Shloka 2.12.51
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse (Ayodhya Kanda 12)
श्रुत्वा तु राजा कैकेय्या वृतं परमशोभनम्।रामस्य च वने वासमैश्वर्यं भरतस्य च।।।।नाभ्यभाषत कैकेयीं मुहूर्तं व्याकुलेन्द्रियः।
śrutvā tu rājā kaikeyyā vṛtaṃ paramaśobhanam |
rāmasya ca vane vāsaṃ aiśvaryaṃ bharatasya ca ||
nābhyabhāṣata kaikeyīṃ muhūrtaṃ vyākulendriyaḥ ||
Hearing Kaikeyī’s utterly inauspicious demand—Rama’s dwelling in the forest and sovereignty for Bharata—the king, his senses thrown into turmoil, could not speak to her for a while.
Having heard of the highly unfair demands by Kaikeyi for Rama's exile to the forest and Bharata's prosperity (enthronement), the king was dumbstruck for a while with his senses agitated. He did not speak to Kaikeyi.
The verse foregrounds the ethical crisis of rulership: dharma requires steadiness and truth, yet unjust demands can paralyze moral agency and speech, revealing the tension between promise-keeping and justice.
Kaikeyī explicitly demands Rama’s exile and Bharata’s enthronement; Daśaratha is stunned into silence.
Daśaratha’s gravity and moral sensitivity—his immediate speechlessness reflects the seriousness with which he grasps the unrighteousness and consequences of the demand.