Shloka 2.23.22
लक्ष्मणक्रोधः—दैवपुरुषकारविवादः (Lakshmana’s Wrath and the Debate on Destiny vs Human Effort)
यैर्निवासस्तवारण्ये मिथो राजन्समर्थितः।अरण्ये ते निवत्स्यन्ति चतुर्दश समास्तथा।।।।
yair nivāsas tavāraṇye mitho rājan samarthitaḥ |
araṇye te nivatsyanti caturdaśa samās tathā ||
O king, those who, in concert, have supported your dwelling in the forest—those very ones will themselves live in the forest for fourteen years.
O king! those who, with mutual support banished you to the forest, will themselves dwell in the forest for fourteen years.
It expresses a retributive impulse—answering wrong with mirrored consequence—raising the dharmic question of whether justice should be punitive or restrained.
Lakṣmaṇa reacts to the plan sending Rāma to forest exile, wishing the instigators to suffer the same fate.
Protective indignation on behalf of Rāma; the verse also exposes the moral danger of anger turning into vengeance.