Opening the text
द्वादशः सर्गः · Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse
Ayodhya Kanda 12
कथं द्रक्ष्यामि रामस्य वनं गच्छेति भाषिते ॥६२॥
मुखवर्णं विवर्णं तु तं यथैवेन्दुमुपप्लुतम् ।
kathaṃ drakṣyāmi rāmasya vanaṃ gaccheti bhāṣite ||62||
mukhavarṇaṃ vivarṇaṃ tu taṃ yathaivendum upaplutam |
मैं राम से कैसे बोल पाऊँगा कि जाओ जंगल में? उसका चेहरा देख के मेरा दिल नहीं टूटेगा? जब वो चला जाएगा, उसका चेहरा उतना उदास होगा जैसे चाँद पर धक्काम हो। उसका चेहरा साफ साफ दिखेगा कि कुछ ठीक नहीं है।
While instructing Rama to go to the forest, how can I look at his face, pale like the eclipsed moon?
Dharma is not merely legal obligation but also moral responsibility: Daśaratha recognizes the cruelty inherent in commanding exile to a blameless son.
Daśaratha imagines the moment of ordering Rāma into exile and recoils at the grief it would cause.
Parental compassion and conscience—his awareness of the human cost of an unrighteous command.
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Valmiki Ramayana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.