Shloka 2.12.49
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse (Ayodhya Kanda 12)
भरतेनात्मना चाहं शपे ते मनुजाधिप।यथा नान्येन तुष्येयमृते रामविवासनात्।।।।
bharatenātmanā cāhaṃ śape te manujādhipa |
yathā nānyena tuṣyeyam ṛte rāmavivāsanāt ||
O king, I swear to you by Bharata and by my own life: nothing except Rama’s banishment will satisfy me.
O king, I swear on Bharata and on my own life that nothing less than Rama's banishment will satisfy me.
The verse highlights the moral weight of an oath (śapatha) and how invoking sacred bonds (one’s life, one’s child) intensifies accountability—yet it also warns that vows can be used unethically when driven by desire rather than righteousness.
Kaikeyī, having demanded her boons, insists with a solemn oath that only Rama’s exile will satisfy her, increasing the pressure on Daśaratha.
Not a virtue but a dramatic trait: Kaikeyī’s unyielding resolve (dṛḍha-niścaya), expressed through oath-taking, contrasted implicitly with dharmic restraint.