Shloka 2.12.34
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse (Ayodhya Kanda 12)
मम वृद्धस्य कैकेयि गतान्तस्य तपस्विनः।दीनं लालप्यमानस्य कारुण्यं कर्तुमर्हसि।।।।
mama vṛddhasya kaikeyi gatāntasya tapasvinaḥ |
dīnaṃ lālapyamānasya kāruṇyaṃ kartum arhasi ||
O Kaikeyī, you ought to show compassion to me—aged, near death, a man of austerity—who, in misery, laments in distress.
O Kaikeyi, you should show mercy to this wretched, old man on the verge of death, wailing pitifully.
Karūṇā (compassion) is invoked as dharma within family and kingship: mercy toward the suffering is a moral obligation.
Daśaratha, broken by grief, begs Kaikeyī to relent and to treat him mercifully.
The appeal is for Kaikeyī’s compassion; implicitly, Daśaratha’s vulnerability and dependence on dharmic mercy are highlighted.