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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.66.14
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 66: Kaikeyī’s disclosure. Bharata learns that Daśaratha died calling for the exiles, Kaikeyī admits arranging Rāma’s banishment and urges him to claim the throne
In the sequence: he asks where his father is and why the palace seems so joyless → Kaikeyī tells him that Daśaratha has died
2.66.14
taṃ pratyuvāca kaikeyī priyavad ghoram apriyam
ajānantaṃ prajānantī rājyalobhena mohitā
yā gatiḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ tāṃ gatiṃ te pitā gataḥ
To him Kaikeyī, deluded by greed for the kingdom — she knowing, he unknowing — spoke as if kindly a dreadful, unwelcome thing: “The path that is the destiny of all beings, by that path has your father gone.”
Words: taṃ — to him; pratyuvāca — replied; kaikeyī — Kaikeyī; priyavad — as if kindly; ghoram — dreadful; apriyam — unwelcome; ajānantaṃ — him unknowing; prajānantī — she knowing well; rājyalobhena — by greed for the kingdom; mohitā — deluded; yā — which; gatiḥ — the destiny, path; sarvabhūtānāṃ — of all beings; tāṃ — that; gatiṃ — path; te — your; pitā — father; gataḥ — has gone
Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.