Shloka 2.66.11
अयोध्यायां शोकविलापः — Lamentation in Ayodhya after Daśaratha’s death
वृद्धश्चैवाल्पपुत्रश्च वैदेहीमनुचिन्तयन्।सोऽपि शोकसमाविष्टो ननु त्यक्ष्यति जीवितम्।।।।
vṛddhaś caivālpaputraś ca vaidēhīm anucintayan | so 'pi śokasamāviṣṭo nanu tyakṣyati jīvitam ||
Old and without sons, Janaka too—constantly thinking of Vaidehī (Sītā)—will, overwhelmed by grief, surely abandon his life.
Old and sonless Janaka, constantly thinking of Sita and overpowered with grief will surely give up his life.
It underscores interconnected responsibility: a decision violating familial and royal dharma sends suffering across kin-networks, harming even distant elders like Janaka.
The speaker anticipates the sorrow of Sītā’s father, imagining that grief for his daughter’s hardship may prove fatal.
Janaka’s deep parental affection and Sītā’s value as a dharmic daughter—so central that her suffering shakes the moral-emotional stability of her family.