Shloka 19
मन्थराप्रवेशः
Manthara Observes Ayodhya and Incites Kaikeyi
सा विषण्णतरा भूत्वा कुब्जा तस्या हितैषिणी।विषादयन्ती प्रोवाच भेदयन्ती च राघवम्।।।।
sā viṣaṇṇatarā bhūtvā kubjā tasyā hitaiṣiṇī | viṣādayantī provāca bhedayantī ca rāghavam ||
Volviéndose aún más abatida, la jorobada, que decía buscar el bien de Kaikeyī, habló para acrecentar su desaliento y para apartarla de Rāghava (Rāma).
Manthara beheld from that palace the whole of Ayodhya with its highways sprinkled with water and strewn with a lot of flowers.
FAQs
Dharma rejects counsel that creates needless division: pretending “welfare” while sowing despair and estrangement violates satya (truthfulness) and harms familial righteousness.
Mantharā escalates her strategy—she frames her advice as concern for Kaikeyī, but aims to turn her against Rāma.
The virtue implied is sincerity in counsel (true हितैषिता). The verse contrasts it with manipulative ‘well-wishing’ used to justify harmful speech.