SECTION XXXV.
Then shaking his head and sighing again and again pressing palm upon palm and grinding teeth upon teeth, with eyes reddened in wrath and an altered complexion, and suddenly waxing angry and moved with grief, Sumantra witnessing the mental condition of Daçarātha said, shaking Kaikeyi's heart with the sharpened shafts of his speech and piercing her mind all over with his harsh words resembling thunderbolts, "O worshipful one, since you have forsaken king Daçarātha, the maintainer of this world and the mobile and the immobile that it contains, there is nothing that is incapable of being done by you. I consider you the murderess of your husband and as one that has finally exterminated one's line; inasmuch as you have by your act afflicted the monarch invincible like Indra, firm as a hill, and imperturbable like the deep itself. You ought not to bring down your boon-bestowing lord and husband Daçarātha; for surely the wish of a husband to a wife outweighs a koti of sons. The princes will obtain the kingdom one after another according to age;— this custom it is your study to render nugatory even when the lord of the Ikshāwaku race is still alive. Let your son be king; let Bharata rule the earth: we, however, will go where goes Rāma. No Brāhmana will dwell in your dominion —such is the ungracious deed you are going to do. [Surely we will go the way that is wended by Rāma, and what happiness, O revered one, will you,forsaken by friends, Brāhmanas and the saintly, reap by remaining here, allured by the lust of dominion? And you are going to do such an act!][140] A wonder it is that I perceive, viz,—that the earth hid by a character like you is not riven this very day. And why doth not the flaming and dreadful censure uttered by the mighty Brahmārshis destroy you who are bent upon banishing Rāma? Who having hewn a mangoe tree by his axe, tendeth a Nimba? It never turns sweet for him that waters it. Your birth is noble indeed; it is as much so as is your mother's. They say that sweet is never extracted from Nimba. I remember what I have heard from old men concerning the vicious inclinations of your mother.
Some one intent upon conferring boons conferred an excellent one on your father. In virtue of this, that lord of earth could understand the import of sounds emitted by all beings, and it is in consequence of this that he could understand the speech even of birds and beasts. One day as your father was lying down, he, understanding the thoughts of a gold- hued Jrimbha bird, from its cries, laughed heartily. Thereat your mother getting angry, wishing for the noose of death, said,—'O king, O placid one, I ask you for the reason of your laughter.' The king replied,—'O worshipful lady, if I unfold unto you the reason of my laugh, then I shall without doubt die to-day.' But that revered one, your mother, again urged Kekaya, saying,—'Tell it to me, whether you live or die; for (when I have learnt all about it), you will not be able to laugh at me again.' Thus addressed by his beloved spouse, that lord of earth Kekaya went to the saint that had conferred the boon on him and related unto him everything faithfully. Thereupon that boon-giving saint said unto the kin; "Whether this one kills herself or be destroyed, do you not, O king reveal it." Hearing these words of his, the king well pleased summarily forsook your mother and began to divert himself like Kuvera. Even in the same way, you, O you that see only evil, staying in an unrighteous count befouling the king's sense, endeavour to make him commit this wrong. In this connection I remember a saying, viz.,— men take after their fathers, and women their mothers. Do not be so,—do you even accept what the lord of earth says. Doing the will of your lord, do you become the refuge of us all. Do not incited by evil propensities, make your husband the lord of men endued with the prowess of the celestial chief, perpetrate an unrighteous deed. That sinless one will not for certain give practical effect to the promise jestingly made by you. O worshipful one, king Daçarātha is graceful, being furnished with eyes resembling lotuses. Let him install his eldest son, Rāma generous and able, maintaining his own religion—the protector of all men—and endued with might. O revered lady, great is the obloquy that will spread concerning you, if leaving his royal father, Rāma repaireth to the forest. Let therefore Rāghava govern his kingdom; and do you remove your agitation. Surely save Rāghava none residing in the kingdom will prove friendly to you. On Rāma being installed as the heir-apparent, that best of bowmen—king Daçarātha—will depart for the forest, remembering ancient examples." Thus in presence of the king, Sumantra with clasped palms, with soft yet cutting words endeavoured to strike Kaikeyi with regret. But that noble dame did not feel any compunction, nor was she touched with regret. And the complexion of her countenance remained as it was before.