प्रार्थितस्तेन धर्मज्ञ मिथिलायामहं तदा।
ऋषिमध्ये तु तस्य त्वं प्रीतिं कर्तुमिहार्हसि॥
prārthitas tena dharmajña mithilāyām ahaṁ tadā
ṛṣi-madhye tu tasya tvaṁ prītiṁ kartum ihārhasi
prārthitaḥ tena = he had requested; dharmajña = O knower of Vedic dharma; mithilāyām = at Mithilā; aham = me [to send You to Kekaya]; tadā ṛṣi-madhye tu = in the midst of the ṛṣis; tasya = him; tvam = You; prītim kartum iha arhasi = therefore You should make happy.
O knower of Vedic dharma, he had requested me [to send You to Kekaya] at Mithilā in the midst of the ṛṣis. Therefore, You should make him happy.
1 Because of Daśaratha’s great love for his son Bharata, he was unable to tell Him to leave him and go to Kekaya. But out of a dhārmika obligation, he had to send Him to Kekaya. This should be noted because in Canto 2 of Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, we will come across a false accusation by Mantharā, Kaikeyī’s senile nurse, in this regard.
Out of extreme feelings of impending separation from His son [Bharata], Daśaratha indirectly told Bharata that He should go [to Kekaya] because His maternal uncle had come [for this purpose].1