Bengali Ramayana - Manthara 1

[Guest guest]

In Indra’s court, there was an apsara named

Dudhumbhi was born as the hunchback Manthara. She was a

very cunning and ugly woman. She had acted as a

midwife when Bharata was born and was thus very dear to

Kaikeyi. When she heard that Rama would be king, she was

not very pleased. She approached Kaushalya’s maids to

find out what had actually happened and what was the

reason for all the mirth and merry. The maids said they

were surprised that Manthara had not heard the news

that the king fearing his own death was crowning Rama

as the king of Ayodhya. <br>The Gods had willed that

Manthara would be the key to banishing Rama. The

confirmation from the mouth of the maids struck her like a

thunderbolt. Cursing Kaikeyi she went towards Kaikeyi’s

quarters.