Aranya Kanda, Sarga 52

Meaning

Sore distressed to perceive the aforesaid king of vultures mortally wounded by Rāvaṇa, Sītā, whose countenance resembled the full moon (the king of stars), for her part wailed as follows addressing Śrī Rāma : (1)

Meaning

“Omens, dreams and the sight of the movement of birds and deer etc., to one’s left or right and the hearing of their cries are invariably found to foreshadow joy or sorrow in the case of human beings. (2)

Meaning

“Surely, O Rāma, you do not perceive the great calamity in the shape of my abduction which has befallen you, although deer and birds are moving in a direction foreboding evil in order to indicate my abduction, O scion of Kakutstha ! (3)

Meaning

“Here lies on the ground, mortally wounded due to my misfortune, the bird, Jaṭāyu, who actually arrived here to rescue me out of compassion, O Rāma ! (4)

Meaning

“Deliver me today, O Rāma, a scion of Kakutstha, and Lakṣmaṇa !” So did Sītā (a lovely lady), who was greatly alarmed, cry bitterly at such a pitch that those listening at close quarters at least might hear her. (5)

Meaning

Rāvaṇa, the suzerain lord of ogres, darted towards the aforesaid Sītā (a princess of the Videha territory), whose garland and ornaments had been squeezed and who was wailing like a woman without her lord. (6)

Meaning

Rāvaṇa (the suzerain lord of ogres) approached the aforesaid Sītā—who was embracing huge trees like a climber entwining them—saying again and again, “Save, Save me, O trees ! (7)

Meaning

For his destruction the ogre (who resembled Death) seized by the hair Sītā, who was crying “Rāma, O Rāma !” bereft as she was of Śrī Rāma in the forest. (8)

Meaning

When Sītā, a princess of the Videha territory, was assaulted in this way, the whole world including the animate and inanimate creation went out of order and was enveloped in thick darkness. (9)

Meaning

The wind did not blow at that moment and the sun grew lustreless. Perceiving by his divine eye Sītā, laid violent hands on by Rāvaṇa, the glorious Lord Brahmā (the grandfather of the entire creation) exclaimed: “Our purpose is accomplished!” Seeing Sītā seized by Rāvaṇa, all the great sages dwelling in the Daṇḍaka forest and mentioned before, felt agonized. They were also highly rejoiced to foresee the destruction of Rāvaṇa brought about as a matter of course. (10—12)

Meaning

Nay, laying hold of Sītā, who was crying “Rāma, O Rāma, O Lakṣmaṇa !” Rāvaṇa, the ruler of ogres, rose to the skies. (13)

Meaning

With her limbs possessing the hue of her ornaments of molten gold and clad in yellow silk, the princess for her part shone like lightning athwart a cloud. (14)

Meaning

Because of her yellow garment being shaken violently by the wind, Rāvaṇa shone all the more brightly like a mountain illumined by a fire. (15)

Meaning

The coppery and fragrant petals of lotuses dropping from the person of the aforesaid supremely blessed Sītā, a princess of the Videha territory, covered Rāvaṇa. (16)

Meaning

Nay, shaken violently in the air, her silken garment possessing a golden hue, shone like a cloud rendered coppery by the sun’s rays at dusk. (17)

Meaning

Lying in the lap of Rāvaṇa in the air, that fair countenance of Sītā did not shine, bereft as it was of Śrī Rāma, any more than a lotus detached from its stalk. (18)

Meaning

Marked with a fair brow, lovely locks and charming eyes and resembling the interior of a lotus in hue, nay, devoid of scars and adorned with white, entirely spotless and brilliant teeth, her countenance placed in the lap of Rāvaṇa in the air resembled the moon emerged after splitting a cloud. (19-20)

Meaning

Shaken with fear of Rāvaṇa (the ruler of ogres), that lovely face of Sītā—which had just burst into tears, although her tears had been wiped off, nay which was pleasing like the moon to look upon, was marked with a shapely nose and beautiful coppery lips and possessed a golden hue—did not look charming in the heavens in the absence of Śrī Rāma any more than the moon risen during the day. (21-22)

