Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c5.244

c5.244

5) *Kaikeyī given a boon*. There was a great battle in the world of the gods between the asuras and the gods. According to the request of the devas, Daśaratha went to the world of the devas to help them. Kaikeyī also went with Daśaratha. In a severe fight with Śambara, an asura, Daśaratha fell down unconscious. Kaikeyī took him away from the battle-field. When he recovered the King got into the chariot and fought more fiercely than before. This time the wheel-bolt of one of the wheels of the chariot of Daśaratha slipped away. Without informing her husband of this danger, Kaikeyī inserted her finger into the bolt-hole and prevented the wheel from sliding away. The King won the battle. After the battle, when the King came to know of the services rendered by Kaikeyī, he promised her two boons. Kaikeyī told the King that she would ask for them, later, when she needed them. Then they returned to Ayodhyā. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Sarga 9, Kampa Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa).