Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 12, Shloka 95
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse
Ayodhya Kanda 12
हन्तानार्ये ममामित्रे सकामा भव कैकयि।।2.12.94।।मृते मयि गते रामे वनं पुरुषपुङ्गवे।सेदानीं विधवा राज्यं सपुत्रा कारयिष्यसि।।2.12.95।।
mṛte mayi gate rāme vanaṃ puruṣapuṅgave, se’dānīṃ vidhavā rājyaṃ saputrā kārayiṣyasi.
Wenn ich tot bin und Rāma, der Vornehmste der Männer, in den Wald gegangen ist, dann wirst du, als Witwe, das Reich zusammen mit deinem Sohn regieren.
O my enemy, O wicked Kaikeyi, after Rama, the foremost of men, has left for the forest your desires will be fulfilled. And after my death, you as a widow along with your son will rule the kingdom.
FAQs
It highlights how adharma in succession harms the whole polity: personal ambition can overturn righteous kingship and bring grief and moral disorder.
Daśaratha foresees his own death from sorrow and imagines Kaikeyī governing after sending Rāma into exile.
Rāma’s implied excellence (puruṣapuṅgava) underscores the virtue of the rightful heir—fitness to rule grounded in dharma.