कैकेय्या विनियुक्तेन पापाभिजनभावया।
मया न मन्त्रकुशलैर्वृद्धैः सह समर्थितम्॥
kaikeyyā viniyuktena pāpābhijana-bhāvayā
mayā na mantra-kuśalair vṛddhaiḥ saha samarthitam
kaikeyyā = because Kaikeyī; viniyuktena = had specifically bound me by a promise; pāpa-abhijana-bhāvayā = of sinful desires 7; mayā = I; na = did not; mantra-kuśalaiḥ = expert in counsel; vṛddhaiḥ saha = with experienced authorities; samarthitam = discuss and deliberate on [Rāma’s exile].
Because Kaikeyī of sinful desires had specifically bound me by a promise, I did not discuss and deliberate on [Rāma’s exile] with experienced authorities expert in counsel.1
1 Samarthitam also means “validated.” This indicates that King Daśaratha should have validated his promise to Kaikeyī with scriptural authorities. Ethical principles have to be upheld by carefully following the scriptural teachings under the guidance of those who had succesfully followed the standard path of Vedic dharma. Solo attempts to follow Vedic dharma will naturally culminate in accepting non-scriptural ethical principles which will certainly bind one to unnecessary difficulty. Dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthā. The truth of Vedic dharma is hidden in the hearts of the self-realized souls. Therefore, one should follow that path of Vedic dharma that such self-realized souls have followed, and not try to follow Vedic dharma on his own by refusing to consult and learn from superior realized souls on how to apply the rules of Vedic dharma successfully. Students of the Pāṇinian system of Sanskrit grammar know very well that merely knowing the meaning of the grammatical sūtras isn’t enough; one should learn them from traditional experts, who know how to derive correct Sanskrit words and expressions on the basis of such grammatical sūtras, because he will otherwise end up producing incorrect words due to no fault in the sūtras. Another point to note is that the Rāmāyaṇa promotes scriptural act-based morality, not non-scriptural act-based morality or any form of non-act-based morality such as consequentialistic morality and so on. Evidence to this end is all-pervasive in this great book of knowledge.
1 If one commits a grave offense, his or her defective lineage is brought up for consideration by the authorities. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.78, we notice Romaharṣaṇa Sūta disrespecting Lord Balarāma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who then pointed out the inferiority of Romaharṣaṇa’s lineage, and then killed him.
After answering the king’s question, Sumantra informed him that the royalty was enraged with the king and so on. Daśaratha understood that this was to point out that he had committed a forbidden act. In this verse Daśaratha accepts this fact.
[Before asking for her two boons] Queen Kaikeyī had specifically bound the king by getting him to promise [that he would do whatever she wanted]:
pratijñāṁ pratijānīṣva yadi tvaṁ kartum icchasi
atha tad vyavahariṣyāmi yad abhiprārthitaṁ mayā
“If you so desire, promise me [that you will do what I want]. Then I will proceed [to disclose] what I long for.” (Rāmāyaṇa 2.11.3)
Pāpābhijana-bhāvayā also indicates that Kaikeyī’s sinful attitudes had come down to her from her lineage. In other words, her attitude was the same as the attitude of her mother, the wife of King Kekaya who didn’t bother whether her husband would live or die, as noted in text 2.35.23.1