Shloka 2.63.40
दशरथस्य शोकानुचिन्तनं शब्धवेधि-दोषस्मरणं च (Daśaratha’s grief, karmic reflection, and the remembered ‘śabdavedhī’ misdeed)
स मामुद्वीक्ष्य नेत्राभ्यां त्रस्तमस्वस्थचेतसम्।इत्युवाच ततः क्रूरं दिधक्षन्निव तेजसा।।2.63.40।।
sa rājā rajanīṃ ṣaṣṭhīṃ rāme pravrājite vanam | ardharātre daśarathaḥ saṃsmaran duṣkṛtaṃ kṛtam || 2.63.4 ||
After Rāma had been banished to the forest, King Daśaratha passed the sixth night; at midnight he kept recalling the evil deed he had done long ago.
I was mentally stricken and frightened. He looked up as if buring me with the energy of his eyes. Then he uttered the words 'A cruel act!'
The verse presents karma aligned with dharma: past wrongdoing returns as inner torment and worldly suffering. Ethical actions are not erased by time; they mature into consequences.
After Rāma’s exile, Daśaratha lies awake on the sixth night, haunted by remembrance of his earlier sin, setting the stage for the Śravaṇa episode’s recollection.
Moral awareness (even if late): Daśaratha’s remembrance indicates recognition of guilt and the truth of moral causality.