Shloka 2.12.11
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse (Ayodhya Kanda 12)
कौसल्यां वा सुमित्रां वा त्यजेयमपि वा श्रियम्।।।।जीवितं वाऽत्मनो रामं न त्वेव पितृवत्सलम्।
nṛśaṃsavṛtte vyasanaprahāriṇi prasahya vākyaṃ yad ihādya bhāṣase |
na nāma te kena mukhāt patanty adho viśīryamāṇā daśanā sahasradhā ||
O woman of cruel conduct, who strikes when one is in distress—why do the teeth in your mouth not fall down, shattered into a thousand pieces, as you now forcefully speak such words?
I shall give up Kausalya or Sumitra or all my wealth or even my own life but I cannot leave Rama who is devoted to his father.
It condemns cruelty and opportunistic aggression during another’s suffering, implying that speech (vāk) must be governed by dharma, especially in family and royal duty.
Daśaratha, overwhelmed by grief, rebukes Kaikeyī for her merciless words and timing—attacking him when he is most vulnerable.
The implied virtue is compassion in speech; the verse highlights its absence as a moral failing.