Mother Kaikeyi’s Devotion

Mother Kaikeyi’s Devotion

Why Did Mother Kaikeyi Ask For Ram’s Exile?

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Sunday was Ram Navami, the janma-tithi of Lord Ram. It was treta-yuga. Lord Vishnu appeared as the eldest son of King Dasharath. This was the 7th incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and for human civilization, probably, the most crucial one. 

We all know how Mother Kaikeyi, the janani of Bharat, demanded Ram’s banishment from Raghukul’s throne. Because of that, Prabhu Ram had to go to forest exile for 14 years. Mother Sita, being His devoted wife, and brother Lakshman, dedicated to always serving Lord Ram, went along with Him. This ‘sautela’ conduct of Mother Kaikeyi towards Lord Ram earned her much ill-name and ire of everybody. Since then, no parent named their daughter after her. Her name became synonymous with evil. 

But, as divine plays are always with deeper layers and inner meanings, this was so with this episode also. As a matter of fact, it was already divinely ordained that Ram would go to the forest. Why am I saying so? 

Actually, Mother Kaikeyi was very fond of Ram-lala. She would always be around Him. She loved Ram dearly. But, there was Manthara, who poured poison in her ears against Lord Ram. And eventually her own motherly insecurity over Bharat’s future made her greedy. This is the traditional narrative we’ve heard. Yes, external influences were there. But, what Kaikeyi did was, in actuality, Ram’s own wish. 

I am paraphrasing the conversation here that followed between Lord Ram and Mother Kaikeyi. When Prabhu Ram was in His kishor-abastha, He one day asked Mother Kaikayi, “Do you love me?”. “More than anything else”, said Kaikayi. “You might have to lose your husband and your son’s love for my wish. Would you do it?”. Kaikayi asked, “What is it that you want me to do?”. Ram said, “In future, I will have to go to the forest. I have to kill the rakshasas and liberate many souls. I will need a reason to leave. When the time comes, I’ll inspire you and you’ll be the reason!” 

Mother Kaikayi felt terrible. But, Ram assured her, though the whole world would blame her for her ill-conduct, she will be with Him in His eternal saket-loka. And thus, the divine plot was already set by Lord Himself. It was not because of Kaikayi’s conspiracy that Ram had to accept banishment, it was Lord’s wish itself. 

So, when we get to the deeper layers, we find these are divine plays; humans only played their respective parts. So, seen in this light, Mother Kaikeyi is actually a great devotee of Lord Ram. To fulfill the Lord’s wish, she acted in the most cruel way. But, in her heart, her intentions were never against Lord Ram. 

As Karma comes back with its fair share of consequences, she loses her husband, who loved her dearly, and she loses Bharat’s respect. But, at the end of it all, when Ram returned to Ayodhya with Mother Sita and Lakshman, we see Ram embracing and paying His respects to each one, including Kaikeyi. Kaikeyi earned everyone’s scorn, but when we look at the stories closely, we find that she was a true devotee, who destroyed her reputation for then and times to come only to fulfill what she was asked to do. 

With this I end this article. May Siya-Ram reside in all of our hearts just like that of Hanuman!

Jai Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram.

Jai Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram. 🙏

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P.S: I got to know about this story in this video of Swami Mukundananda. It was an eye-opener for me. The credit for this post goes to Swami Mukundananda. Here is the video:

https://youtu.be/tWLYR9o4uIw

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Thank you.

Image Credit: Wikipedia and edited by me.