Shloka 2.35.16
सुमन्त्रस्य कैकेयी-निन्दा (Sumantra’s Reproof of Kaikeyi in the Royal Assembly)
आम्रं छित्वा कुठारेण निम्बं परिचरेत्तु यः।
यश्चैनं पयसा सिञ्चेन्नैवास्य मधुरो भवेत्।।2.35.16।।
mahābrahmarṣi-sṛṣṭā vā jvalanto bhīma-darśanāḥ | dhig-vāg-daṇḍā na hiṃsanti rāma-pravrājane sthitām ||2.35.15||
It is astonishing that, though you stand firm in the banishment of Rama, you are not struck down by blazing, dreadful ‘word-punishments’—cries of “Shame!”—as if unleashed by great brahmarṣis.
By axing a mango tree and growing a nimba in its place and sprinkling it with milk one does not get sweet fruit.
Public and moral reproach functions as a dharmic check on wrongdoing: when one violates righteousness—here, unjust exile—one should feel the ‘burn’ of conscience and societal censure.
Sumantra condemns Kaikeyi’s determination to exile Rama and expresses disbelief that she remains unscathed by the moral force of condemnation.
Moral accountability: Sumantra embodies the duty to speak truth to power when adharma is being enacted.