Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 43: Kausalyā Laments for Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā
Text 2.43.4
अथ स्म नगरे रामश्चरन्भैक्षं गृहे वसेत्।
कामकारो वरं दातुमपि दासं ममात्मजम्॥
atha sma nagare rāmaś caran bhaikṣaṁ gṛhe vaset
kāmakāro varaṁ dātum api dāsaṁ mamātmajam
atha sma = even then; nagare = in the city; rāmaḥ = Rāma; caran bhaikṣam = could have begged and; gṛhe = at home; vaset = stayed; kāmakāraḥ = the desire; varam = would have been better; dātum = to give; api = even; dāsam = as a servant to Bharata; mama = my; ātmajam = son.
Even then Rāma could have begged in the city and stayed at home. Even the desire to give my son as a servant to Bharata would have been better.
Atha sma (“even then”) means “even if Bharata had to be given the kingdom.” Even in that circumstance, Rāma could have stayed at home. Kausalyā wonders why Kaikeyī had to banish Him to the forest. She considers that even if Kaikeyī had desired to make Rāma a servant of Bharata that would have been better than Rāma having to live in the forest.
GLOSS. Kausalyā-devī considered that even if Rāma had to be given as a servant [to Bharata], she would have preferred it since she would not have to lament in His absence.