Shloka 2.9.28
मन्थराप्रेरणा—वरद्वय-स्मरणं च (Manthara’s Provocation and the Recalling of Two Boons)
यौ तौ दैवासुरे युद्धे वरौ दशरथोऽददात्।तौ स्मारय महाभागे सोऽर्थो न त्वामतिक्रमेत्।।।।
yau tau daivāsure yuddhe varau daśaratho ’dadāt | tau smāraya mahābhāge so ’rtho na tvām atikramet ||
O highly fortunate queen, remind him of the two boons Daśaratha granted you in the war between gods and demons, so that your purpose does not slip away from you.
O fortunate Kaikeyi, make him recollect the two boons he had granted you in the war between gods and demons. You should not ignore your objective.
It points to the binding force of promises/boons (satya as keeping one’s word), even though the demand to be made later will be ethically problematic.
Mantharā instructs Kaikeyī to leverage Daśaratha’s earlier promise of two boons as a decisive instrument to alter the succession.
Daśaratha’s virtue implied here is truthfulness—his commitment to boons given—making him vulnerable to exploitation.