Shloka 2.92.26
भरद्वाजाश्रमात् चित्रकूटमार्गनिर्देशः — Directions from Bharadvaja’s Hermitage to Chitrakuta
यस्याः कृते नरव्याघ्रौ जीवनाशमितो गतौ। राजपुत्रविहीनश्च स्वर्गं दशरथो गतः।।2.92.24।। क्रोधनामकृतप्रज्ञां दृप्तां सुभगमानिनीम्। ऐश्वर्यकामां कैकेयीमनार्यामार्यारूपिणीम्।।2.92.25।। ममैतां मातरं विद्धि नृशंसां पापनिश्चयाम्। यतोमूलं हि पश्यामि व्यसनं महदात्मनः।।2.92.26।।
mamaitāṃ mātaraṃ viddhi nṛśaṃsāṃ pāpaniścayām |
yatomūlaṃ hi paśyāmi vyasanaṃ mahadātmanaḥ || 2.92.26 ||
Know her to be my mother—cruel and resolved upon sin—for in her I behold the very root from which this great calamity has arisen for that noble soul.
She is my mother Kaikeyi who is irascible, lacks the power of discrimination, proud, boastful of her beauty, ambitious of wealth, ignoble in the guise of a noble woman, wicked and intent on sinful acts. Behold her. You may know that because of her, Rama and Lakshmana the best of men entered the forest which may cause their destruction and king Dasaratha attained heaven. She alone is the root of this great calamity that I am presently confronting.
Truthful accountability: dharma demands naming wrongdoing as wrongdoing, even when it arises within one’s own family, so that harm is neither normalized nor concealed.
Bharata openly acknowledges to Bharadvāja that Kaikeyī’s resolve led to the catastrophe of exile and death in the royal household.
Satya (truthfulness) joined with a conscience: Bharata refuses self-serving denial and accepts the moral burden of events.