Shloka 2.36.16
अयोध्याकाण्डे षट्त्रिंशः सर्गः — Daśaratha’s orders for Rama’s escort; Kaikeyi’s fear; the Asamañjasa precedent
वैव वंशे सगरो ज्येष्ठं पुत्रमुपारुधत्।असमञ्ज इति ख्यातं तथायं गन्तुमर्हति।।।।
tavaiva vaṃśe sagaro jyeṣṭhaṃ putram upārudhat | asamañja iti khyātaṃ tathāyaṃ gantum arhati || 2.36.16 ||
In your very lineage, Sagara barred his eldest son, famed as Asamañja; so too does this Rāma deserve to be sent away in the same manner.
In your own dynasty king Sagara prevented his well-known eldest son Asamanjasa (from enjoying the kingdom). Rama also should depart in the same manner.
It raises the question of precedent in rāja-dharma: past dynastic examples are invoked to justify political decisions—yet precedent can be misapplied when motives are not righteous.
Kaikeyī attempts to legitimize Rāma’s exile by citing an earlier Ikṣvāku case where an eldest son was excluded.
The verse foregrounds political reasoning (nyāya/precedent) rather than virtue; implicitly it tests Daśaratha’s discernment to separate dharmic precedent from self-serving rhetoric.