Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 35: Furious Sumantra Criticizes Kaikeyī
Text 2.35.17
अभिजातं हि ते मन्ये यथा मातुस्तथैव च।
न हि निंबात्स्रवेत्क्षौद्रं लोके निगदितं वचः॥
abhijātaṁ hi te manye yathā mātus tathaiva ca
na hi nimbāt sravet kṣaudraṁ loke nigaditaṁ vacaḥ
abhijātam hi te = that the nature you were born with; manye = I think; yathā mātuḥ tathā eva ca = is like the nature your mother was born with; na = not; hi = for; nimbāt = out of a neem tree; sravet = does ooze; kṣaudram = that honey; loke = in the world; nigaditam vacaḥ = it is stated.
I think that the nature you were born with is like the nature your mother was born with, for it is stated in the world that honey does not ooze out of a neem tree.
Sumantra illustrates that an effect follows from its cause by citing a worldly proverb here.
NOTE. We learn from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.78) that when Lord Baladeva heard that the Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas were about to go to war, in order to remain neutral He left Dvārakā on the pretext of going on pilgrimage. The Lord bathed in sacred places such as Prabhāsa, Tritakūpa and Viśāla, and eventually He came to the holy Naimiṣāraṇya forest, where great sages were performing an extended fire sacrifice. While being worshiped by the assembled sages and offered a seat of honor, the Lord noticed that Romaharṣaṇa Sūta, sitting on the speaker’s seat, had failed to stand in deference to Him.
In this regard, Śrīla Prabhupāda has remarked in his book Kṛṣṇa:
Romaharṣaṇa Sūta had been given the chance to become a perfect brāhmaṇa, but because of his ill behavior in his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his low birth was immediately remembered.
In other words, when a person of inferior birth defies the authority of the Supreme Lord or offends Him (or His beloved devotees), then their inferior birth is immediately remembered. Here also we notice Sumantra referring to Kaikeyī’s birth to a rejected wife of a noble king when she refuses to acknowledge the preeminence of Lord Rāmacandra.