Kaikeyi is the second wife of King Dasharatha, the mother of Bharata, and the foster mother of Rama, the epic's protagonist, in the Ramayana, the earlier of the two major Indian epics.
Kaikeyi is personally responsible for one of the epic's most
heinous acts: forcing Rama into a fourteen-year exile in the forest, which is a
crucial story point.
Despite her horrible deeds, she is not seen as a nasty
person, but rather as a mother who acts out of love for her son but is plagued
by poor judgment and bad advise.
Kaikeyi is overjoyed when Dasharatha declares that he plans
to appoint Rama as the successor to the kingdom.
Rama has always held Bharata in the same regard as his own
mother, Kausalya, and has regarded him as an equal.
Kaikeyi's psyche was steadily poisoned by her maid,
Manthara, as the ceremony day neared.
Manthara persuades Kaikeyi that, after Rama is crowned
heir-apparent, she and Bharata would be treated as chattel, or things, if they
are permitted to live at all.
Kaikeyi's fear for her son drives her to take desperate
measures.
Dasharatha had given Kaikeyi two boons, or gifts, for her
assistance in winning a major battle many years previously.
She has never repaid these boons, but now asks that
Dasharatha banish Rama to the wilderness for fourteen years and replace him
with Bharata as king.
Dasharatha tries to persuade Kaikeyi to reconsider her
decision, but she refuses.
Finally, he is obliged to give her desire.
Not only does Kaikeyi's request bring her shame from her
husband, who blames her for separating him from Rama, but it also brings her
shame from her kid.
Bharata chastises Kaikeyi for depriving Rama of something
that is properly his, and he refuses to reign until Rama orders him to serve in
his place during the exile.
Rama, who is depicted in the epic as serenely glad to accept his parents' orders, whatever they may be, is the only one who does not condemn her.
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