सीतानिमित्तं सौमित्रे मृते मयि गते त्वयि।
कच्चित्सकामा सुखिता कैकेयी सा भविष्यति॥
sītā-nimittaṁ saumitre mṛte mayi gate tvayi
kaccit sakāmā sukhitā kaikeyī sā bhaviṣyati
sītā-nimittam = because of Sītā; saumitre = Saumitri; mṛte = die; mayi = when I; gate = go to Ayodhyā; tvayi = and You; kaccit = will; sakāmā = satisfied; sukhitā = and happy; kaikeyī sā = Queen Kaikeyī; bhaviṣyati = become.
Saumitri, when I die because of Sītā and You go to Ayodhyā, will Queen Kaikeyī become satisfied and happy?1
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: tvayi gate ayodhyām iti śeṣaḥ. Some academic scholars have whimsically objected to this remark of the commentator (which implies that Rāma thought that Kaikeyī is bound to be happy after He dies and after Lakṣmaṇa goes to Ayodhyā). These critics have objected to its appropriateness by referring to Mantharā’s remark in Rāmāyaṇa 2.8.31 that Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa will always be together, protecting each other. But the critics have forgotten that Rāma is talking about a theoretical situation wherein He is not together with Lakṣmaṇa—then where is the question of both of Them protecting each other? He had anyway wanted to send Lakṣmaṇa back (see Rāmāyaṇa 2.53) and He sent Sumantra back even though the latter didn’t want to go back, just to convince Kaikeyī that Rāma has ensured that her son Bharata had the throne (see Rāmāyaṇa 2.52). So why wouldn’t He send Lakṣmaṇa back to Ayodhyā to convince her that Bharata would get the throne and keep it, which is what would make Kaikeyī happy?
“[When I die] because of Sītā” means “[When I die] because of Sītā’s destruction.”
“Will Queen Kaikeyī become satisfied and happy?” [indicates that] Lord Rāma always considered in His heart that Queen Kaikeyī had sent Him to the forest so that He would be destroyed. But He explicitly reveals that thought now because supta-pramatta-kupitānāṁ bhāva-jñānaṁ dṛṣṭam, “One’s inner thoughts are revealed while [one is] asleep, intoxicated or angry.”