Shloka 2.35.22
सुमन्त्रस्य कैकेयी-निन्दा (Sumantra’s Reproof of Kaikeyi in the Royal Assembly)
नृपश्चोवाच तां देवीं देवि शंसामि ते यदि। ततो मे मरणं सद्यो भविष्यति न संशयः।।2.35.22।।
mātā te pitaraṃ devi tataḥ kekayam abravīt |
śaṃsa me jīva vā mā vā na mām apahasiṣyasi ||2.35.23||
Then your mother said to your father, the king of Kekaya: “Tell me—live or die; you shall not mock me.”
'O queen! if I disclose it, then I will undoubtedly die that very movement' replied the king to his wife.
Dharma rejects coercive demands that ignore consequence and compassion; insisting on truth through threat or emotional blackmail becomes adharma, even when framed as a claim against ‘mockery.’
In the backstory, Kaikeyi’s mother pressures the Kekaya king to disclose the cause of his laughter, disregarding his warning that telling it will kill him.
By negative example, the verse underscores the virtue of restraint (saṃyama) and empathetic listening—missing here, and presented as a root of later harm.