Shloka 2.74.29
भरतस्य कैकेयी-गर्हा तथा सुरभि-दृष्टान्तः (Bharata’s Reproach of Kaikeyi and the Surabhi Exemplum)
एकपुत्रा च साध्वी च विवत्सेयं त्वया कृता।तस्मात्त्वं सततं दुःखं प्रेत्य चेह च लप्स्यसे।।।।
kinnu te ’dūṣayad rājā rāmo vā bhṛśadhārmikaḥ |
yayor mṛtyur vivāsaś ca tvat-kṛte tulyam āgatau ||
What wrong did the king—or Rāma, so deeply devoted to dharma—ever do to you, that because of you death has come to one and exile, an equal calamity, to the other?
This pious lady is blessed with only one son and (now) has been rendered childless by you. Therefore, you shall experience grief in this world and hereafter.
The verse upholds the dharmic expectation that harm should not be inflicted on the innocent; Bharata frames Rama and Dasharatha as undeserving of suffering, condemning wrongdoing that targets the righteous.
After Dasharatha’s death and Rama’s exile, Bharata confronts Kaikeyi, attributing both calamities to her actions and questioning her grievance against them.
Bharata’s moral clarity and loyalty to dharma: he defends Rama’s righteousness and rejects unjust gain obtained through adharma.