Shloka 2.9.16
मन्थराप्रेरणा—वरद्वय-स्मरणं च (Manthara’s Provocation and the Recalling of Two Boons)
अपवाह्य त्वया देवि सङ्ग्रामान्नष्टचेतनः।तत्रापि विक्षतश्शस्त्रैः पतिस्ते रक्षितस्त्वया।।।।
tuṣṭena tena dattau te dvau varau śubhadarśane | sa tvayoktaḥ patir devi yad eccheyaṃ tadā varau ||
gṛhṇīyām iti tat tena tathety uktaṃ mahātmanā |
O fair-looking queen, pleased with you, he granted you two boons. And you said to your husband, “Whenever I wish, then shall I claim those boons.” The great-souled king replied, “So be it.”
O queen! you had protected your husband by carrying him away from the battlefieldwhen he lost his consciousness. He was saved by you. Once again you saved him when he lay wounded with weapons (hurled) by the asuras.
Satya and promise-keeping are central: a boon once granted and accepted as claimable later binds the giver; dharma treats pledged words as sacred obligations.
Mantharā establishes the contractual moral background: two boons were granted to Kaikeyī, to be claimed at a time of her choosing, and Daśaratha consented.
Daśaratha’s integrity (satya-niṣṭhā) is foreshadowed—his assent ‘so be it’ becomes the ethical constraint that later drives the tragedy.