Shloka 1.20.10
राज्ञः शङ्का–प्रत्याख्यानम् (Daśaratha’s Objections to Sending Rāma) — Bala Kanda, Sarga 20
षष्टिर्वर्षसहस्राणि जातस्य मम कौशिक।।।।दु:खेनोत्पादितश्चायं न रामं नेतुमर्हसि।
ṣaṣṭir varṣa-sahasrāṇi jātasya mama kauśika |
duḥkhenotpāditaś cāyaṃ na rāmaṃ netum arhasi ||1.20.10||
O Kauśika, sixty thousand years have passed since my birth; and this Rāma was obtained by me only through suffering—therefore it is not fitting for you to take him away.
O scion of of Kusika family, sixty thousand years have passed since I was born. Rama was born to me after a great deal of suffering. It is not proper to take him with you.
Daśaratha frames dharma through parental stewardship: a child gained after hardship is a trust to be protected; yet this will later be weighed against truthfulness and duty toward a sage’s request.
Daśaratha begins his refusal, arguing from his age and the suffering through which he obtained Rāma, asking Viśvāmitra not to take him.
Protectiveness and deep attachment (vātsalya), showing Daśaratha’s human side even as a king.