Kekaya was an ancient kingdom to the northwest of Ayodhyā. It was the homeland of Kaikeyī, the second queen of Daśaratha and the mother of Bharata. In the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa’s Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Bharata was staying at the Kekaya court of his maternal grandfather and his uncle Yudhājit when the crisis of Rāma’s exile came. His absence from Ayodhyā at that time shows that he had no part in the plot of the exile.

Description and location

Kekaya was a powerful and rich kingdom. It was one of the great kingdoms of the north and was tied to Ayodhyā by the marriage of its princess Kaikeyī to Daśaratha.

The royal family of Kekaya included the king, who was Kaikeyī’s father and Bharata’s maternal grandfather, and Yudhājit, Kaikeyī’s brother and Bharata’s maternal uncle. Bharata was close to this family and visited Kekaya often. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 67–70)

Bharata’s stay in Kekaya

When Daśaratha announced that he would crown Rāma as yuvarāja (crown prince), Bharata was in Kekaya. He had gone there with his maternal uncle Yudhājit, who had come to Ayodhyā to take him. Bharata stayed at the Kekaya court with his grandfather and uncle. He knew nothing of what was happening in Ayodhyā.

The Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa tells that Bharata had bad dreams in Kekaya on the night before Daśaratha died. They were signs of a coming disaster, and he could not read their meaning. Soon after, royal messengers came from Ayodhyā with gifts and an urgent call to return at once. Bharata set out immediately and rode quickly back to Ayodhyā. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 67–72)

Kekaya in the Mahābhārata

In the Mahābhārata’s Āśramavāsika Parva, Kekaya appears again as the former kingdom of the rājarshi (royal ṛshi) Śatayūpa. He overcame his enemies, set his own son on the throne, gave up his rule and took up tapas (austerity) in the forest near Kurukshetra. His āśrama (hermitage) there received Dhṛtarāshṭra when he went to live as a vānaprastha (forest-dweller).

Nārada also named Sahasrachitya, the glorious and fearless lord of the Kekaya countries, as Śatayūpa’s own grandfather (tāta). He too gave up the throne of Kekaya for tapas and reached svarga (heaven). (Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapters 19–20)

Sources

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 67–80
Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapters 19–20