Shloka 2.12.41
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse (Ayodhya Kanda 12)
यस्याः प्रसादे जीवामि या च मामभ्यपालयत्।तस्याः कृतम् मया मिथ्या कैकेय्या इति वक्षयसि।।।।
yasyāḥ prasāde jīvāmi yā ca mām abhyapālayat |
tasyāḥ kṛtaṃ mayā mithyā kaikeyyā iti vakṣyasi || 2.12.41 ||
Will you say, ‘To Kaikeyī—by whose favor I live, and who once protected me—I have made my promise false’?
Will you say, 'To such a Kaikeyi by whose mercy I am alive and by whom I was protected, I have broken the promise given'?
Satya (truthfulness) and kṛtajñatā (gratitude) are invoked: breaking a pledged word—especially to one who rendered protection—is framed as morally indefensible.
Kaikeyī intensifies her demand by reminding Daśaratha of past support and implying that reneging would be shameful.
The virtue demanded is fidelity to one’s word; the verse also foregrounds the social-moral weight of gratitude.