Shloka 108
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse
Ayodhya Kanda 12
मया च रामेण च लक्ष्मणेन प्रशास्तु हीनो भरतस्त्वया सह।पुरं च राष्ट्रं च निहत्य बान्धवान् ममाहितानां च भवाभिहर्षिणी।।।।
mayā ca rāmeṇa ca lakṣmaṇena praśāstu hīno bharatas tvayā saha |
puraṃ ca rāṣṭraṃ ca nihatya bāndhavān mamāhitānāṃ ca bhavābhiharṣiṇī ||
ഞാനും രാമനും ലക്ഷ്മണനും നീക്കപ്പെട്ടാൽ, നിന്നോടുകൂടെ ഭരതൻ നഗരവും രാജ്യവും ഭരിക്കട്ടെ; എന്റെ ബന്ധുക്കളെ വധിച്ച് എന്റെ ശത്രുക്കൾക്ക് ആനന്ദകാരിണിയാകട്ടെ।
O cruelhearted woman, you strike one in adversity. Why are your teeth with which you are now speaking (such harsh words) do not fall to the ground, broken into a thousand fragments?
FAQs
It highlights how adharma within governance (motivated succession and harm to kin) is seen as empowering enemies and destabilizing righteous rule.
Daśaratha bitterly imagines the outcome of Kaikeyī’s plan: Bharata’s rule alongside her, with Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa absent and the royal family shattered.
By contrast, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa are implied as pillars of righteous stability; their removal signifies moral and political collapse.