Why Rama Left His Own Kingdom

His father made a promise. Rama could have fought it. He chose to keep it.

On the morning Rama was meant to be crowned king of Ayodhya, his stepmother Kaikeyi calls in two old promises from King Dasharatha. She wants her son Bharata on the throne and Rama sent to the forest for fourteen years. Rama could have fought back. Instead, to keep his father's word, he walks out of the palace with Sita and Lakshmana, smiling, in the same simple cloth a forest sage would wear.

The Morning the Whole City Woke Up Smiling

The night before, the city of Ayodhya could barely sleep.

In every home, mothers were stitching new clothes. Fathers were polishing their best earrings. Children were practising the songs they would sing tomorrow. Grandmothers were drawing fresh kolams at every doorstep.

Because tomorrow morning, Rama was going to be crowned king.

Nobody in Ayodhya could remember a happier day. Rama was the eldest son of King Dasharatha. He was kind to everyone. He greeted the old sweeper by name. He never raised his voice. The city loved him the way you love your own child.

The sky lit up at dawn. Conches blew. Drums began. Sita, Rama's wife, dressed in her finest yellow silk. Rama wore the simple white he always wore, because he never enjoyed showing off. The crown was already polished and waiting in a silver tray.

And then, very quietly, everything went wrong.

A Whisper in the Wrong Ear

Deep inside the palace, in a small room of polished stone, sat Queen Kaikeyi.

Kaikeyi was Dasharatha's youngest queen. She was Bharata's mother. She had loved Rama like her own son, ever since the day he was born. In fact, she had told Dasharatha many times that she loved Rama even more than Bharata.

But that morning, an old maid named Manthara crept into her room.

Manthara had a hard, jealous heart. She did not love Rama. She loved Kaikeyi, and she could not bear that Kaikeyi's son Bharata was going to live in Rama's shadow forever.

"Don't you see, my queen?" Manthara whispered. "Once Rama is king, your son Bharata will be no more than a servant. Your room will be smaller. Your power will be less. Rama and his wife will rule everything. And you, my queen, will be forgotten."

Kaikeyi laughed at first. "Manthara, what nonsense. Rama is like my own son. He would never treat me badly."