Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 11, Shloka 14
कैकेयीवरप्रार्थना
Kaikeyi Demands the Two Boons
चन्द्रादित्यौ नभश्चैव ग्रहा रात्र्यहनी दिशः।जगच्च पृथिवी चेयं सगन्धर्वा सराक्षसा।।।।निशाचराणि भूतानि गृहेषु गृहदेवता।यानि चान्यानि भूतानि जानीयुर्भाषितं तव।।।।
candrādityau nabhaś caiva grahā rātryahanī diśaḥ | jagac ca pṛthivī ceyaṃ sa-gandharvā sa-rākṣasāḥ || niśācarāṇi bhūtāni gṛheṣu gṛhadevatāḥ | yāni cānyāni bhūtāni jānīyur bhāṣitaṃ tava || 2.11.14 ||
Nawa’y malaman ng Buwan at Araw, ng kalangitan, ng mga planeta, ng gabi at araw, at ng mga direksiyon; ng sanlibutan at ng lupang ito—kasama ang mga Gandharva at mga Rākṣasa—pati ang mga nilalang na gumagala sa gabi, ang mga diyos ng tahanan sa mga bahay, at anumang iba pang nilalang, ang iyong binigkas na panata.
Let the Moon and the Sun, the sky, the planets, night and day, the (ten) quarters the world, gandharvas, rakshasas, this earth, the nocturnal spirits all beings, family deities of every house and all other beings listen to your words of promise.
FAQs
Truth is placed under universal scrutiny: dharma treats a promise as something the whole moral cosmos can ‘witness,’ increasing the seriousness of speech.
Kaikeyī expands the list of witnesses to include cosmic and local divinities, making Daśaratha’s promise maximally binding.
The virtue of satya as a public commitment—speech must align with righteousness because it is accountable to the wider order (ṛta/dharma).