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Continued from yesterday’s instalment
 Rama was fond of Kaikeyi and thought of her before he thought of his own mother. The epic doesn’t cite any reason for this kind of attachment to Kaikeyi. It may be due to the fact that Rama was more a father’s child and the father loved his third queen the most. Perhaps that induced Rama or perhaps it may be due to some other reason. But the fact remains that Rama loved Kaikeyi more than Kausalya and Kaikeyi loved Rama more than Bharata.
Kamban shows this love, affection and respect that Rama had for Kaikeyi, immediately after his wedding. One always sees Rama observing the protocol on every occasion. Immediately after the wedding ceremonies were over, Rama walked to his master, Vasistha first as also the sages, fell at their feet and obtained their blessings. He walks to his father next. Now it is for him to pay his respects to his mothers. He walks towards them.
‘kEkayan maa magaL kEzh kiLar paadham, thaayinum anbodu thaazhndhu vaNangi,’ He fell at the lustrous feet of the daughter of Kekaya (Kaikeyi) with love that excelled his love for his own mother. ‘aaya than annayin adith thuNai soodi,’
He then went to his own mother (Kausalya) and prostrated before her.
‘thooya sumiththirai thaaL thozhalOdum…’
He lastly paid his respect to Sumitra.
Look at the order of importance. He first sought the blessings of Kaikeyi and walked to his mother, only afterwards. The Poet is extremely careful about these things and one can rest assured that he has ‘mixed up’ things and put Kaikeyi first in the list. Rama retains the same kind of respect and love, during all the fourteen years that he was in exile towards Kaikeyi. ‘He is carrying out his mother’s order’ is what the Poet maintains throughout, unlike in Valmiki Ramayana. When Rama returns to Ayodhya from his exile, see whom he is seeking first, for getting her blessings:
‘kaikyan thanayai mundhak kaal urap paNindhu,’ He fell at the feet of the daughter of the king of Kekaya. And then in the next line the Poet says,
‘matrai moi kuzhal iruvar thaaLum muraimayin vaNangu sengaN ayaan.’ He then bowed before the other two mothers, in order. ‘muraimayin’ he says. It means he did so in the specified order. In the order in which he has to pay his respects to them.
 In both these instances, both at the beginning of the epic and in its fag end, we see Rama choosing Kaikeyi to pay his respects first, even when his own mother was standing by his side. It was an attachment of a very special kind. And the affection of Kaikeyi was not less in any way. We will see her words in detail later. But the fact remains that her heart went against Rama, in a very short time. It could not have been by a moment’s impulse that she sought what she sought. Apart from demanding the crown for Bharata, she was very particular that Rama should be sent on exile for fourteen years, despite the pleadings of poor Dasaratha to relent on at least the second boon.
This kind of an adamantine behaviour seems to have acquired by her from her mother. Sumantra who is vexed over her rigid attitude reproaches her harshly. He quotes a proverb in his remonstrance. “Indeed I account your innate disposition to be exactly similar to that of your mother. The proverb is often quoted in the word that surely honey does not flow from a Neem tree. (Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda, Canto XXXV, Sloka 17)
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Hari Krishnan
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