Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 18: Kaikeyī Informs Rāma About the two Boons
Text 2.18.30
तद्व्रुहि वचनं देवि राज्ञो यदभिकाङ्क्षितम्।
करिष्ये प्रतिजाने च रामो द्विर्नाभिभाषते॥
tad brūhi vacanaṁ devi rājño yad abhikāṅkṣitam
kariṣye pratijāne ca rāmo dvir nābhibhāṣate
tat brūhi vacanam = tell Me; devi = O queen; rājñaḥ = the king; yat = what; abhikāṅkṣitam = wants Me to do; kariṣye = I will do that; pratijāne ca = I promise you; rāmaḥ = Rāma; dviḥ = twice; na = not; abhibhāṣate = does assert.
O queen, tell Me what the king wants Me to do. I will do that. I promise you. Rāma does not assert twice.
Except while making a promise, Rāma does not assert anything twice.
GLOSS. Rāma referred to Himself in third person to indicate that it was known to everyone that He was true to His word.
NOTE. Another meaning of this great utterance of the Lord—rāmo dvir nābhibhāṣate—is that Rāma never states something twice in the sense that He never contradicts, compromises or withdraws from what He has stated earlier.
Lord Rāma is meticulously truthful to His words and for this reason alone, members of communities dedicated to following Vedic directives delightfully and repeatedly bow down to His lotus feet, even if they are not on the path of pure devotional service unto Him.
Why does Lord Rāmacandra adhere to the principle of scriptural honesty so meticulously? He answers it in the Bhagavad-gītā (3.23) as follows:
yadi hy ahaṁ na varteyaṁ jātu karmaṇy atandritaḥ
mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ
“For if I ever failed to engage in carefully performing prescribed duties, O Pārtha, certainly all men would follow My path.”