Ayodhya Kaanda
62 - Sarasvati perverts the mind of Manthara (a handmaid of queen Kaikeyi); a dialogue between Kaikeyi and Manthara
Chaupais
Description
Again and again the queen politely questioned Manthara, hyptonized as she was by the latter's guileful words like a doe fascinated by the music of a Bhila woman. Her mind was changed according to the decree of fate and the servant-maid was pleased to find her plan succeed. She replied, "While you persist in questioning me, I am afraid to open my lips, since you have given me the name of a mischief-maker." Thus working up the queen's faith and manipulating her according to her own liking in everyway, Manthara, who spelt disaster for Ayodhya like the evil influence exerted by the planet Saturn for a period of seven and a half years (according to Indian Astrology), then spoke, "You said just now, O queen, that Sita and Rama were dear to you and that you had endeared yourself to Rama; this assertion of yours is true. This is, however, a thing of the past; those days have now gone by. When the tide turns even friend become foes. The sun fosters the family of lotuses; but in the absence of water it burns them to ashes. Your co-wife (Kausalya) would strike at your very root; protect it by means of a good fence in the form of a remedy.