Week 4: Reading Diary B

King Dasharatha decides to make Rama his successor as king, rather than choosing one of his other sons, Bharata.  When Bharata's mother, Kaikeyi, finds out, she is initially happy for Rama.  That is, until her maid fills her head with the idea that Rama and his mother will make her their slave.  The maid Manthara gets Kaikeyi to use her two promises from Dasharatha.  She makes him promise that her son will be made king, as well as making him promise to exile Rama for 14 years to the forest.  Kaikeyi informs Rama that his father wants him to leave, prompting him to agree right away.
When Rama finds out what his fate is, he and Sita begin to give their things away. The charioteer Sumantra tries to convince Dasharatha not to send Rama away, but he fails as Dasharatha is incoherent with grief from the promise Kaikeyi demanded from him.  The citizens of the kingdom are all determined that they will follow Rama into exile.  When Rama prepares to leave, he requests that the people and his father do not blame Kaikeyi for her actions.  This does not really work, however, as the citizens all love Rama and were overjoyed he was going to be named their king.  Rather than allowing Rama to slip away, the elders of the capital force Rama to stay the night by having the river rise above its banks.
Once Rama and Sita manage to leave the capital and begin their exile, they enter the forest and meet the sage Guha.  He talks to them about his actions that led him to be in the forest.  As a man he would curse the priests of the god Shiva and kick the statue of the god.  Once he died, Shiva brought him back as he considered Guha to be the most devoted of all his followers.  Guha goes on to talk about Kaikeyi and Dasharatha.  Apparently she tried to get her husband to teach her how to talk to animals, although he was forbidden from doing this on pain of death.  Luckily he realized that her power over him through the two promises would not work in that situation.
The charioteer, Sumantra, was the person who brought Rama and Sita to the forest, along with Rama's brother Lakshmana.  He returns to the city and goes to talk to the king.  He is deeply grieving over the actions that have occurred.  He tells about how as a young man he accidentally killed a boy while hunting.  He found that the young boy was the sole provider for his blind parents, who asked to die with their son.  Because of his actions there, he believes he is being punished by having his son sent from him.  The next morning, Rama's mother Kausalya finds Dasharatha dead.