Kaikeyi Invokes Bharata's Name and Asks for the Truth
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 15
Doha 15 · Movement 2 of 2
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Manthara's distress remains unexplained, so Kaikeyi invokes the strongest trust between them. By Bharata's name, she commands the maid to abandon concealment and speak truthfully.
Why should sorrow appear in an hour of joy? The queen cannot reconcile the celebration she welcomes with the grief performed before her.
The oath opens the door that rebuke had nearly closed. Bharata, whom Kaikeyi loves, becomes the very name used to admit words that will estrange her from Ram. A bond is turned into leverage, and the queen leans toward the answer believing that truth has now been secured.
By invoking Bharata, Kaikeyi unknowingly gives deception the key fashioned from her deepest love.
Read the passage from the Manas
AI-created devotional illustration · Doha 15
Kaikeyi asks Manthara to speak truth and explain her distress at a happy time, invoking Bharata's oath; maid and Bharata offcrop.
Source reference and artistic choices
Gita Press code81 undated · PDF pages 358 · printed pages 356. Reader passage: ayodhya-kanda-doha-016. Printed numbering may differ.
Source facts
- Kaikeyi adjures Manthara by Bharata, asking her to tell truth and abandon deceit and concealment; Bharata need not be physically present.
- She asks the cause of Manthara's distress or perplexity at a time of joy. This is a request for explanation, not a realized calamity or departure.
- Printed doha15 and stable reader doha016 remain distinct. Historical metered English/attributed Hindi requests to be taken to Rama/Sita/Lakshmana or lose life are displaced layers, not this source; no corpus repair.
Artistic choices
- Exact earnest questioning expression and two open palms are imagined conversation staging, not source-certified oath hand choreography.
- Accepted qualified Kaikeyi appearance retained; spare palace alcove and single leaf spray are E10 art setting.
- Complete source facts retained in metadata; source and existing translations unchanged.
- Actual corrected two-palms inquiry pose, plain arch and single sparse leaf spray are imagined staging; no literal source-oath hand certificate.
An imaginative interpretation, not a historical portrait or documentary evidence.
भरत सपथ तोहि सत्य कहु परिहरि कपट दुराउ। हरष समय बिसमउ करसि कारन मोहि सुनाउ।।15।।
I adjure you by Bharat's oath: speak the truth, setting aside all deceit and concealment. In this hour of joy you show dismay. Tell me the reason.