Ayodhya Kaanda
64 - Dialogue between king Dasaratha and Kaikeyi; Dasaratha's lamentation; Sumantra goes to the palace and, returning from it, sends Sri Rama to His father
Chaupais
Description
"Hear, my beloved lord, that which pleases my heart; vouchsafe to me for one boon the installation of Bharata (as the prince-regent of Ayodhya). And for the second boon I ask with joined palms-pray accomplish my desire, my lord: let Rama dwell in the woods for fourteen years in the garb of a hermit and wholly detached from the world." The king was grieved at heart to hear these gentle words even as a Cakravaka bird is filled with agony at the mere touch of a moonbeam. He felt dismayed and could not utter a word, like a partridge in the woods at the swoop of a falcon. The king turned altogether pale as a palm tree struck by lightning; with his hands to his forehead and closing both his eyes he began to mourn like Grief personified. "The celestial tree of my desire, that had already blossomed, has been torn up with its roots by the elephant-like Kaikeyi just when it was about to bear fruit. She has desolated Ayodhya and laid the foundation of everlasting misfortune."