Kaikeyi

On this Women's Day, let's know more about Kaikeyi, the most misunderstood woman of our Mythology.

Kaikeyi was one of the wives of King Dasharath and the mother of Bharata, in the epic Ramayana. She is considered to be one of the women whose actions led to the events of the epic. She is also considered to be the proverbial step-mother and is seen as the jealous wife and an over-zealous mother. We will keep the negative epithets aside for the time being and try to understand the character, without the tainted glasses that we have been made to wear for long. 

Kaikeyi was the daughter of the King of Kekaya. King Dasharath had married Kaikeyi only when his first queen, Kaushalya, was not able to conceive. Thus the marriage took place, under some unuttered assumptions. First, that Kaikeyi’s son would be the future king of Ayodhya and second, that she would be the Queen Mother. All this because Kaushalya’s bearing a child had been already ruled out. However, when she too could not conceive, Dasharath got married again. But Kaikeyi was no Kaushalya. She was brave, beautiful and ambitious.

It is said that once, she had accompanied Dasharath to a war against a demon. During the war, when Dasharath was supposed to have been injured, she drove his chariot out of the battleground, nursed him and got him back on his feet, fit to fight the war. Some other versions say that during the war, the axle of the chariot’s wheel broke and lest the chariot break down and bring Dasharath on the ground; she is supposed to have used her finger for the axle till the battle was over. King Dasharath was very impressed by her heroism, and granted her two boons, which she kept for a better day.

It is said that every action that one takes has a bearing on ones upbringing or some event of the past (especially childhood) which has moulded him/her the way s/he is as an adult. It was no different in the case of Kaikeyi too.

According to some versions, Kaikeyi’s father, Ashwapati had a rare gift of understanding the language of the birds. But it came with a rider. If he ever told anybody what he understood of the birds’ conversation, then he would lose his life. Once while he was strolling with his wife, he heard the conversation of two swans and had a hearty laugh. This got the queen curious, and she insisted that she be told the contents of the conversation, knowing well the implications of the King’s actions. This led the King to believe, that the Queen did not care for the life of the King and banished her out of the Kingdom. Kaikeyi grew without any maternal influence and always harboured a sense of insecurity from the male community, who she thought were fickle. What if Dasharath did not love her in his later life, as he had other wives too? What if her son, Bharata did not care for her at her old-age? All these thoughts and thanks to Manthara’s (her maid who had accompanied her from her father’s place) fuelling of latent ambitions, were the result of Kaikeyi, seeking two boon’s – one, Bharat to be appointed the King and second, Ram to be banished for fourteen years.

Some versions also say that she did all this under the instructions of Ram himself! According to this version, Ram once confessed to Kaikeyi, that he was Lord Vishnu on earth and he needed to go to the forests to eliminate many a demon and Ravana as part of his duty on earth. For this, could she do something to help him? He also warned her of the implications, and the stigma that would be associated to her name for ages. Kaikeyi could not have said a ‘No’ as she was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu and a stigma on her name was a relatively small sacrifice to be made, to get to serve the Lord himself. It is said that after her death, Kaikeyi found a place at Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Vishnu.

Yet another version says that Kaikeyi’s father had overheard from some birds that the jungles would soon be full of demons that would hurt the Brahmins and ascetics, which would need a long-term helping hand of Rama. To ensure that Rama spent a lot of time in the jungles, and being aware of Manthara’s character, he ensured that she accompany Kaikeyi, after the wedding. He had full faith in her capabilities, and needless to say that she did live-up to the King’s expectations!

All the versions and many more, lead us to one conclusion. Ram’s exile was destined and pre-ordained. The quintessential step-mother was a figment of an authors imagination or at best just a catalyst, who has been bearing the brunt of it all, since ages!

Do you know why Brahmins are Poor?

Well there is an interesting myth regarding why Brahmins are poor.

