Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 66: Daśaratha’s Ministers Preserve his Body
Text 2.66.6
न लुब्धो बुध्यते दोषान्किंपाकमिव भक्षयन्।
कुब्जानिमित्तं कैकेय्या राघवाणां कुलं हतम्॥
na lubdho budhyate doṣān kimpākam iva bhakṣayan
kubjā-nimittaṁ kaikeyyā rāghavāṇāṁ kulaṁ hatam
na = does not; lubdhaḥ = a greedy person; budhyate = understand; doṣān = the dangers [in doing so]; kimpākam = adulterated food; iva = as; bhakṣayan = consuming; kubjā-nimittam kaikeyyāḥ = because of Kaikeyī’s hunchback; rāghavāṇām = of the descendants of Raghu; kulam = the dynasty; hatam = has been destroyed.
As a greedy person consuming adulterated food does not understand the dangers [in doing so], the dynasty of the descendants of Raghu has been destroyed because of Kaikeyī’s hunchback.
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhāva-dīpa: “kiṁpāko mahākāla-palāśayoḥ” iti medinī.
“Adulterated food” here refers to “food mixed with poison.” Some say that kimpākam indicates [that the example in this verse refers to a greedy person eating] a certain poisonous fruit called kākamarda.
GLOSS. Some explain this verse thus: A person who has been cheated eats dhattūra or a similar fruit, he does not understand [the dangers in doing so], the king did not understand the dangers [caused by granting Kaikeyī her two boons]. Kimpākam can also indicate that [a person eating the leaves of] a palāśa [tree does not understand the dangers in doing so].1 Physicians state that consuming it will immediately give rise to stomach pain.