Shloka 2.73.7
भरतस्य कैकेय्याः प्रति धिक्कारः — Bharata’s Rebuke of Kaikeyi and Affirmation of Ikshvaku Royal Dharma
विनाशितो महाराजः पिता मे धर्मवत्सलः।कस्मात्प्रव्राजितो रामः कस्मादेव वनं गतः।।।।
vināśito mahārājaḥ pitā me dharmavatsalaḥ |
kasmāt pravrājito rāmaḥ kasmād eva vanaṃ gataḥ ||
Why has my father, the great king devoted to dharma, been brought to ruin? For what cause was Rama banished—why indeed did he go to the forest?
Why was my father the righteous maharaja killed? Why was Rama exiled into the forest?
The verse demands moral causality: dharmic order should not punish the righteous; Bharata’s questions expose the injustice of exile imposed on Rama.
In confrontation, Bharata interrogates the rationale behind Dasharatha’s collapse and Rama’s banishment.
Commitment to fairness and moral reasoning—Bharata refuses to accept events as ‘normal’ when they violate dharma.