Ramayana of Valmiki and Kamban

[Guest guest]

4. The machinations of Manthara

 

jnAthidhAsee yatho jAthA kaikeyyAsthu sahoshithA

prAsAdham chandrasamkASam Aruroha yadhrcchayA (VR.Ayod. 7.1)

 

Manthara climbed the stairs of the palace of Kaikeyi and went to the top floor balcony by chance. Valmiki refers to Manthara as yatho jAthA, born somewhere, implying the person herself is of less importance than her action. She was jnathidhAsee, servant and relative of Kaikeyi and lived with her , sahoshithA. Valmiki says that she climbed the stairs accidentally, yadhrcchayA. But it was not yadhrcchA but eesvara icchA. Whatever we consider as accidental in this world are not so. More often than not, important events that cause great effects in our lives happen by accidents only which shows that though they seem to be accidental happenings to us because we never planned for it, they are by the will of the Lord.

There were two women whose actions served as the turning points in the epic. One is Manthra and the other is Surpanakha, who also like Manthara , chanced to come that way and saw Rama. Thus Manthara gave the initial push towards the fulfillment of the purpose of the incarnation and Surpanakha was responsible for the finale of the drama.

 

Manthara saw that the whole city of Ayoodhya was in festive mood and asked a maid who was near, about the cause for it. Manthara saw Kousalya distributing gifts to all which was surprising as she was usually a thrifty lady and this caused suspicion that the king was doing something behind the back of Kaikeyi. She figured that whatever caused joy to Kousalya would be detrimental to the interests of Kaikeyi! She mentioned the name of Kousalya as Ramamata, mother of Rama and arTha parA, who is money -minded , which showed her hatred towards Rama as well as Kousalya.

 

The maid gleefully told her the cause of the festive preparations and the next moment Manthara descended the steps hurriedly and went to Kaikeyi, her face a picture of anger and hatred. She spoke to Kaikeyi who was resting in her bed thus:

utthishTa mooDe kim Seshe bhayam thvAm abhivarthathe

upaplutham aghoughena kim AthmAnamna buDhyase (VR.Ayod.7-14)

 

“Get up you fool! You are lying in bed without knowing that there is a great calamity awaiting you followed by a series of misfortunes.â€

 

Manthara told Kaikeyi that she was under the illusion that she has the exclusive love of the king but who was not sincere and cunningly arranged the coronation of Rama while Bharatha was away. Valmiki calls Manthara as vAkyaviSAradhA, clever in speech. She abused the king as being outwardly truthful but in reality deceitful and wicked. Acting as though Kaikeyi was his dearest wife he was going to favour Kousalya by crowning Rama.

 

Kaikeyi, rising from her bed like the Moon from the autumn clouds, became delighted to hear the news and gave Manthra a rich ornament and told her that she was overjoyed to hear about the coronation of Rama since he was as dear to her as Bharatha. Kaikeyi thus spoke like a lady of noble birth who possessed good qualities and told Manthara to ask for whatever she wanted for telling her the goodnews.

 

But it was the divine will that Rama should go to forest to fulfil the avatarakarya, namely to destroy the rakshasas and Ravana and hence the pure mind of Kaikeyi was slowly poisoned by Manthara thus.

 

Manthara told Kaikeyi that it was ridiculous that she rejoiced with the news which meant harm to her and her son. Bharatha was the only rival to Rama being the next in succession and so, if Rama became the king he would try to get rid of Bharatha. Thus she first created fear in the mind of Kaikeyi for the safety of her son and then flung the final missile that if Rama became the king Kousalya would become all powerful and Kaikeyi would be reduced to an inferior position. Thus she kindled the envy of Kaikeyi towards Kousalya, which was working in her mind and finally poisoned her mind thoroughly.

 

Even then Kaikeyi was not convinced and said that she knew Rama very well and he was dharmajna, wellversed in dharma, guNavAn, virtuous, dhAnthaH, self-controlled, sathyavAn, honest and Suchih pure. Moreover being the eldest son he only deserved the kingdom. And further she said that Bharatha will inherit the kingdom in due course and that Rama was more attached to her than to Kousalya.

 

Manthara was not to be silenced by the arguments of Kaikeyi because she was determined to stop the coronation and told Kaikeyi that after Rama only his son will inherit the kingdom and not Bharatha. She said Kaikeyi was so innocent that she was quite unaware of the royal intrigues and it was definite that Rama will try to get rid of Bharata or even if he allowed him to live, Bharata would be no more than a servant to Rama. Finally she said that it was inevitable that Kousalya would become more powerful and Kaikeyi and her son would be reduced to a state of servitude. She pointed out that Kaikeyi committed a big mistake in sending Bharatha often to her brother’s house and hence he was away from the king for a long time and thus there was no love for him in the heart of Dasaratha, while Rama was always the near and dear son to him. Finally she reminded Kaikeyi that she insulted Kousalya many times being arrogant with the love of the king towards her and Kousalya would certainly take revenge if Rama became the king. Manthara finished poisoning the mind of Kaikeyi and told her to think about the means of making Bharatha the king instead of Rama.