Dasaratha that all he lacked was the congratulations of his youngest and
favorite wife, Kaikeyi, on this great event. The well-watered streets and
the garlanded houses had already aroused the suspicions of
Kaikeyi,--suspicions speedily confirmed by the report of her maid. Angered
and jealous because the son of Kausalya and not her darling Bharata, at
that time absent from the city, was to be made Yuva-Raja, she fled to the
"Chamber of Sorrows," and was there found by the old Raja.

Though Kaikeyi was his youngest and most beautiful wife, her tears,
threats, and entreaties would have been of no avail had she not recalled
that, months before, the old Raja, in gratitude for her devoted nursing
during his illness, had granted her two promises. She now demanded the
fulfilment of these before she would consent to smile upon him, and the
consent won, she required him, first, to appoint Bharata Yuva-Raja; and,
second, to exile Rama for fourteen years to the terrible forest of
Dandaka.

The promise of a Hindu, once given, cannot be revoked. In spite of the
grief of the old Raja, of Kausalya, his old wife, and of all the people,
who were at the point of revolt at the sudden disgrace of their favorite
prince, the terrible news was announced to Rama, and he declared himself
ready to go, to save his father from dishonor.

He purposed to go alone, but Sita would not suffer herself to be thus
deserted. Life without him, she pleaded, was worse than death; and so
eloquent was her grief at the thought of parting that she was at last
permitted to don the rough garment of bark provided by the malicious
Kaikeyi.

The people of Ayodhya, determined to share the fate of their favorites,