Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 13: Kaikeyī Rejects Daśaratha’s Sorrowful Plea
Text 2.13.7
कैकेय्याः प्रियकामेन रामः प्रव्राजितो मया।
यदि सत्यं ब्रवीम्येतत्तदसत्यं भविष्यति॥
kaikeyyāḥ priya-kāmena rāmaḥ pravrājito mayā
yadi satyaṁ bravīmy etat tad asatyaṁ bhaviṣyati
kaikeyyāḥ = Kaikeyī; priya-kāmena = desiring to please; rāmaḥ = Rāma; pravrājitaḥ = banished; mayā = I; yadi = if; satyam = truth; bravīmi = I speak; etat = this; tat = that statement that I will coronate Rāma; asatyam = untruth; bhaviṣyati = will become.
“Desiring to please Kaikeyī, I banished Rāma.” If I speak this truth, that statement that I will coronate Rāma will become untruth.
Daśaratha had promised Rāma earlier:
tataḥ puṣye ’bhiṣiñcasva manas tvarayatīva mām
śvas tvāham abhiṣekṣyāmi yauvarājye parantapa
“So, please be coronated under the Puṣya nakṣatra. My mind hurries me in this regard. O scorcher of enemies, I will coronate You tomorrow as the crown prince.” (Rāmāyaṇa 2.4.22)
[If Daśaratha were to fulfill his promise to Kaikeyī,] the above promise to Rāma will be unfulfilled.
He then pointed out other reasons for not rejecting Rāma from the next verse.