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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.66.34

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: Bharata asks where they are → on hearing of the exile, he anxiously asks whether Rāma committed some grave offense

2.66.34

tathā pṛṣṭā yathātattvam ākhyātum upacakrame
mātāsya yugapad vākyaṃ vipriyaṃ priyaśaṅkayā

Questioned thus, his mother began to tell him the truth all at once — an unwelcome speech, in the belief that it was welcome.

Words: tathā — thus; pṛṣṭā — questioned; yathātattvam — according to the truth; ākhyātum — to relate; upacakrame — began; mātāsya — his mother; yugapad — all at once; vākyaṃ — the speech; vipriyaṃ — unwelcome; priyaśaṅkayā — in the belief it was welcome

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.