Ramayana · Vol 1
Two Boons
Volume 2 of 9Start from Volume 1 →
The day before Rama's consecration, a maidservant persuades Queen Kaikeyi to claim two old boons from King Dasharatha. The king swears by Rama before he knows what they are, and the demand is that Rama be banished to the forest for fourteen years.
- Series
- Ramayana
- Contents
- 14 chapters, 21,760 words
- Transparency
- SI-assisted work
About this work
Ayodhya prepares to consecrate Rama as crown prince, and the whole city cheers. Manthara, the servant raised alongside Queen Kaikeyi, throws her mistress's gift of a bracelet to the floor and keeps working on her until Kaikeyi, who had loved Rama, turns against him. Long ago Kaikeyi saved King Dasharatha's life in the war of the gods and received two boons she has never claimed. She lies on the floor of the chamber of wrath and asks the king to swear before she speaks. Dasharatha swears by Rama, the son he loves most. Then he hears what she wants. Bharata, Kaikeyi's son, must be consecrated, and Rama must live as an ascetic in the Dandaka forest for fourteen years. The king pleads all night with his forehead on the floor. Morning comes, and Sumantra, the king's charioteer, sets out to fetch Rama, who knows nothing yet. This novel retells the Ayodhya Kanda of Valmiki's Ramayana, in the Indian version.
