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 ||
いよいよ沈み込んだせむし女は、カイケーイーの益を願うと称しつつ、彼女の憂いを深め、ラाघヴァ（ラーマ）から心を離れさせるように語った。
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.