Disclaimer: This translation does not guarantee complete accuracy, please confirm with the original page text.
The thirty-first chapter, thus said, the one who knew her resolve, Kekayi, shed tears and said, "O Lord! Why have you made your heart so cruel? Tell me, what wrong have we done that you are eager to abandon us? O King! You know that our life is dependent on you."
"The initiation ordained by the Jina is extremely difficult. Why have you made up your mind to embrace it today?"
"O Lord of life! Your body, nurtured by pleasures like those of Indra, how will it embrace the various austerities of a mendicant?"
Hearing Kekayi speak thus, King Dasharatha said, "My dear, what is a burden for the capable? Just tell me your desire! Whatever I have to do, I will surely achieve it now."
Hearing her husband speak thus, Kekayi, the queen, digging the earth with her finger, bowed her head and said, "O Lord! Grant the kingdom to my son."
Then Dasharatha said, "My dear, what is there to be ashamed of? You had entrusted your boon to me, so now let it be as you wish. Give up your sorrow, you have freed me from debt today. Have I ever done anything contrary to your wishes?"
At that time, he called Rama, who was endowed with excellent qualities, and bowing to him, said with a slightly troubled mind, "My dear son! In the past, in a fierce battle, this clever Kekayi, who is skilled in all arts, served me well as a charioteer."
"At that time, being pleased, I promised in front of the queens and the kings, 'Whatever she desires, I will grant it.' But at that time, she had kept that boon with me as a deposit."
"Now, this brilliant woman, who does not depend on anyone, is asking for that boon with a specific intention, saying, 'Give the kingdom to my son.'"
"If I do not grant her wish now, having promised then, Bharata, freed from the attachment to the world, will take initiation."
"And this one, out of grief for her son, will give up her life, and my false fame, born of a false act, will spread in this world."