Ayodhya Kaanda
63 - Kaikeyi enters the sulking-chamber
Chaupais
Description
Holding the humpback dear as life the queen applauded her uncommon shrewdness again and again. "I have no such friend as you in the whole world," she said. "You have served as a prop to one who was drifting along a stream. If God fulfils my heart's desire tomorrow, I will cherish you, my dear, as the apple of my eye." Thus lavishing every term of endearment on her maid-servant, Kaikeyi retired to the sulking-room. Discord was the seed and the servant-girl (Manthara) the rainy season; while the evil mind of Kaikeyi served as the soil. Fed by the water of wiliness the seed took root and sprouted with the two boons as its leaves and will eventually bear the fruit of adversity. Gathering about her every token of resentment, Kaikeyi lay down on the floor in the sulking-room; while enjoying sovereignty, she was betrayed by her wicked mind. There was a great flutter in the gynaeceum as well as in the city; nobody had any inkling of this evil design.