Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 13, Shloka 12
अयोध्याकाण्डे त्रयोदशः सर्गः | Kaikeyi Presses the Boons; Dasaratha’s Lament and Collapse
यदि दुःखमकृत्वाऽद्य मम संक्रमणं भवेत्।अदुःखार्हस्य रामस्य तत स्सुखमवाप्नुयाम्।।।।
yadi duḥkham akṛtvā’dya mama saṅkramaṇaṃ bhavet, aduḥkhārhasya rāmasya tataḥ sukham avāpnuyām.
If death were to come to me today without my having caused sorrow to Rāma—who deserves no sorrow—then from that I would attain peace.
Rama deserves happiness not suffering. How can I bear to see such a sagacious Rama undergoing distress?
FAQs
The king values ‘not harming the innocent’ over his own life; dharma is portrayed as the refusal to be the cause of unjust suffering.
Overwhelmed, Daśaratha expresses that dying now would be preferable to living while inflicting undeserved pain on Rāma.
Daśaratha’s conscience (moral self-judgment): he measures his life’s worth by whether he protects the dharmic son from undeserved suffering.