Shloka 2.74.9
भरतस्य कैकेयी-गर्हा तथा सुरभि-दृष्टान्तः (Bharata’s Reproach of Kaikeyi and the Surabhi Exemplum)
न त्वमश्वपतेः कन्या धर्मराजस्य धीमतः।राक्षसी तत्र जाताऽसि कुलप्रध्वंसिनी पितुः।।।।यत्त्वया धार्मिको रामो नित्यं सत्यपरायणः।वनं प्रस्थापितो दुःखात्पिता च त्रिदिवं गतः।।।।
na tvam aśvapateḥ kanyā dharmarājasya dhīmataḥ |
rākṣasī tatra jātā ’si kulapradhvaṃsinī pituḥ ||
yattvayā dhārmiko rāmo nityaṃ satyaparāyaṇaḥ |
vanaṃ prasthāpito duḥkhāt pitā ca tridivaṃ gataḥ ||
You are not truly the daughter of Aśvapati, that wise and righteous king; you are a rākṣasī born there to destroy your father’s line—since by you Rāma, virtuous and ever devoted to truth, was driven to the forest, and my father, from grief, went to heaven.
As you sent virtuous Rama, ever devoted to truth, into the forest, my father died out of grief (due to separation from his son). Therefore, you are not the true daughter of the righteous and sagacious king Aswapati but a demoness born there to destroy your father's race.
Truth and righteousness (satya, dharma) are the standard for judging rule and family duty; forcing the truthful righteous one into suffering is portrayed as lineage-destroying adharma.
Bharata intensifies his accusation: Kaikeyī’s act is blamed for Rāma’s forest exile and Daśaratha’s death from grief.
Rāma’s satya and dharma (truthfulness and righteousness) are explicitly highlighted as the moral center against which Kaikeyī’s deed is measured.