Meaning

Confined in the lap of the dark-bodied Rāvaṇa (the suzerain lord of ogres), the said princess of Mithilā, who possessed a golden hue, shone brightly like a girth of gold round a dark-blue elephant. (23)

Meaning

Nearing Rāvaṇa’s back, the said daughter of Janaka—who possessed a yellowish hue, resembling the filaments of a lotus, and was bright as gold, nay, who was adorned with jewels of refined gold—shone like lightning flashing athwart a cloud. (24)

Meaning

Due to the jingling of ornaments of the aforesaid Sītā (a princess of the Videha territory) the king of ogres appeared like a clear dark-blue rumbling rain-cloud. (25)

Meaning

While Sītā was being borne away, a shower of flowers dropped from her head, rained on all sides on the earth’s surface. (26)

Meaning

Raised on all sides by the tempest released by the vehemence of Rāvaṇa, however, the rain of blossoms covered the ten-headed monster once more. (27)

Meaning

That shower of flowers descended on Rāvaṇa (a younger half-brother of Kubera) as does the immaculate belt of the lunar mansions descend on Mount Meru, the foremost of mountains. (28)

Meaning

A bejewelled anklet of gold, loosed from a foot of Sītā (a princess of the Videha territory) and resembling a circular flash of lightning, dropped on the earth’s surface.(29)

Meaning

Ruddy like the shoots of certain trees, the aforesaid princess of the Videha kingdom adorned the dark-limbed king of ogres as a girth of gold would adorn an elephant. (30)

Meaning

Betaking himself to the heavens, the younger brother of Kubera, Rāvaṇa (son of Sage Viśravā), bore away the celebrated Sītā, who was blazing with her own effulgence as a big meteor in the heavens. (31)

Meaning

The aforesaid jewels of Sītā, shining like fire, dropped on the earth’s surface with a jingling sound like worn-away meteors falling from the firmament. (32)

Meaning

Dissociated from the heart of the aforesaid princess of the Videha territory and dropping down, the necklace of pearls, which shone like the moon (the suzerain lord of stars) looked like the Gaṅgā descending from the heavens. (33)

Meaning

Violently shaken by a portentous blast (released by the flight of Rāvaṇa) and inhabited by birds of every description, the trees with their topmost branches set into motion said (to Sītā) as it were : “Don’t be afraid !” (34)

Meaning

With their faded lotuses and frightened fishes and other aquatic creatures, the lotus-ponds, as it were, felt sorry for the princess of Mithilā as for a dispirited friend. (35)

Meaning

Collecting from all sides, lions, tigers, as well as other beasts and birds angrily rushed behind on that occasion following the shadow of Sītā. (36)

Meaning

While Sītā was being carried away by Rāvaṇa, mountains with their faces bathed in tears in the form of cataracts and with their arms uplifted in the form of peaks, screamed, as it were. (37)

Meaning

Seeing Sītā, a princess of the Videha territory, being borne away by Rāvaṇa, the glorious sun itself felt wretched with its splendour totally eclipsed and its orb rendered pale. (38)

Meaning

“Righteousness is extinct, how then could truth prevail? Guilelessness is no more, nor is there kindness, now that Rāvaṇa is carrying away Sītā, a princess of the Videha kingdom, and the consort of Śrī Rāma !” (39)

Meaning

So did all living beings lament in multitudes. Even fawns shed tears with dejected looks, greatly alarmed. (40)

Meaning

Seeing Sītā fallen in great distress as aforesaid and uttering a loud cry, and looking at her again and again with eyes shorn of their lustre, the deities presiding over the forest found their limbs seized with a violent tremor through fear of Rāvaṇa. To his own destruction Rāvaṇa (the ten-headed monster), however, carried away the aforesaid princess of the Videha territory, that strong-minded lady, who was crying in sweet accents : “Lakṣmaṇa, O Rāma !!” and repeatedly looking towards the earth’s surface, whose hair had got dishevelled and whose auspicious mark on the forehead had effaced. (41—43)

Meaning

Bereft of her own kin and failing to perceive both Śrī Rāma (a scion of Raghu) and Lakṣmaṇa, the aforesaid princess of Mithilā for her part, who had beautiful teeth and was distinguished by a bright smile, was oppressed by the weight of fear and her face grew pale. (44)