Shloka 2.12.5
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse (Ayodhya Kanda 12)
इति सञ्चिन्त्य तद्राजा नाध्यगच्छत्तदासुखम्।प्रतिलभ्य चिरात्संज्ञां कैकेयीवाक्यताडितः।।2.12.3।।व्यथितो विक्लबश्चैव व्याघ्रीं दृष्ट्वा यथा मृगः।असंवृतायामासीनो जगत्यां दीर्घमुच्छवसन्।।2.12.4।।मण्डले पन्नगो रुद्धो मन्त्रैरिव महाविषः।अहो धिगिति सामर्षो वाचमुक्त्वा नराधिपः।।2.12.5।।मोहमापेदिवान्भूय श्शोकोपहतचेतनः।
iti sañcintya tad rājā nādhyagacchat tadā sukham |
pratilabhya cirāt saṃjñāṃ kaikeyīvākyatāḍitaḥ ||
vyathito viklabaś caiva vyāghrīṃ dṛṣṭvā yathā mṛgaḥ |
asaṃvṛtāyām āsīno jagatyāṃ dīrgham ucchvasan ||
maṇḍale pannago ruddho mantrair iva mahāviṣaḥ |
aho dhig iti sāmarṣo vācam uktvā narādhipaḥ ||
mohaṃ āpedivān bhūyaḥ śokopahatacetanaḥ ||
Thinking thus, the king found no comfort. Struck by Kaikeyī’s words, and only after a long while regaining consciousness, he became distressed and shaken like a deer on seeing a tigress. He sat down on the bare ground, breathing long and heavily, like a greatly venomous serpent held confined within a circle by spells. Saying, “Alas, shame!” in angry anguish, the lord of men—his mind battered by grief—again sank into a faint stupor.
The King absorbed in such thoughts did not get solace. He was startled and distressed like a deer beholding a tigress. He had long lost the senses struck by the (ruthless) words of Kaikeyi. He sank down upon the bare floor heaving deep sighs like a venomous serpent lying confined in a circle. 'What a pity' said the king with indignation and with his senses overwhelmed by sorrow fell into a stupor again.
The passage frames the human cost when dharma is pressured by coercive demands: a king bound by truthfulness and prior promises suffers intensely when those vows are leveraged toward harmful ends.
After hearing Kaikeyī’s harsh insistence on the boons, Daśaratha repeatedly loses composure, regains consciousness briefly, then collapses again under grief and shock.
Daśaratha’s satya-saṅkalpa (commitment to truth/keeping promises) is implicit—his collapse shows the strain of maintaining vowed truth when it conflicts with paternal love and justice.