Ram was very dear to Kaikeyi. For Kaikeyi, Ram was her ‘soul’. She had to bear the wrath of her own son for sending Ram into exile. Kaikeyi sent Ram into exile because she knew that Ram was not an ordinary person. Ram was born for a special reason. Ram had to do a lot of good work in society for establishing dharma, righteousness, for centuries to come. He was going to be the divine light for many deprived sections of society, who were waiting for a maryada purushottam, an ideal warrior who followed truth and had integrity.

When Ram went to Kaushalya to seek permission to go to the forest, she had tears in her eyes. She said to Ram, “If your father has sent you to the forest, then I am the queen, I have more rights, I can undo the exile order and hand over the kingdom to you. I may disobey your father’s orders but if Kaikeyi has exiled you to the forest, then you must go to the forest.” Kaushalya knew that Ram was very dear to Kaikeyi and if she sent Ram into exile then Kaikeyi must have done it for some greater good. Such was her faith.

Ram went into exile for 14 years and his life thereafter is an example of extraordinary strength, integrity, humanness, justice and power of the spirit. Under his rule, he brought justice to many people and ended their suffering. He included all sections of society without any discrimination, and he freed the world from the influence of the arrogant demon king Ravan.

Mother's Day celebrates the patience of all mothers. Click To Tweet

Now, suppose that only the part of exile is removed from Ramayan, then nothing will be left in the entire epic. It would have been a simple story- ‘There was a king. He ruled comfortably and then one day he died.’ Neither Sita would have been abducted, nor Ravan would have been killed nor Hanuman ji would have been found, nor would any other incident have taken place. Therefore, the most important part of Ramayan is the exile of Ram and if seen in this way, the biggest character of Ramayan is Kaikeyi because if she had not sent Shri Ram into exile, Ramayan would not have become such a work of moral and spiritual inspiration.

Adi Shankara says, “Bad sons are born, but a bad mother has never been born”. And it holds true to this day. Being a mother is an emotion. You can have a motherly attitude towards everyone. You can be a mother to all the children in the world who do not have parents. Mother’s Day celebrates the patience of all mothers.

A mother is strict with her children so that they do not have to face problems in the future. She does all this out of compassion and love. Just one day is not enough to express gratitude towards mothers, rather it should be celebrated every day of the year. 

Happy Mother’s Day!