Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 24: Rāma Instructs Kausalyā
Text 2.24.30

प्राप्स्यसे परमं कामं मयि प्रत्यागते सति।
यदि धर्मभृतां श्रेष्ठो धारयिष्यति जीवितम्॥

prāpsyase paramaṁ kāmaṁ mayi pratyāgate sati
yadi dharmabhṛtāṁ śreṣṭho dhārayiṣyati jīvitam

prāpsyase = you will attain; paramam = most; kāmam = your cherished ambition; mayi pratyāgate sati = when I return; yadi = if; dharmabhṛtām = of the protectors of dharma; śreṣṭhaḥ = the best; dhārayiṣyati = remains; jīvitam = alive.

You will attain your most cherished ambition if the best of the protectors of dharma remains alive when I return.1

Rāmacandra implies that only when her husband is alive and her son returns is there a possibility of the supreme fulfillment of her desires.

1 “The best of the protectors of dharma” refers to King Daśaratha. Rāma never glorifies Himself. It is part of His dhīrodātta personality: “A dhīrodātta is a person who is naturally very grave, gentle, forgiving, merciful, determined, humble, highly qualified, chivalrous and physically attractive.” (The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 23)