Who Is Kaikeyi?
The queen whose two boons changed fate
Kaikeyi is a queen of King Dasharatha in the Ramayana and the mother of Prince Bharata. A princess of the kingdom of Kekaya, she was the king's favorite wife. At first she was fond of Rama too.
Long ago she had saved the king's life on the battlefield, and in return he promised to grant her "two boons." When Rama's coronation was announced, her maid Manthara stirred up her fears, and Kaikeyi used the boons to demand that Bharata be made king and that Rama be exiled to the forest for fourteen years. The king wept and grieved, but he could not break his promise.
Yet when her son Bharata came home, he was not pleased by what she had done and blamed her harshly. Kaikeyi is the character who sets the story in motion, and she is still widely discussed in India today.
Episodes featuring this character4
NEWEpisode 1
The Boy Whose Arrow Was Too StrongRamayana: Bala Kanda (The Book of Youth)
A poet's grief over a slain bird becomes a song, and that song becomes the story of a prince. In Episode 1, young Rama leaves his father's side to travel with a stern sage, and learns for the first time how great his own power is, and how frightening.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 2
Whoever Draws the Bow Wins the BrideSita's Swayamvara (The Bow of Shiva)
No king could even lift the divine bow, yet young Prince Rama bows to his teacher and quietly draws it. A wedding to Sita, daughter of the earth, follows—but on the road home, an axe-bearing sage named Parashurama awaits with a trial of his own.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 3
Crowned Tomorrow, Exiled TonightThe Exile of Rama (Ayodhya Kanda)
Prince Rama is set to become heir to the throne tomorrow. But long ago his father promised two wishes to the woman who saved his life, and in a single night that promise sends Rama into the forest for fourteen years. No one hates him, yet he loses everything. This is a story about the weight of a promise and what it costs to keep one.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 4
The Brother Who Wouldn't Sit on the ThroneBharata and Rama's Sandals (Paduka)
Grieving for Rama, now exiled to the forest, King Dasharatha dies, still haunted by an arrow he loosed in his youth. Bharata is offered the throne. Instead, he marches with the whole army to bring his brother home. Rama refuses to break their father's promise, so the two brothers find another answer: Rama's sandals will sit on a throne that no one else will use.
19 pages