Shloka 2.22.17
अभिषेक-निवृत्ति-उपदेशः (Withdrawal of the Coronation: Rama’s Counsel to Lakshmana)
जानासि हि यथा सौम्य न मातृषु ममान्तरम्।भूतपूर्वं विशेषो वा तस्या मयि सुतेऽपि वा।।।।
jānāsi hi yathā saumya na mātṛṣu mamāntaram | bhūtapūrvaṃ viśeṣo vā tasyā mayi sute ’pi vā ||
You know, dear one, that I never had any sense of distinction among my mothers; nor did she ever, in times past, make any difference between me and her own son.
You know, O gentle Lakshmana! that never in the past had I any feeling of distinction amongst my mothers. And Kaikeyi never differentiated between me and her son.
Dharma is fairness within family bonds: Rāma recalls an earlier ethic of impartial affection, resisting the urge to rewrite the past in anger.
Rāma reminds Lakṣmaṇa that Kaikeyī was formerly affectionate and unbiased, underscoring the abnormality of her present demand.
Rāma’s truthfulness and emotional balance—he acknowledges prior goodness even in someone now acting wrongly.