Shloka 22
द्वादशः सर्गः — Kaikeyi’s Boons and Dasaratha’s Moral Collapse
Ayodhya Kanda 12
तस्य धर्मात्मनो देवि वनवासं यशस्विनः।कथं रोचयसे भीरु नव वर्षाणि पञ्च च।।।।
tasya dharmātmano devi vanavāsaṃ yaśasvinaḥ | kathaṃ rocayase bhīru nava varṣāṇi pañca ca ||
ദേവീ, ധർമാത്മാവും യശസ്വിയും ആയ രാമന് പതിനാലു വർഷം വനവാസം വേണമെന്നു നീ എങ്ങനെ ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്നു, ഭീരുവേ?
O lady how do you wish this righteous and illustrious Rama to dwell in the forest for fourteen years?
FAQs
The verse invokes dharma as moral fitness: it is wrong to impose severe suffering on a righteous person without just cause.
Kaikeyī has demanded Rāma’s banishment for fourteen years; Daśaratha protests, highlighting Rāma’s righteousness and fame.
Rāma’s dharmic character (dharmātman) and honorable reputation (yaśas) are foregrounded as reasons such treatment is unjust.