Valmiki Ramayana 2.21.42: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 21, Shloka 42
अयोध्याकाण्डे एकविंशः सर्गः · Lakṣmaṇa’s militant counsel and Rāma’s dharma
based persuasion of Kausalyā
सोऽहं न शक्ष्यामि पितुर्नियोगमतिवर्तितुम् ।
पितुर्हिवचनाद्वीर कैकेय्याऽहं प्रचोदितः ॥४२॥
so ’haṃ na śakṣyāmi pitur niyogam ativartitum |
pitur hi vacanād vīra kaikeyyā ’haṃ pracoditaḥ ||42||
So I cannot transgress my father’s command. For it is only on account of my father’s word, O hero, that I have been urged on by Kaikeyī (toward exile).
O hero! I cannot transgress the command of my father since at his instance only Kaikeyi urged me (to go to the forest).
FAQs
Dharma here is obedience to a legitimate parental command, even when the immediate cause (Kaikeyī’s urging) is painful. The father’s word is treated as morally binding.
Lakṣmaṇa is agitated; Rāma explains that he will not violate Daśaratha’s command, and that Kaikeyī’s role operates through the father’s pledged word.
Rāma’s self-restraint and fidelity to duty: he refuses to justify disobedience even under provocation.
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