Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 97: Rāma Instructs Lakṣmaṇa
Text 2.97.3
पितुः सत्यं प्रतिश्रुत्य हत्वा भरतमागतम्।
किं करिष्यामि राज्येन सापवादेन लक्ष्मण॥
pituḥ satyaṁ pratiśrutya hatvā bharatam āgatam
kiṁ kariṣyāmi rājyena sāpavādena lakṣmaṇa
pituḥ = father’s [words come]; satyam = true; pratiśrutya = after promising [that I will make Our]; hatvā = and after killing; bharatam = Bharata; āgatam = who has come [to see Us]; kim kariṣyāmi = what will I do; rājyena = with a kingdom [acquired]; sa-apavādena = with [public] criticism; lakṣmaṇa = Lakṣmaṇa.
Lakṣmaṇa, after promising [that I will make Our] father’s [words come] true and after killing Bharata who has come [to see Us], what will I do with a kingdom [acquired] with [public] criticism?
The [public] criticism would be, “Rāma took the kingdom given to Bharata by Their father after killing Bharata.”
He presents another reason in the next verse.