King Dasharatha confers with Kaikeyi, from the “Shangri” Ramayana

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Two years after the weddings of his four sons, King Dasharatha is ready to retire and name Rama as his successor. To simplify matters in the palace, he feels that he should send two of Rama’s brothers on a trip to visit their maternal grandfather, so that they will be away when he makes the announcement. In the top margin is the number 18 in the Takri script of the northwest Himalayas. It was not intended to remain visible because the opaque mercury-red or arsenic-yellow paint would have covered it. These toxic pigments, used to prevent insects or animals from eating the paper, were never applied to the border, indicating its unfinished state. Dasharatha’s chief wife Kaushalya, mother of Rama, kneels on the golden stool.