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clean_data.txt

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ifts you promised on oath, I
shall this very night drink poison and end
my life. You may anoint and install Rama,
but before your eyes, O, promise breaker,
I shall be dead. This is certain. And I
swear it in the name of Bharata. It will be
well and good if you fulfil your promise
and banish Rama to the forest. Else, I
shall end my life."
With this firm declaration, Kaikeyi
stopped.
Dasaratha
stood
speechless,
staring at his pitiless wife. Was this lovely
creation really Kaikeyi or a demon? Then,
like a huge tree felled by a forester with
his axe, the King shook and toppled down
and lay stretched unconscious on the floor
in pitiful ruin.
Regaining his senses after a while, he
spoke in a low voice: "Kaikeyi, who has
corrupted your mind to see me dead and
our race destroyed? What evil spirit has
possessed you and makes you dance in
this shameless fashion? Do you really
think that Bharata will agree to be king
after sending Rama to the forest? He
never will, and you know it. Can I
possibly bear to tell Rama to go to the
forest? Will not the kings of the world
despise me, saying, 'This uxorious old
dotard has banished his eldest son, the
best of men'? Don't you see that they
would laugh at me? It is easy enough for
you to say 'Send Rama away to the forest,'
but
can
Kausalya
or
I
survive
his
departure? And have you thought of
Janaka's daughter? Would it not kill her to
hear that Rama is to go away to the
Dandaka forest? Cheated by your face I
thought you a woman and took you for
my wife. Like a deluded man, tempted b
y
the flavor of poisoned wine, I was lured
by your beauty into marrying you. Like a
deer ensnared by a hunter, I am caught in
your net and perish. Like a drunken
Brahmana in the streets I shall be
universally despised. What boons have
you demanded? Boons that forever will
taint the fame of our dynasty with the
ignominy of lustful dotage that drove an
old fool to the banishment of a beloved
and peerless son. If I tell Rama to go to
the forest, yes, he will cheerfully obey and
go to the forest. Myself and then Kausalya
and Sumitra will die. How will you enjoy
the kingdom thus secured, O sinful,
foolish woman? And will Bharata agree to
your plans? If he does agree, he shall not
perform
my
obsequies.
O
shameless
woman,
my
life's
enemy,
kill
your
husband and attain widowhood to enjoy
the kingdom with your son. O, how sinful
are women and how pitiless! No, no. Only
this woman is cruel. Why should I insult
other women? What a pity that my
Bharata should have this monster for a
mother! No, I can never do this. Kaikeyi, I
fall at your feet and beg you. Have some
pity on me!"
The King rolled on the ground and
writhed in agony. What shall we say of
this scene? A great emperor, famous for
his long and glorious reign, crying and
rolling on the ground, clasping his wife's
feet and begging for mercy. It was like
Yayati, thrown back to earth when, his
accumulated merit exhausted, he was
ejected from Swarga.
No matter how humbly he begged,
Kaikeyi was obstinate and said firmly:
"You have yourself boasted that you are a