Although I was raised Hindu, I questioned my beliefs for a very long time. I loved certain aspects of Hinduism, such as the idea of karma, kismat, and the practices outlined in Ayurveda. However, certain ideas around how women should live their lives and are treated by society always made me question my beliefs. As with many other religions, this inequality developed over time through human interpretation of religious texts. 

Kaikeyi, a 2022 novel by Vaishnavi Patel, serves as a strong reminder that it is healthy to re-frame and question the knowledge that is passed down to us. 

Some Background on the Ramayana

The Ramayana is one of Hinduism’s major epics, primarily exploring the theme of good over evil. It is generally thought to have been written in the fourth century BCE in Sanskrit by Sage Valmiki. 

The story follows Ram, a prince from Ayodhya. Ram is the seventh human incarnation of the god Vishnu, brought to earth to rid the world of demons. He is exiled to the forest by his stepmother, Kaikeyi, before his coronation as King. Kaikeyi is thought to be jealous of Ram since her own son, Bharata, will not become King. Ram takes to the forest with his wife, Sita, and brother, Lakshmana. 

While exiled, Sita is kidnapped by Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. Ram immediately sets out to save her, forming an alliance with monkey god Hanuman. 

Spoiler Ram defeats demon king Ravana, saves Sita, and comes back to Ayodhya to become King. His homecoming was celebrated with diyas lighting his path home. This became Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, celebrated every year. 

Back to Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

Patel includes an author’s note before the novel to provide additional context. In this, she cites a formative discussion where her grandmother told her the story of the Ramayana.

Her grandmother explained, in fairly standardized language, that the “noble prince Rama was exiled by his jealous stepmother Kaikeyi.” Patel presents us a layer of complexity to her grandmother’s re-telling when her mother added that “Kaikeyi had actually helped Rama. Without Kaikeyi… Rama would have never achieved his destiny.” 

Throughout her research on the Ramayana, Patel found little about Kaikeyi’s perspective. Why had she exiled Ram? Surely it couldn’t just be jealousy. 

Using her vivid imagination, Patel weaves together Hindu mythology with a realistic tale of Kaikeyi’s life. Separated into four parts, the reader is brought on a tumultuous journey from Kaikeyi’s childhood in Kekaya, to her marriage to King Dasharath, the raising of her son Bharata alongside Dasharath’s other sons Rama, Lakshmana, and Shatrugna, and her ultimate exile of Rama days before his coronation as King of Kosala. 

Kaikeyi is described by Patel as constantly challenging societal norms on gender roles and the expectations of women. The stark differences in how she is treated as a young girl compared to her twin brother, Yudhajit, lead her to learn horseback riding and warfare. She secretly reads scrolls at night that help her harness magic in the Binding Plane, a tricky tool that she uses to subtly influence others throughout her life. As the third wife of Dasharath, the Radnyi quickly takes on a trusted advisory role for her husband, and breaks barriers by setting up a Women’s Council to help those in her kingdom. 

Patel cleverly uses Hindu mythology as a vehicle to move the story along, telling the tale of Ahalya, and using gods such as Agni, Nidra, and Saraswati to help Kaikeyi slowly come to the realization that Rama is a reincarnation of Vishnu. These gods and goddesses also slowly guide Kaikeyi to her destiny of upsetting the gods, the reason why her prayers are left unanswered for a majority of her life. 

In raising her sons, Kaikeyi constantly encourages them to treat their mothers, wives, and servants well. Rama finds a lot of trouble with this. He falls into favor with a sage who despises Kaikeyi’s bolstering of women, and the sage manipulates Rama into conflating his mortal form with his divine form by boosting his ego. Kaikeyi finds Rama’s behavior towards women concerning at many points in the book, through his criticism of the women’s council to his treatment of Sita after they are married. 

This raises an interesting question: does Rama act this way towards women because Hinduism guides him to, or because his mortal form became corrupt in search for power? 

Reading Kaikeyi and understanding an alternative perspective on one of Hinduism’s most beloved gods served as an incredibly important reminder to constantly use critical thinking in religion. Reading a young Rama recite his beliefs on women’s role as obedient wives rather than breadwinners or warriors was difficult, but Patel includes many reminders that this is a representation of Ram’s mortality and life on earth, spoiled by power-hungry men and their influence on him. To me, this closely resembled the modern-day monetization of religion, which has been bolstered by the sale of ‘traditional Hindu values’ and female gender roles that are often devised from male preachers, rather than from scripture. 

The caution I would provide to anyone reading this book - this is just a perspective. It is not fact, and it is somewhat fictionalized. For example, the book claims that Sita is Ravana’s daughter. Though some versions of the Ramayana agree, the typical understanding is that Ravana instead desired Sita. 

There is also, ultimately, no true source on the upbringing of Kaikeyi. Patel’s book, however, is one that I would love to believe as truth due to its page-turning, inspiring, and empowering feminist re-branding of the classic Hindu female villain.