Shloka 2.12.40
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse (Ayodhya Kanda 12)
यदा समेता बहवस्त्वया राजर्षय स्सह।कथयिष्यन्ति धर्मज्ञ तत्र किं प्रतिवक्ष्यसि।।।।
yadā sametā bahavas tvayā rājarṣayaḥ saha |
kathayiṣyanti dharmajña tatra kiṃ prativakṣyasi || 2.12.40 ||
O knower of dharma, when many royal seers assemble with you and question you about this matter, what answer will you give them then?
O knower of righteousness when innumerable rajarshis assemble and ask you on this what answer will you give?
Dharma is portrayed as publicly answerable: a ruler’s actions must withstand scrutiny by wise peers (rājarṣis), and moral legitimacy requires a defensible explanation.
Kaikeyī pressures Daśaratha to keep his promised boons by invoking how other eminent kings/sages would judge his conduct.
Accountability in kingship: the expectation that a dharmic ruler can justify decisions before the community of the righteous.