यस्याः कृते नरव्याघ्रौ जीवनाशमितो गतौ।
राजा पुत्रविहीनश्च स्वर्गं दशरथो गतः॥
क्रोधनामकृतप्रज्ञां दृप्तां सुभगमानिनीम्।
ऐश्वर्यकामां कैकेयीमनार्यामार्यरूपिणीम्॥
ममैतां मातरं विद्धि नृशंसां पापनिश्चयाम्।
यतोमूलं हि पश्यामि व्यसनं महदात्मनः।।
yasyāḥ kṛte nara-vyāghrau jīva-nāśam ito gatau
rājā putra-vihīnaś ca svargaṁ daśaratho gataḥ
krodhanām akṛta-prajñāṁ dṛptāṁ subhaga-māninīm
aiśvarya-kāmāṁ kaikeyīm anāryām ārya-rūpiṇīm
mamaitāṁ mātaraṁ viddhi nṛśaṁsāṁ pāpa-niścayām
yato-mūlaṁ hi paśyāmi vyasanaṁ mahad ātmanaḥ
yasyāḥ kṛte = because of her; nara-vyāghrau = two princes; jīva-nāśam = for the destruction of Their lives; itaḥ gatau = have departed to the forest; rājā = King; putra-vihīnaḥ = when deprived his; ca = and; svargam = Svarga; daśarathaḥ = King Daśaratha; gataḥ = has departed to; krodhanām = she is angry; akṛta-prajñām = of undeveloped intelligence; dṛptām = and proud; subhaga-māninīm = she considers herself beautiful; aiśvarya-kāmām = and is ambitious for opulence; kaikeyīm = Kaikeyī; anāryām = but is actually uncivilized; ārya-rūpiṇīm = she appears noble; mama = to be My; etām = this lady; mātaram = mother; viddhi = please know; nṛśaṁsām = cruel; pāpa-niścayām = and intent on sinful activity; yataḥ-mūlam hi = she is the root cause; paśyāmi = I understand that; vyasanam = crisis; mahat = of the great; ātmanaḥ = that has come upon Me.
Please know this lady to be My mother Kaikeyī. Because of her, two princes have departed to the forest for the destruction of Their lives and King Daśaratha has departed to Svarga when deprived of his sons. She is angry, of undeveloped intelligence and proud. She considers herself beautiful and is ambitious for opulence. She appears noble but is actually uncivilized, cruel and intent on sinful activity. I understand that she is the root cause of the great crisis that has come upon Me.1
1 One of the commentators has consistently depicted Queen Kaikeyī as being innocent and placed the entire blame on Mantharā alone by cleverly translating kaikeyī (or its equivalent) in several verses as Mantharā. But this is unjustifiable because right from Bharata’s criticism of His mother Kaikeyī to the messengers who came from Ayodhyā (text 2.70.10) up to now, Queen Kaikeyī is repeatedly revealed by her own son to be anything other than an innocent woman used by a clever and evil Mantharā. Even though Mantharā was presented to Bharata and Śatrughna as the original cause of the entire disaster (2.78.9), Bharata who certainly knows His mother very well consistently points out that it was His mother who irresponsibly shattered the happiness of Ayodhyā. In fact, this can teach us an important lesson: affectionate friendship with people not grounded in Vedic dharma will lead to extreme difficulties, even if such people have helped us in the past.
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhāva-dīpa: jīvane ’pi nāśaḥ jīva-nāśaḥ, adarśanam iti yāvat. taṁ gatau.
Bharata asserted that because of Queen Kaikeyī the two princes Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa had departed to the forest for the destruction of Their lives because They were exiled to the forest of Daṇḍaka that was abundantly populated by rākṣasas. She was of undeveloped intelligence, that is, she didn’t discipline her intelligence.
GLOSS. Jīva-nāśaṁ gatau indicates that Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa become invisible [to Bharata], though alive.1