Shloka 2.14.23
सत्यपाशः — Kaikeyi’s Demand and the Noose of the King’s Promise
स नुन्न इव तीक्ष्णेन प्रतोदेन हयोत्तमः।राजा प्रचोदितोऽभीक्ष्णं कैकेयीमिदमब्रवीत्।।।।
sa nunna iva tīkṣṇena pratodena hayottamaḥ |
rājā pracodito ’bhīkṣṇaṃ kaikeyīm idam abravīt ||
Spurred again and again by her, the king—like a fine horse struck with a sharp goad—spoke these words to Kaikeyī.
The king who was very much incited by her words, like a horse of the best breed whipped by the lash, replied to Kaikeyi:
It illustrates how coercion distorts moral agency: dharma requires free, discerning choice, but Daśaratha is depicted as driven under relentless pressure.
The narrator compares Daśaratha’s condition to a goaded horse as he prepares to respond to Kaikeyī’s harsh insistence.
The implied virtue is inner steadiness; the verse shows its absence under emotional and verbal compulsion.