Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 35: Furious Sumantra Criticizes Kaikeyī
Text 2.35.29
नैवं भव गृहाणेदं यदाह वसुधाधिपः।
भर्तुरिच्छामुपास्वेह जनस्यास्य गतिर्भव॥
naivaṁ bhava gṛhāṇedaṁ yad āha vasudhādhipaḥ
bhartur icchām upāsveha janasyāsya gatir bhava
na = don’t; evam = like your mother; bhava = be; gṛhāṇa = accept; idam yat = what; āha = has said; vasudhā-adhipaḥ = the king; bhartuḥ = your husband’s; icchām = desire; upāsva = honor; iha = in this situation; janasya = in the city and the countryside; asya = of the people; gatiḥ = a shelter; bhava = become.
Don’t be like your mother. Accept what the king has said. Honor your husband’s desire now. Become a shelter of the people in the city and the countryside in this situation.
In some manuscripts, neyā bhava appears instead of naivaṁ bhava indicating that Queen Kaikeyī should become fit to be followed [by others].
Sumantra requested Kaikeyī to accept what the king had said:
śva eva puṇyo bhavitā śvo ’bhiṣecyas tu me sutaḥ
rāmo rājīva-tāmrākṣo yauvarājya iti prabhuḥ
“Tomorrow is an auspicious day. Let my son Rāma whose eyes are reddish like that of the lotus be coronated tomorrow as the crown prince.” (Rāmāyaṇa 2.4.1-2)