Shloka 2.40.47
प्रयाणवर्णनम् (Departure from Ayodhya; Civic Lament and the Chariot’s Urgency)
नाश्रौषमिति राजानमुपालब्धोऽपि वक्ष्यसि।चिरं दुःखस्य पापिष्ठमिति रामस्तमब्रवीत्।।।।
nāśrauṣam iti rājānam upālabdho 'pi vakṣyasi |
ciraṃ duḥkhasya pāpiṣṭham iti rāmas tam abravīt ||
Rāma said to him: “Even if the king reproaches you, tell him, ‘I did not hear.’ To prolong suffering is most blameworthy.”
When the king reproaches you for not stopping the chariot, you can say 'I could not hear'.Prolonging agony is sinful, said Rama to Sumantra.
Dharma is compassion in action: do not intensify another’s grief by needless delay. Rāma frames prolonging agony as ethically blameworthy.
Rāma anticipates Daśaratha’s command to stop the chariot and instructs Sumantra on what to say if blamed for not stopping.
Pragmatic compassion and moral clarity—Rāma chooses the course that reduces harm while maintaining his truthful commitment to exile.