Kaikeyí

Also known as: Queen Kaikeyí · Family: Ayodhyá · Role: queen · First appears: Book I, Canto 1 · Nárad

The summary of the poem tells how Kaikeyí’s demand that Daśaratha honor two promised boons disrupted Ráma’s succession and sent him into exile, while securing the throne for her son Bharat. In Book I, Daśaratha gave her a share of the heavenly nectar, and she later bore Bharat. In Book II, after Manthará told her that Ráma was to be consecrated, Kaikeyí rewarded her with a jewel and resolved to claim the boons. She reminded Daśaratha that she had saved his life in battle, then demanded that Bharat be crowned and Ráma exiled.

Kaikeyí persisted despite Daśaratha’s pleas, and ordered Sumantra to bring Ráma before the king. She told Ráma to go to the forest and took bark garments for him; Vaśishṭha rebuked her when she offered them to Sítá. Daśaratha later renounced his bond with Kaikeyí, and the women of the palace vowed they would not remain in her realm if she reigned.

When Bharat returned, Kaikeyí admitted, “I prayed that Ráma hence might flee, / And claimed the throne, my son, for thee.” Bharat blamed her for their father’s death and Ráma’s exile. In Book III, the account of Kaikeyí’s plea again describes her pressing Daśaratha to banish Ráma and consecrate her child instead.