Shloka 2.12.98
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse (Ayodhya Kanda 12)
यस्य त्वाहारसमये सूदाः कुण्डलधारिणः।।।।अहंपूर्वाः पचन्ति स्म प्रशस्तं पानभोजनम्।स कथन्नु कषायाणि तिक्तानि कटुकानि च।।।।भक्षयन्वन्यमाहारं सुतो मे वर्तयिष्यति।
yasya tv āhārasamaye sūdāḥ kuṇḍaladhāriṇaḥ, ahaṃpūrvāḥ pacanti sma praśastaṃ pānabhojanam; sa kathannu kaṣāyāṇi tiktāni kaṭukāni ca, bhakṣayan vanyam āhāraṃ suto me vartayiṣyati.
How will my son live on forest fare—eating what is astringent, bitter, and pungent—he for whom, at mealtime, cooks wearing earrings once prepared, with proud care, abundant and excellent food and drink?
How will my son for whom the cooks with kundalas in their ears used to proudly prepare enough food and beverages subsist on astringent, pungent, bitter wild fruits and roots?
The verse contrasts comfort and austerity to show the moral weight of decisions: dharma requires that power be exercised with empathy and restraint, not cruelty through policy.
Daśaratha mourns the loss of Rāma’s royal nourishment and imagines him forced to subsist on harsh forest foods.
Rāma’s implied endurance and capacity for renunciation (even if not stated directly), set against Daśaratha’s grief-driven compassion.