~ 27. Kaikeyi Saves Dasharatha ~

Laura Gibbs · 27. Kaikeyi, Dasharatha's Charioteer

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The god Indra asked King Dasharatha to help him fight the armies of the rakshasa Shambara. 

Queen Kaikeyi rode with Dasharatha into battle as his charioteer, and when the wheel-axle broke, Kaikeyi bent over the edge of the chariot and stuck her hand through the wheel, using her arm to replace the axle.

Later, when Dasharatha was wounded by the rakshasas' weapons, she carried him away from the battlefield to safety.

"I owe you my life!" said Dasharatha gratefully. "I grant you two boons to use for whatever you want whenever you want."

Later, Dasharatha would bitterly regret this promise.

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Inspired by: Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana by Devdutt Pattanaik
Notes: This story is on p. 68 of the book. The story also appears (without all the detail) in Valmiki's Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda (Book 2), sarga 9.

(chariot sculpture)