Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 9, Shloka 17
मन्थराप्रेरणा—वरद्वय-स्मरणं च
Manthara’s Provocation and the Recalling of Two Boons
तुष्टेन तेन दत्तौ ते द्वौ वरौ शुभदर्शने।स त्वयोक्तः पतिर्देवि यदेच्छेयं तदा वरौ।।।।गृह्णीयामिति तत्तेन तथेत्युक्तं महात्मना।
tuṣṭena tena dattau te dvau varau śubhadarśane | sa tvayoktaḥ patir devi yad eccheyaṃ tadā varau ||
gṛhṇīyām iti tat tena tathety uktaṃ mahātmanā |
O fair-looking one, pleased with you, he granted you two boons. And you, O queen, told your husband: ‘Whenever I wish, then I shall claim those boons.’ That great-souled king replied, ‘So be it.’
O queen! you had protected your husband by carrying him away from the battlefieldwhen he lost his consciousness. He was saved by you. Once again you saved him when he lay wounded with weapons (hurled) by the asuras.
FAQs
Satya and promise-keeping are central: a boon once granted and accepted as claimable later binds the giver; dharma treats pledged words as sacred obligations.
Mantharā establishes the contractual moral background: two boons were granted to Kaikeyī, to be claimed at a time of her choosing, and Daśaratha consented.
Daśaratha’s integrity (satya-niṣṭhā) is foreshadowed—his assent ‘so be it’ becomes the ethical constraint that later drives the tragedy.