Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 16: Lakṣmaṇa’s Description of Winter
Text 3.16.37
न तेऽम्बा मध्यमा तात गर्हितव्या कथंचन।
तामेवेक्ष्वाकुनाथस्य भरतस्य कथां कुरु॥
na te ’mbā madhyamā tāta garhitavyā kathañcana
tām evekṣvāku-nāthasya bharatasya kathāṁ kuru
na = not; te = You; ambā = mother; madhyamā = Our middle; tāta = dear Lakṣmaṇa; garhitavyā = should condemn; kathañcana = in any manner; tām1 eva = just; ikṣvāku-nāthasya = the Lord of the Ikṣvākus; bharatasya = about Bharata; kathām kuru = talk.
Dear Lakṣmaṇa, You should not condemn Our middle mother in any manner. Just talk about Bharata, the Lord of the Ikṣvākus.
[Kaikeyī-devī] was the middle [mother] while taking into consideration all of Daśaratha’s wives. Kathañcana (“in any manner”) indicates that Lakṣmaṇa should not criticize her even incidentally. Ambā madhyamā indicates that Rāma considered her His middle mother.1