Shloka 2.12.93
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse (Ayodhya Kanda 12)
प्रियं चेद्भरतस्यैतद्रामप्रव्राजनं भवेत्।।।।मा स्म मे भरतः कार्षीत्प्रेतकृत्यं गतायुषः।
priyaṃ ced bharatasyaitad rāmapravrājanaṃ bhavet | mā sma me bharataḥ kārṣīt pretakṛtyaṃ gatāyuṣaḥ ||
If this exile of Rāma is truly pleasing to Bharata, then let Bharata not perform my funeral rites when my life has ended.
If Rama's exile is approved by Bharata, then let him not perform my funeral rites after my death.
Dharma links rights to responsibilities: if Bharata benefits from unrighteous exile, he forfeits the moral claim to perform sacred duties for his father.
Daśaratha, suspecting the exile may advantage Bharata, declares that if Bharata approves it, he should not conduct Daśaratha’s final rites.
The sanctity of funerary duty (śrāddha/pretakṛtya) as an ethical act—implying that moral complicity disqualifies ritual authority.