Shloka 2.42.32
द्विचत्वारिंशः सर्गः — दशरथस्य शोक-विलापः तथा कौशल्यागृह-प्रवेशः (Dasaratha’s Lament and Return to Kausalya’s Apartments)
सुखिता बत तं कालं जीविष्यन्ति नरोत्तमाः।परिष्वजन्तो ये रामं द्रक्ष्यन्ति पुनरागतम्।।।।
kaikeyi mā mamāṅgāni sprākṣīs tvaṃ duṣṭacāriṇī | na hi tvāṃ draṣṭum icchāmi na bhāryā na ca bāndhavī ||
“Kaikeyī—do not touch my body, you of wicked conduct. I do not wish even to look at you; you are neither my wife nor my kin.”
Oh! how fortunate are those best of men who will live until that time to see Rama return and embrace him.
The verse frames a moral boundary: actions judged as adharma can sever relational legitimacy. Daśaratha’s rejection expresses that ethical betrayal destroys the sanctity of marital and familial bonds.
In extreme grief and anger, Daśaratha repudiates Kaikeyī, refusing her touch and denying her status as wife or relative.
Moral accountability: Daśaratha asserts an ethical verdict on conduct, though expressed through the rawness of sorrow and outrage.