9.12. The character of Kausalya

Kausalya is the queen of Ayodhyā, wife of king Daśaratha and mother of Rāma.. In the Rāmāyaṇa, at the outset Vālmīki’s characterization of Kausalya is not a complete exposition of her character, but rather the pathetic portrayal of her as a loving mother crushed by the pangs of her agony at the separation from her son. It is from the view point of a pathetic experience that all her reactions of grief are to be interpreted as they follow upon the traumatic news of Rāma’s banishment. It is a traumatic shock indeed, and the poet has highlighted this point very-well: Absorbed as she is in meditation and prayer to Viṣṇu for the welfare of her dearly beloved son and filled with the supreme joy and pride of a loving queen-mother looking forward to the proud hour of her son’s coronation and losing herself in happy visions of his future fame and glory, visions to which she gives delightful expression as Rāma enters her chamber. It is such feelings that she encounters the most excruciating, unprecedented torments of agony of her life. She considers her life useless, all her religious vows and austerities meaningless, and finds no relief from the burden of grief, no mercy even on the part of death, Kausalya takes Rāma’s reminder that the highest duty of a son is to follow the words of his father with a silent gesture of approval, for in her further expressions of grief she does not make any further appeal to Rāma to refrain from going into exile.

Kausalya’s counsel to Sītā not to disregard her husband in his calamity as her farewell gift is not at all an expression of distrust, but the concern of a mother for the marital welfare of her son and daughter-in-law, a marital welfare that, owing to the nature of a life amidst extraordinary hardships, may be exposed to trails and difficulties. And at Sītā’s faithfulness and devotion to her husband, Kausalya sheds tears of grief and joy, joy at having such a virtuous daughter-in-law and being assured of the happiness of the couple’s marital life even under austere circumstances, grief at the visualization of their separation.^[1]

Kausalya is presented in the Hanumannāṭaka as a typical Indian woman, for whom the attachment to the husband is of utmost priority. At the same time, her affection to her dear son stands as an ideal case of motherhood. That she did not insist much upon Rāma’s refusal to stay in the capital, leads to impress that as a responsible queen, the maintenance of Rājadharma is also equally important.