Shloka 2.8.21
मन्थराकैकेयीसंवादः — Mantharā’s Counsel to Kaikeyī (Ayodhyā’s Succession Alarm)
अनर्थदर्शिनी मौर्ख्यान्नात्मानमवबुध्यसे। शोकव्यसनविस्तीर्णे मज्जन्ती दुःखसागरे।।2.8.21।।
anarthadarśinī maurkhyān nātmānam avabudhyase | śokavyasana-vistīrṇe majjantī duḥkhasāgare || 2.8.21 ||
Blinded by folly, you do not perceive your own plight; you sink in a vast ocean of sorrow, spread wide by grief and calamity, and you fail to see the harm that lies ahead.
You are sinking in the sea of sorrow widened with tears and troubles. But you are stupid enough not to perceive your own well-being.
The verse warns that ethical failure often begins with distorted perception; dharma requires clear seeing (yathārtha-darśana) rather than being driven by fear or confusion.
Mantharā intensifies her rhetoric, insisting Kaikeyī is unaware of looming danger, thereby pushing her toward suspicion and drastic action.
A negative lesson: lack of discernment makes one vulnerable to bad counsel; the implied virtue is prudence and clarity.