धर्मबन्धेन बद्धोऽस्मि नष्टा च मम चेतना।
ज्येष्ठ पुत्रं प्रियं रामं द्रष्टुमिच्छामि धार्मिकम्॥
dharma-bandhena baddho ’smi naṣṭā ca mama cetanā
jyeṣṭhaṁ putraṁ priyaṁ rāmaṁ draṣṭum icchāmi dhārmikam
dharma-bandhena = by the noose of dharma; baddhaḥ asmi = I am tied; naṣṭā ca = I have lost; mama = my; cetanā = intelligence; jyeṣṭham = eldest; putram = son; priyam = my beloved; rāmam = Rāma; draṣṭum = to see; icchāmi = I want; dhārmikam = who is devoted to dharma.
I am tied by the noose of dharma. I have lost my intelligence. I want to see my beloved eldest son Rāma who is devoted to dharma.
1 Daśaratha agreed to fulfill Kaikeyī’s demands not actually out of a consideration of dharma but out of his overwhelmingly passionate love for her. And he has recognized this weakness of his in this verse. The nature of Daśaratha’s blunder in agreeing to Kaikeyī’s irrational ultimata will be reviewed in this very Canto a few times.
Daśaratha’s statement that he was tied by the noose of dharma indicates that he now slightly permitted Rāma’s exile.1 He wanted to see Rāma before He went to the forest.