In the leela (divine play) of Sri Krishna, the situation was exactly the opposite. Mother Kekayi is the same person as Mother Devaki, who had to endure 14 years of imprisonment while Yashoda Maa (Koushlya) poured her love upon Sri Krishna. How do we connect this play to Sri Aurobindo’s concept of evolution?
To start with, these and many such stories have been added by so many different authors to prove their own theory and understanding. There are many such stories that are spread around in the name of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata
Unfortunately, it is our lack of reading of the original, this ignorance in the land of knowledge, that has led to so much superstition and misinformation. The above story about Mata Kaushalya and Kaikayi is not there either in Valmiki or Vyas. Now there are some 250 versions of the Ramayana written by all kinds of authors. God knows if this has been slipped into one of these or spread by some kind of word of mouth.
This story is clearly untrue even on the face of it since it turns the law of karma into the populist mechanical transaction of good and bad, reward and punishment, turning God into a perfect accountant. If you read the Bhagawat or the law of Karma as revealed in the Gita, these mechanical accounts of karma (14 years banishment for 14 years of imprisonment) will seem clearly childish. They may satisfy the need of mechanical justice for some childish mentality, but just a little probe will show how ignorant such accounts can be. I have also heard another account wherein it is said that Mata Kaikeyi was requested by Lord Rama to do the theatrics and stage the drama of banishment so that he can go to the forest and fulfil his work! All these take away the real human sense from the wonderful story which reveals the journey of human evolving into the Divine. If that is not the case, then the very meaning of Avatarahood loses sense and holds little relevance for man. God does not take a human body to do miracles or to prove His divinity. He comes to set a divine example so that man too can grow towards the Divine.
Coming back to the story, Mata Kaushalya suffered immensely after Lord Rama went to the forest. The price she paid for this forced extraction of promise was too heavy. She was abandoned by her son, her husband died and she experienced alienation in the kingdom itself. Was this not punishment enough that she would need to come back again as Devaki to suffer the separation from her son! Secondly, though Devaki suffered in the prison, Sri Krishna, by his yogamaya, had made her completely forget the episode of his birth and escape to Nandgaon. In fact, Krishna was replaced by Yogamaya. Devaki and Vasudeva forgot the divine birth. So there was no question of suffering due to the absence of Sri Krishna in that sense. Again, to say that Mata Kaushalya came back as Yashoda would mean an added suffering to her, since Sri Krishna never returned to Vrindavan after he left it! There is no end to such stories, mostly told by Babajis to prove a point or justify their belief system. But Truth is truth and we are taught to respect and revere truth above all.
So whenever you hear such stories, take them simply as a means used by the author to convey his point of view, nothing else. Knowing this, our sages have clearly said that whenever doubt arises, go back to the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Gita. Whatever is aligned with it is true. And these books never speak of the theory of Karma in this mechanical way as we find presented in these stories.
As to whether these or other stories connect with Sri Aurobindo’s views on evolution is a different subject altogether. We can talk about it if you wish. This story does not and need not connect with Sri Aurobindo’s view through the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Vedas, Upanishads and the Gita, as well as the Bhagawat Purana; the Tantras does connect in the foundations, if not in the ultimate aim.
Affectionately
Alok Da