First another myth from Brihatdharma Purana. According to this myth, Goddess Lakshmi was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and she used to worship Shiva everyday and as a ritual used to offer one thousand lotuses during the worship. During one such day, she realised there were two lotuses less, and it was already too late to go looking for the lotuses. It was then that she remembered that once Lord Vishnu had described her breasts as blooming lotuses. She immediately decided to offer them for her worship. Lakshmi cut off one of her breasts and when she was about to cut off the second one, Lord Shiva appeared and stopped her. Satisfied with her worship, Shiva then changed the breast into a the Bael (wood apple) fruit and sent it down to earth to grow outside every temple of Shiva’s. 

Though Bael fruit and its leaves are offered to Lord Shiva, it is supposed to be the house of Goddess Lakshmi. Now let’s get back to the original question, as to why are Brahmin’s poor?

Once Lord Vishnu asked Lakshmi that she visited everybody and changed their fortunes, but why did she never visit the Brahmins, especially when they were responsible for the upkeep of temples, the abode of gods on earth, and were also knowledgeable and followed all religious rituals and practices and also helped other people to follow them?

To this, Lakshmi replied, that she was upset about the fact that the Brahmins, kept tearing off leaves from her home (i.e. the Bael tree) and offering them to Shiva. When they didn’t take care of her home, then why should she enter the homes of Brahmins? 

I guess, Vishnu had no answer to this, and we have probably got the answer to first question!

Tulasi Vivaha

Tulasi Vivaha (marriage of Basil tree) is considered to be a very important festival and also marks the beginning of the Marriage season amongst the Hindus. Tulasi Vivaha is the marriage of Vishnu (as Shaligram) with Tulasi, the Basil (also known as the Holy Basil) tree.

Once upon a time Tulasi Devi was married to a demon by the name of Jalandhara (one who was born from water). Jalandhara derived all his strength and power from her chastity and purity. So strong was this aspect of Tulasi Devi that even Lord Shiva could not defeat Jalandhara, when he declared war over the gods, by claiming sovereignty over the oceans and all the treasures that were churned out of the ocean during the samudra manthana. As it happens always, the gods went to Lord Vishnu for help. Vishnu decided to trick Tulasi Devi by assuming the form of Jalandhara and went to her. Tulasi Devi thinking Vishnu was her husband greeted him and her chastity was broken for a short while. Taking advantage of this, the gods managed to kill Jalandhara.

When Tulasi Devi came to know about this deceit, she cursed Vishnu to be a stone for being so stone-hearted. Vishnu accepted the curse and promised her that he would take the form of Shaligram shila on the banks of the river Gandika (now in Nepal). He also blessed Tulasi Devi, that she would reside with him at his abode, Vaikuntha, and on earth she would be seen as the purest of all pure things, and thus Tulasi plant is considered to be the purest of all, and a leaf of the plant is enough if put on anything to make it pure too. Tulasi is considered to be so close to Vishnu that the devotees never offer him anything without Tulasi leaves on it. On this day of Tulasi Vivaha, Lord Vishnu in the form of the black Shalgram shila gets married to Tulasi, as a plant on earth.

Besides this, there are few other myths which come to the similar conclusion of the annual marriage between Lord Vishnu (and sometimes Lord Krishna) and Tulasi plant. It is worth noting, that in the olden days, such traditions could have been initiated to grant an elevated position to the plant. This could be in recognition of its medicinal qualities. Tulasi or Basil is used for a number of common ailments, like skin disorders, coughs and colds, to name just a few. Recently during the outbreak of Swineflu, many doctors suggested a daily intake of 4-5 Basil leaves, to help strengthen ones immune system. Such festivals gave the plant an upgraded status and influenced people to plant them more commonly at homes, thus have the plant handy! It is not uncommon to find Tulasi plant in Indian homes for both religious and medicinal purposes. Thus, behind every ritual, there is a meaning or purpose. However, it is to each, as to how s/he celebrates such festivals. Grandeur and opulence in celebration might not have been in mind with our early thinkers, but since the advocates of religion have turned recognition to reverence – then so be it!