Valmiki Ramayana 2.14.2: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 14, Shloka 2
सत्यपाशः · Kaikeyi’s Demand and the Noose of the King’s Promise
Spoken by Kaikeyi to DasharathaSetting: Ayodhyā palace (queen's chamber)Places named: Ayodhyā
पापं कृत्वैव किमिदं मम संश्रुत्य संश्रवम् ।
शेषे क्षितितले सन्नः स्थित्यां स्थातुं त्वमर्हसि ॥२॥
pāpaṃ kṛtvaiva kim idaṃ mama saṃśrutya saṃśravam |
śeṣe kṣiti-tale sannaḥ sthityāṃ sthātuṃ tvam arhasi ||2||
ما هذا، كأنكِ قد اقترفتِ إثمًا؟ بعد أن سمعتِ جوابي عن العطية التي وعدتِ بها، لِمَ تَضطجعين كئيبةً على الأرض؟ يليق بكِ أن تثبتي راسخةً في مقامكِ الملكيّ.
Sandhi Notes
- कृत्वैव → कृत्वा एव
- किमिदं → किम् इदम्
- त्वमर्हसि → त्वम् अर्हसि
(Kaikeyi said) What is this? After hearing my response to the promised boon, why are you lying down on the floor dejected as if you had committed a sin? It behovesyou to maintain your status.
The teaching
Even within royal privilege, one should uphold dignity and clarity; boons and promises must be weighed against dharma, not exploited through coercive theatrics.
Duties in tension
- Keeping a promised boon vs ensuring the righteous outcome of that boon
- Courtly decorum/queenly dignity vs manipulative protest to secure political ends
- Ethical theme
- Satya (truthfulness) vs nīti (statecraft)
For your practice
Practice of integrity in asking/receiving favors; avoid emotional manipulation; maintain steadiness (dhīra-bhāva).
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Raudra (fury), with Adbhuta (wonder)
- Mood
- Rebuke, bewilderment, courtly tension
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Rājadharma
- Ethics
- Speech-Act (Promise)
Role-dharma (varṇāśrama/adhikāra) as a provisional order; yet attachment to role can mask deeper adharma.
Iśa Upaniṣad: action within order (karma) must be aligned with truth; mere 'standing in station' without righteousness is hollow (implicit tension).
- Dasharatha and Kaikeyi
- Husbandwife; exhortation to rise and act queenly (admonishing)
Mahābhārata: scenes where a queen uses floor-sitting/fasting as political pressure (e.g., Draupadī's appeals); Rāmacaritamānasa, Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Kaikeyī's sulking posture and Daśaratha's attempts to placate
Courtly norms: queens expected to maintain decorum; floor-lying signals protest/vrata-like coercion
Ayodhyākāṇḍa: Kaikeyī's 'kopa-bhavana' episode and the two boons framework
Anuṣṭubh
Commanding
Madhyama with firm cadence; emphatic nyāsa on 'sthātuṃ tvam arhasi'
FAQs
Kaikeyī appeals to satya as binding: a pledged boon must be upheld, and a king should not collapse from remorse once his word is invoked.
Kaikeyī confronts Daśaratha, questioning his despair and pressing him to act according to the promised boons.
From Kaikeyī’s framing, the emphasized trait is steadfastness to one’s declared word; however, her use of it is coercive within the episode.
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