Valmiki Ramayana 2.11.23 — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 11, Shloka 23
कैकेयीवरप्रार्थना
Kaikeyi Demands the Two Boons
ततः परमुवाचेदं वरदं काममोहितम्।वरौ यौ मे त्वया देव तदा दत्तौ महीपते।।।।तौ तावदहमद्यैव वक्ष्यामि शृणु मे वचः।
tataḥ param uvācedaṃ varadaṃ kāmamohitam | varau yau me tvayā deva tadā dattau mahīpate || tau tāvad aham adyaiva vakṣyāmi śṛṇu me vacaḥ |
Darauf sprach sie zu dem gnadenverleihenden König, vom Begehren betört: »O Herr der Erde, o König, die zwei Gnaden, die du mir einst gewährt hast, will ich jetzt nennen. Höre meine Worte.«
Thereafter, she said to the infatuated king who had promised to confer her boons, O lord of the earth, O king, right now I shall speak to you about the two boons granted by you. Listen to my words.
FAQs
It foregrounds the moral tension between dharma (truth to one’s pledge) and kāma (desire-induced delusion), showing how dharma can be tested when judgment is clouded.
Kaikeyī announces she will now articulate the two promised boons, marking the turning point toward Rāma’s exile and Bharata’s proposed coronation.
The virtue at stake is Daśaratha’s fidelity to his word; the verse also critiques the weakening of discernment under kāma-moha.
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