कैकय-सुता सुनत कटु बानी । कहि न सकइ कछु सहमि सुखानी ॥
तन पसेउ कदली जिमि काँपी । कुबरीं दसन जीभ तब चाँपी ॥
kaikaya-sutā sunata kaṭu bānī | kahi na sakai kachu sahami sukhānī ||
tana paseu kadalī jimi kām̐pī | kubarīṃ dasana jībha taba cām̐pī ||
Ayodhya Kanda
Chapter 20: Kaikeyi trembles and yields to Manthara
5 verses · 20 of 326
What happens in this chapter
Kaikeyi trembles and yields to Manthara
Hearing these bitter words, the daughter of Kekaya cannot speak. She shrinks, sweats and trembles like a plantain tree, while the hunchback bites her tongue. With crores of false tales Manthara steadies her, drilling her in the wrong lesson until she is as rigid as warped dead wood that will not bend. Her fortune has turned; she praises the heron, taking it for a swan. Kaikeyi says: Manthara, you speak the truth. My right eye keeps throbbing and I see bad dreams every night, though I never told you. What can I do, friend? I am simple and never knew right from left. I have wronged no one; for what sin has fate given me this unbearable grief?
कहि कहि कोटिक कपट कहानी । धीरज धरहु प्रबोधिसि रानी ॥
फिरा करम प्रिय लागि कुचाली । बकिहि सराहइ मानि मराली ॥
kahi kahi koṭika kapaṭa kahānī | dhīraja dharahu prabodhisi rānī ||
phirā karama priya lāgi kucālī | bakihi sarāhai māni marālī ||
सुनु मन्थरा बात फुरि तोरी । दहिनि आँखि नित फरकइ मोरी ॥
दिन प्रति देखउँ राति कुसपने । कहउँ न तोहि मोह बस अपने ॥
sunu mantharā bāta phuri torī | dahini ām̐khi nita pharakai morī ||
dina prati dekhaum̐ rāti kusapane | kahaum̐ na tohi moha basa apane ||
काह करउँ सखि सूध सुभाऊ । दाहिन बाम न जानउँ काऊ ॥
kāha karaum̐ sakhi sūdha subhāū | dāhina bāma na jānaum̐ kāū ||
अपने चलत न आजु लगि, अनमल काहु क कीन्ह ।
केहिं अघ एकहि बार मोहि, दइय दुसह दुख दीन्ह ॥
apane calata na āju lagi, anamala kāhu ka kīnha |
kehiṃ agha ekahi bāra mohi, daiya dusaha dukha dīnha ||
Text source: Wikisource · Public domain (Tulsidas, 16th c.; 1925 edition, Wikisource PD-1996 tag); transcription CC BY-SA 4.0