The morning that changed
Episode 5 of 20 in Ramayana: Valmiki's story, told gently.
Narrated with an AI voice.
- Reading time
- 6 min
- Listening time
- 9 min
- By
- DharmikStudio Originals
- Narration
- AI voice
Read along
Namaste. Welcome back. Last time Rama broke Shiva's bow in Mithila, and four brothers came home to Ayodhya with four brides. Bharata and Shatrughna then went to stay with their mother's family in Kekaya. Tonight we open the second kanda of the poem, the **Ayodhya Kanda**, and I will tell you now, it is a tender and difficult one.
Breathe with me. In. And out.
**
Years have passed. **Dasharatha** has grown old. He feels it in his body, and he has seen troubling signs in his dreams. And he thinks, while I am still here, let me see my Rama settled as **yuvaraja**, the prince who will share the work of ruling and one day take it on.
He does not decide this alone. He calls an assembly. Kings from neighbouring lands, the elders of the city, the merchants, the ministers, all gather in the great hall. And Dasharatha speaks to them plainly. I have ruled you for a long time, he says, and I am tired. I want to make Rama yuvaraja. But tell me what you think. If you have a better counsel, say it.
The hall answers with one voice. Yes. Let it be Rama.
And then the people describe Rama, and it is one of the loveliest passages in the poem. They say, he is truthful and gentle. When he meets people, he speaks first, and speaks kindly. When someone does him one small good turn, he remembers it forever, and when someone wrongs him a hundred times, he forgets. When a citizen is in trouble, Rama is as upset as if it were his own family. When there is a festival in someone's home, he is happy like a father.
Imagine being described like that by the people you will serve.
**
Dasharatha is delighted. He tells Vasishtha to prepare everything, because tomorrow the moon will be in **Pushya**, a good star for beginnings. He calls Rama and tells him himself. And he adds, quietly, do it soon, my son. Even good people's minds can change. Bharata is away, and he is a fine and loving brother, but let this be done while the time is right.
Rama touches his father's feet and goes to his mother **Kausalya**, who has been praying in the temple room. Lakshmana and Sita are with her. Kausalya weeps with joy. That night, on Vasishtha's advice, Rama and Sita keep a vrata, a quiet fast, and sleep on a bed of kusha grass in the shrine room of Vishnu, preparing themselves for the next day.
Outside, the city does not sleep. People wash the streets, hang flags and garlands, light lamps. Everyone is talking about tomorrow.
**
Now, in Queen Kaikeyi's part of the palace, there lives an old maid named **Manthara**. She had come with Kaikeyi long ago from her father's home, and she has looked after her all her life. That evening Manthara climbs up to the roof and sees the lamps and the flags. She asks a nurse, what is happening? And she hears, Rama is to be crowned yuvaraja tomorrow.
Manthara goes straight to Kaikeyi, who is resting. She says, wake up, you are in great danger.
And here is what I want you to notice. Kaikeyi's first reaction is joy. Real joy. She takes off a beautiful ornament and gives it to Manthara as a gift for the good news. She says, for me there is no difference between Rama and Bharata. Rama treats me with even more respect than he does his own mother.
Valmiki wants us to see that Kaikeyi was not a cruel person. She loved Rama.
**
But Manthara throws the ornament down. And she begins to talk. She talks about the future. Once Rama is king, she says, Kausalya will be the queen mother, and you will stand before her with folded hands like a servant. And what about Bharata? Where will he be? What if the new king sees him as a rival? Is your son safe?
She talks for a long time, and slowly, fear enters Kaikeyi's heart. Fear for herself, and fear for her son. And fear, as we all know, can make even a loving person do things they would never otherwise do.
Later tellings, like the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, add that the gods sent the goddess **Saraswati** to turn Manthara's mind, so that Rama's purpose on earth could be fulfilled. That is how many families hear it, and it softens the blame on both women. In Valmiki the change comes from fear and from Manthara's words.
**
Then Manthara reminds her of something. Long ago, she says, when Dasharatha went to help the gods in their war against the asura **Shambara**, you went with him. He was hurt in battle, and you carried him away from the field and saved his life. He was so grateful that he offered you two boons. You said, I will ask for them later. Ask for them now.
Ask that Bharata be crowned. And ask that Rama go to the forest for fourteen years. In fourteen years, Bharata's place will be secure.
Kaikeyi listens. She takes off her jewels, lets her hair fall loose, puts on an old cloth, and lies down on the bare floor of the **kopa-griha**, the room where a queen goes when she is displeased.
**
Dasharatha comes to her palace that evening, full of happiness, to share the news. He cannot find her in her rooms. He is told where she is. He goes in and finds her lying on the floor, and he is frightened. He sits beside her, strokes her hair, and says, who has hurt you? Tell me what you want. I swear by Rama, whom I love more than my own life, I will do it.
And Kaikeyi says, then remember the two boons. Crown Bharata with the preparations made for Rama. And send Rama to the **Dandaka** forest for fourteen years, to live as a hermit, in bark cloth and deer skin.
Dasharatha cannot believe it. He falls to the ground. He pleads with her through the whole night. He reminds her of her love for Rama. He begs. The poem says he held her feet. Kaikeyi does not move from her demand. The night that should have been the happiest of his life becomes the longest.
**
And then the morning comes. Vasishtha arrives with everything ready for the coronation. Sumantra goes inside to wake the king. And Kaikeyi, speaking for the silent king, says to Sumantra, go and bring Rama here.
Let us gather what we heard tonight.
Dasharatha, growing old, asked his council and people whether Rama should be made yuvaraja, and they agreed with joy. Manthara, Kaikeyi's old maid, turned Kaikeyi's first happiness into fear for herself and for Bharata. And Kaikeyi asked for the two boons Dasharatha had once promised her: Bharata's coronation, and fourteen years in the forest for Rama.
**One thing to take with you.** Kaikeyi's first feeling was joy for Rama. It was fear, fed by another voice, that changed her. This week, when you notice fear pushing you towards a harsh decision, wait one night. Sleep on it, talk to someone who loves everyone involved, and then decide.
In our next sitting, Rama is called to his father's room, and we see how a person meets the hardest news of his life.
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**Credits (read out):** Written by the DharmikStudio team from the Sanskrit text of the Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda. Narrated with an AI voice. If you hear a mistake, please use "Report a mistake" on this episode.