“Illustrious monarch! great, indeed is your glory, which is extended to the three worlds. You are hailed as compassionate, generous and soft in speech. But, in the case of Rama and Sita, your action belies your glory. They are banished without any compassion. How can your sons along with Sita brought up in the comfort of the royal palace endure the misery of living in a forest? How will that young and lovely Sita, delicate in frame, bear heat and cold? How can she who enjoyed refined music withstand the harsh roar of lions that feed on flesh? How can Rama repose, pillowed upon his arm? When shall I see his lovely countenance decked with lovely locks, looking like a fully blossomed lotus? Alas! My heart does not break.
“Granted that Rama returns to Ayodhya in the fifteenth year from now on, it is not expected that Bharata will give up his kingship or exchequer. There is no guarantee that Bharata, on his own volition, will hand over the sovereignty to Rama as a mark of his brotherliness. Even granting that Bharata agrees to pass on the reins of sovereignty, how can Rama accept it, once it is enjoyed and left over by a younger brother?
“Illustrious brahmins, virtuous and learned will not like to enjoy the food left over in a shraddha. They deem it an offence and disrespect just like the mighty bulls feel when their graceful horns are cut. Cutting off the tip of the horn may also mean: just as the mighty bulls refuse to enjoy eating the tender grass already cut at the top and eaten by younger ones, so the virtuous seniors reject what has already been enjoyed and left out by the juniors. Likewise, O Monarch, how can Rama, the seniormost, both in terms of age and virtue accept the kingdom already enjoyed by Bharata, junior both in terms of age and virtue? He may take it as an insult. It is well-known that a mighty tiger will not like to eat the flesh brought and eaten by other low animals like fox. In the same way, Rama, a tiger among men, will not enjoy the kingdom, which is ruled and tasted already by his younger brother like ghee, purodasha (rice-cake left over after it is offered in fire), kusha grass, khadira wood, etc. Sacred texts enjoin that no sacrificial object left over is used in another sacrifice. Rama will not suffer such indignity any more than a mighty tiger would brook the twisting of its tail (Rama’s prowess is suggested)”.
The king brought to naught a son whose devotion to righteousness remains matchless.
Kausalya censures the king again: “When your Highness has exiled a son so much devoted to righteousness, the question arises, whether the path of virtue exhorted by the sages and followed by the twice-born (brahmins, kshatriyas and vaisyas), has any meaning at all to you. If you had any respect for it, you would not have exiled your son, Rama.”
Queen Kausalya blames the King 2.61.2-26
“Illustrious monarch! great, indeed is your glory, which is extended to the three worlds. You are hailed as compassionate, generous and soft in speech. But, in the case of Rama and Sita, your action belies your glory. They are banished without any compassion. How can your sons along with Sita brought up in the comfort of the royal palace endure the misery of living in a forest? How will that young and lovely Sita, delicate in frame, bear heat and cold? How can she who enjoyed refined music withstand the harsh roar of lions that feed on flesh? How can Rama repose, pillowed upon his arm? When shall I see his lovely countenance decked with lovely locks, looking like a fully blossomed lotus? Alas! My heart does not break.
“Granted that Rama returns to Ayodhya in the fifteenth year from now on, it is not expected that Bharata will give up his kingship or exchequer. There is no guarantee that Bharata, on his own volition, will hand over the sovereignty to Rama as a mark of his brotherliness. Even granting that Bharata agrees to pass on the reins of sovereignty, how can Rama accept it, once it is enjoyed and left over by a younger brother?
“Illustrious brahmins, virtuous and learned will not like to enjoy the food left over in a shraddha. They deem it an offence and disrespect just like the mighty bulls feel when their graceful horns are cut. Cutting off the tip of the horn may also mean: just as the mighty bulls refuse to enjoy eating the tender grass already cut at the top and eaten by younger ones, so the virtuous seniors reject what has already been enjoyed and left out by the juniors. Likewise, O Monarch, how can Rama, the seniormost, both in terms of age and virtue accept the kingdom already enjoyed by Bharata, junior both in terms of age and virtue? He may take it as an insult. It is well-known that a mighty tiger will not like to eat the flesh brought and eaten by other low animals like fox. In the same way, Rama, a tiger among men, will not enjoy the kingdom, which is ruled and tasted already by his younger brother like ghee, purodasha (rice-cake left over after it is offered in fire), kusha grass, khadira wood, etc. Sacred texts enjoin that no sacrificial object left over is used in another sacrifice. Rama will not suffer such indignity any more than a mighty tiger would brook the twisting of its tail (Rama’s prowess is suggested)”.
The king brought to naught a son whose devotion to righteousness remains matchless.
Kausalya censures the king again: “When your Highness has exiled a son so much devoted to righteousness, the question arises, whether the path of virtue exhorted by the sages and followed by the twice-born (brahmins, kshatriyas and vaisyas), has any meaning at all to you. If you had any respect for it, you would not have exiled your son, Rama.”