Shloka 2.12.56
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse (Ayodhya Kanda 12)
दीनया तु गिरा राजा इति होवाच कैकयीम्।अनर्थमिममर्थाभं केन त्वमुपदर्शिता।।।।भूतोपहतचित्तेव ब्रुवन्ती मां न लज्जसे।
śīlavyasanam etat te nābhijānāmy ahaṃ purā |
bālāyās tat tv idānīṃ te lakṣaye viparītavat ||
I did not know before, when you were young, that such a flaw of character belonged to you; but now, indeed, I see in you the very opposite of what I once knew.
The king addressed Kaikeyi in humble words saying, Why did you exhibit this unfortunate act apparently beneficial to you? You are not ashamed of saying this like one whose faculties are possessed by an evil spirit.
Dharma is rooted in stable character (śīla). When conduct reverses into vice, trust and righteous order collapse; the verse stresses that ethical identity is proven by present actions, not past reputation.
Daśaratha rebukes Kaikeyī, saying her present behavior contradicts the character he believed she had earlier.
Śīla (good conduct) as a central virtue—invoked here by Daśaratha as the standard by which Kaikeyī’s actions are judged.