Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 8

Meaning

Censuring Kaikeyī and throwing away the said jewel gifted by her, however, Mantharā thereupon spoke to her as follows, full of indignation (at the nonchalant attitude of Kaikeyī) and sorrow (at her inevitable ruin) : (1)

Meaning

“Wherefore have you expressed joy, O foolish lady, when there is no occasion for it? Obviously you do not perceive yourself surrounded by an ocean of grief? (2)

Meaning

“Afflicted as I am with sorrow, O royal lady, I mentally laugh at you in that even on meeting with a great calamity you feel rejoiced where there is reason to mourn ! (3)

Meaning

“I pity perverseness of your mind; for else what wise lady would exult over the prospective exaltation of a stepson, a veritable foe, any more than on the imminent advance of death? (4)

Meaning

“Rāma has every cause for fear from Bharata alone, who has an equal claim to sovereignty. I am sad to ponder that; for danger naturally follows to the man who is feared from an individual seized with fear. (5)

Meaning

“The mighty-armed Lakṣmaṇa, of course, follows Rāma with all his being and Śatrughna too is a follower of Bharata in the same way as Lakṣmaṇa is of Rāma (a scion of Kakutstha). (6)

Meaning

“According to the order of seniority too the claim to the throne of Ayodhyā of Bharata alone can be pressed; that of Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna, who are both junior to Bharata, is out of the question, O proud Lady ! (7)

Meaning

“I shudder with fear to think of the danger to your son from Rāma, who is not only learned and well-versed in the conduct of a Kṣatriya, but also promptly does what is called for. (8)

Meaning

“Fortunate indeed is Kausalyā, whose son is going to be invested with the great office of Prince Regent tomorrow under the asterism Puṣya by the foremost of Brāhmaṇas. (9)

Meaning

“With joined palms you will wait like a maid-servant on Kausalyā, when she has attained the rulership of the globe and disposed of her enemies in the person of Bharata and yourself and derived joy thereby, trusted as she is by her husband.(10)

Meaning

“In this way you too alongwith us will be reduced to the position of her maid-servant and your son as well will surely be degraded to the status of Rāma’s servant. (11)

Meaning

“The most blessed ladies of Rāma’s household will feel positively rejoiced, while as a sequel to Bharata’s destruction your daughter-in-law and her companions will feel unhappy.” (12)

Meaning

Seeing the aforesaid Mantharā speaking most unkindly as above, the godlike Kaikeyī thereupon merely extolled the virtues of Śrī Rāma as follows : so the tradition goes—(13)

Meaning

“A knower of what is right, Śrī Rāma is a repository of virtues, disciplined, grateful, devoted to truth, upright and the eldest of the princes. He, therefore, deserves to be installed in the office of Prince Regent.(14)

Meaning

“The long-lived child Rāma will look after his younger brothers and servants as a father does his children. How then do you feel distressed, O hunchback, to hear of his installation? (15)

Meaning

“After a hundred years of Rāma’s installation (when Rāma retires due to old age) Bharata too, the foremost of men, will inherit his ancestral throne in the natural course. (16)

Meaning

“When an occasion for rejoicing like the present one is at hand and when a festive occasion, similar to the one at hand, is to come off in future (too in the shape of Bharata’s installation, no matter even if it comes after a hundred years) how is it that, well-known as you are for your wisdom, you feel agonized like this as though burning with jealousy, O Mantharā? (17)

Meaning

“Precisely as Bharata is worthy of esteem to me, Rāma, a scion of Raghu, is even more so. Nay, the latter does greater service to me than to Kausalyā. (18)

Meaning

“If the throne really goes to Rāma, it would be equally Bharata’s at that very time; for Rāma, a scion of Raghu, actually esteems his brothers just as his own self.” (19)

Meaning

Heaving a doleful sigh, Mantharā, who was sore distressed to hear Kaikeyī’s reply, spoke to the latter as follows : (20)

Meaning

“Unable to perceive the truth due to stupidity, and about to sink in an ocean of misery, swollen through grief and adversity, you fail to assess your real position. (21)

Meaning

“Rāma, a scion of Raghu, will be crowned king and after him he who is born as his son; whereas Bharata, O Kaikeyī, will be excluded from the royal line. (22)

Meaning

“All the sons of a king do not retain their hold on the throne, O proud woman ! For, if all are installed on a throne at one and the same time, a very great impropriety will be caused. (23)

Meaning

“Therefore, kings, O Kaikeyī, actually hand over the reins of government to the eldest son, even though others, viz., the younger may be full of virtues, O lady with faultless limbs ! (24)

Meaning

“Like a child without a guardian, your aforesaid son will be altogether deprived of comforts and cast out from the royal dynasty, O lady full of affection (for your child) ! (25)

Meaning

“Such as I am, I have come to you to awaken you to your own interests, while you do not recognize my worth in that you seek to bestow a reward on me on the exaltation of your co-wife ! (26)

Meaning

“Having attained sovereignty shorn of enemies, Rāma for his part will surely send Bharata into exile or even to the other world. (27)

Meaning

“Even as a boy, Bharata, on the other hand, has been despatched by you to his maternal uncle’s; while love is engendered through contiguity even as among inanimate beings like trees and creepers. (28)

Meaning

“In obedience to the will of Bharata the celebrated Śatrughna too left with him, inasmuch as the latter is devoted to Bharata in the same way as Lakṣmaṇa is to Rāma. (29)

Meaning

“A certain tree marked down for being felled by those living on the produce of forests was actually saved from the great danger by thorny shrubs through sheer proximity: so it is heard. (30)

Meaning

“Indeed Lakṣmaṇa (son of Sumitrā) will protect Rāma and Rāma (a scion of Raghu) too will protect Lakṣmaṇa. Their brotherly love for each other, which is akin to the love of the Aświns (the twin-born physicians of gods), is widely known in all the worlds. (31)

Meaning

“Therefore, Rāma will never do any wrong to Lakṣmaṇa. Against Bharata, however, he must perpetrate a wrong: there is no doubt about it. (32)

Meaning

“Therefore let Rāma, a scion of Raghu, retire to the woods even from the palace. This alone appeals to me and is also supremely good for you. (33)

Meaning

“In case Bharata rightly secures his paternal throne (as promised by his father), then only will the welfare of those (like myself) belonging to the side of your parents be ensured. (34)

Meaning

“Having lost his fortune, how will that boy of yours, a born enemy of Rāma—whose object has been realized—and deserving a life of ease, live in subjection to Rāma? (35)

Meaning

“You ought to protect Bharata when like the leader of a herd of elephants chased in a forest by a lion he is overpowered by Rāma. (36)

Meaning

“It is improbable that your co-wife, Kausalyā, mother of Rāma, who has been slighted by you in the past out of pride born of your being loved by your husband, will not repay her grudge to you. (37)

Meaning

“Nay, when Rāma secures dominion of the earth with its seas and mountains containing abundant jewels, you will at that time helplessly suffer unwelcome ignominy alone in the shape of servitude alongwith Bharata, O proud lady ! (38)

Meaning

“As soon as Rāma attains sovereignty of the globe, Bharata will surely meet his doom. Therefore, actually devise some means of securing sovereignty in favour of your son, Bharata, as well as an excuse for banishing Rāma, his (born) enemy.” (39)