be visible before the eyes.

“The villain I referenced previously is Kaikeyi. She is the youngest wife to Dasharatha. Rama is not her son directly, but no one in the kingdom really paid attention to those things. That is, until Kaikeyi changed her stance. She went from benevolent and kind to envious and spiteful. She had a little help, from her trusted assistant named Manthara. Kaikeyi did what wives do best; she exploited the greatest vulnerability in her husband. She knew that Dasharatha loved Rama the most. Kaikeyi found a way to separate the two. She used the excuse of wanting her own son to be the next king. She took advantage of boons previously offered to her, by the truthful Dasharatha.

“If this was a game of poker, Kaikeyi had the best hand. If this was chess, it was checkmate. Dasharatha could not go back on his word. This meant that he had to lose Rama’s association. The fourteen-year exile stipulation from Kaikeyi would end up being too much to tolerate. Dasharatha later left this world from sadness, from not being able to see Rama.

“My issue is that does this not give license for people to hate women? As a group in general. They can reference this historical incident to prove that women are petty, vindictive, cruel, heartless, and less intelligent. This all occurred within the home of the avatara of Vishnu. This must mean that the portrayal is intentional, that God wants us to be skeptical of women. How can an intelligent person reach any other conclusion?”

It is indeed lila. It is a pastime, extending for many years, enough to create a narrative that can be documented with thousands of Sanskrit verses. A narrative needs a premise. It also requires conflict. When you watch a movie or a television show, the characters do not sit around the entire time. It is not like they are always at peace, happy and jovial. There is a need for conflict, usually introduced early on. These conflicts serve as ideal moments to leave for commercial, in what is known in the industry as the “act break.” The resolution to that conflict is then what keeps the viewers hooked for the rest of the show. In other words, they want to see how the story ends.

As there is Kaikeyi, there is also Sita Devi. As Kaikeyi sacrifices the happiness of others to meet her own desires, Sita sacrifices everything for the happiness of her husband. She is so set in her ways, in what can be described as a vow of determination, dridha-vratah, that not even her husband can dissuade her. The powerful Rama is powerless against the devotion of His own wife, who happens to be the goddess of fortune.

सह त्वया गमिश्यामि वनमद्य न सम्शयः
नाहम् शक्या महाभाग निवर्तयितुम् उद्यता

saha tvayā gamiśyāmi vanamadya na samśayaḥ
nāham śakyā mahābhāga nivartayitum udyatā

“I shall go with you today to the forest. There is no doubt about it. I cannot be prevented, O greatly fortunate one. I am ready to go.” (Sita Devi speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 27.15)

In his Ramacharitamanasa, Goswami Tulsidas describes how Sarasvati Devi, the goddess of speech, intervened to make Kaikeyi utter her demands. The acharyas would describe this as the work of yogamaya, which is the auspicious kind of illusory energy. The exile had to occur in order for the conflict between Rama and Ravana to later take place. There had to be a premise, a blemish, or some sort of misstep in order for Rama to be exiled. Kaikeyi was merely playing a role.

Another viewpoint highlights the fact that the dispute was between a husband and a wife. Spouses are known to get irrational every now and then. Wise people never take such disputes seriously. They understand that disagreements happen from time to time. Hopefully, things will eventually get sorted out. In this case, Dasharatha recalled a prior blemish of his own, in causing parents to lose the association of their child, as the original cause to the fate that he later suffered with Rama.

This episode shows that even in the presence of the Supreme Lord there might be conflict. It is not that we should expect a Utopia. The difference is that the people were always thinking about the Supreme Lord. He was their everything. Rama did not hold a grudge. He did not view Kaikeyi negatively. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita, the great souls are always under the protection of the divine nature.

महात्मानस् तु मां पार्थ
दैवीं प्रकृतिम् आश्रिताः
भजन्त्य् अनन्य-मनसो
ज्ञात्वा भूतादिम् अव्ययम्

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha
daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

“O son of Pritha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.13)

In Closing:

Not negatively to view,
Caused by yogamaya too.

Rama as victim of Kaikeyi’s demand,
Accepting as father’s command.

Sita in the middle caught,
Later negatively thought.

But premise for story indeed,
For purpose of devas to proceed.

Categories: questions

Tags: dailyprompt, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, ramayana, women