Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 9: Kaikeyī Convinced by Mantharā
Text 2.9.36
अनर्थमर्थरूपेण ग्राहिता सा ततस्तया।
हृष्टा प्रतीता कैकेयी मन्थरामिदमब्रवीत्॥
anartham artha-rūpeṇa grāhitā sā tatas tayā
hṛṣṭā pratītā kaikeyī mantharām idam abravīt
anartham = that which was unfavorable to her interest; artha-rūpeṇa = was favorable to her interest; grāhitā = when was convinced that; sā tataḥ = she; tayā = with her; hṛṣṭā = and delighted; pratītā = became thoughtful; kaikeyī = Kaikeyī; mantharām = Mantharā; idam = as follows; abravīt = she told.
When Kaikeyī was convinced that that which was unfavorable to her interest was favorable to her interest, she became thoughtful and delighted with her. She told Mantharā as follows.
NOTE. Kaikeyī had been deluded into thinking that Mantharā helped her see the truth of her insecure situation, when the reality was just the opposite. This is because Kaikeyī’s intelligence was influenced by the mode of ignorance:
adharmaṁ dharmam iti yā manyate tamasāvṛtā
sarvārthān viparītāṁś ca buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī
“That understanding which considers irreligion to be religion and religion to be irreligion, under the spell of illusion and darkness, and strives always in the wrong direction, O Pārtha, is in the mode of ignorance.” (Bhagavad-gītā 18.32)