Kaikeyi's Rage
Queen Kaikeyi
entered the palace anger-room. Slamming the door shut,
she threw herself to the floor and felt her voice reach through the
kingdom ofAyodhya . She sounded like a ghost of the past seeking
vengeance for a loved one who never received justice. Her cries were
unearthly and nothing could appease the rage that Manthara's words of
warning had kindled in her. She was an inferno that no water could
quench. She grasped her pearl necklaces and ripped
them from her neck, throwing them around the room. She ripped the
flowers and other adornments from her hair and threw them around
herself. She created a suitable pit of hatred and wrath.
But
in her mind, she was convincing herself that the truth her servant,
Manthara,
told her was true. That the family she loved did not feel the same for
her and now that her husband was no longer going to be the king, they
could be rid of her. It was painful to think that after all these years
that she would be pushed out of the palace like a piece of offal no
longer fit to be seen since there would be a new king. Rama! How could
he be the instrument of her betrayal? He had always been such a sweet
boy...
No,
Manthara was right. She was her most trusted
confidante and would never tell her something if she did not know it to
be true. After all, Rama was the son of Kausalya, her husband
Dasaratha's first wife and that meant that after Dasaratha handed over
the kingdom to Rama she would be left
unprotected. Kausalya would see to it that Kaikeyi would be expelled
from the palace. And then what would become of her son, Bharata? Might
they truly kill him to be rid of competitor to the throne? After all,
what Manthara had said sounded too
much like she had overheard something from another servant. Besides,
Manthara was the only person who she knew she could trust without a
doubt because she always put Kaikeyi before anything else. Kausalya,
despite her previous kindnesses, had to now be glad that she was in a
position to get rid of Kaikeyi and Manthara wanted to warn her to save
her.
Kaikeyi
felt her throat tighten as tears fell down her face. It hurt her to
think of the betrayal that she faced. Her husband, her king, failed to
protect her
and Rama would soon banish her from the palace. What would become of
her son, Bharata? Rama would have to kill him because he would never
forgive
Rama for banishing her.
Manthara
had told her the truth and saved her from certain calamity. She would
have to betray them before they betrayed her. She would use the two
boons which her husband Dasaratha still owed to her, and giving the
kingdom to her son and banishing Rama for fourteen
years. Sobbing, she clutched her arms to her chest and wailed even
louder. Rama would surely forgive her during his years in the forest.
Her choice of taking control would be kinder than Kausalya and Rama.
She would not have Rama
killed, only banished. And Kausalya
could still be her friend as before but she needed to know that Kaikeyi
was the one in control. It was a kindness that she had these two boons
to use because
with them she could save her family with only a few scars.
Hearing
footsteps, she knew it had to be Dasaratha
entering the room, no one else would dare to interrupt her rage.
Sobbing, she tried to collect
herself but found she could only sink deeper into her pool of hatred
and self-pity. She felt as if her heart was imploding when he entered
the room. He might curse her for asking for her two boons to be granted
but Kaikeyi would have her way.
Author's Note: I wanted to choose Kaikeyi because, without her despair
and rage with the possibility of everything going completely wrong once
Rama became king, Rama would never have destroyed Ravana or saved Sita.
He would have never become the epic hero we read about in Ramayana. In
Buck's version of Ramayana, she is truly happy about the circumstances
until Manthara feeds her advise. Kaikeyi did not want to
believe it but her doubts and insecurities fueled the thoughts that
Manthara put into her head until she could not think of anything else.
Kaikeyi is not a bad woman in the Ramayana, but she is confused and
angry at the
prospects of the future. Ultimately, her choice to use her two boons
was fated as part of Rama's mission on earth. I kept the influence of
Manthara as light a touch as
possible so that it would almost be like Kaikeyi was coming to these
conclusions for herself. Although I did add the Manthara was right
several times to emphasive that her influence on Kaikeya, and Kaikeyi's
influence as
queen with her two boons, is what led to Rama's banishment.