Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 29

Meaning

Distressed to hear this plea of Śrī Rāma, Sītā, for her part, who was deeply attached to the latter, gently spoke as follows, her face wet with tears : (1)

Meaning

“The disadvantages that have been enumerated by you as accruing from an abode in the forest, know them to be so many blessings in disguise in view of the fact that I am foremost in your affections. (2)

Meaning

“Antelopes, lions and even so elephants, tigers and Śarabhas (a legendary animal with eight legs and said to be more powerful even than the lion), yaks as well as Gayals and many other beasts that roam about in the forest are all sure to run away on seeing your countenance since they have never seen your face before and because all are afraid of you. (3-4)

Meaning

“In pursuance of the orders of your parents, I too must accompany you to the forest inasmuch as I am your counterpart* and cannot live apart from you. Nay, life in this world must be cast away by me in the event of separation from you, O Rāma ! (5)

Meaning

“In fact, not even Indra, the ruler of gods, is capable of overpowering me by his might so long as I am by your side. (6)

Meaning

“Such a thing has been amply brought home to me by you, O Rāma, that a devoted wife who stands disunited from her husband would not be able to survive. (7)

Meaning

“Moreover, in the days gone by while living at my father’s, O highly enlightened prince, the prophecy—which must come out true—was heard by me from the mouth of Brāhmaṇas well-versed in astrology that I must dwell in the forest. (8)

Meaning

“Having heard the prophecy at my parents’ home from Brāhmaṇas, able to interpret marks on the body, I have ever cherished a longing for forest life, O highly powerful prince ! (9)

Meaning

“The truth of that prediction about forest life must be realized by me. I must accordingly accompany you, my Lord, O darling; it cannot be otherwise. (10)

Meaning

“I am sure I shall be permitted by you to follow you and shall eventually accompany you. Nay, the time for the fulfilment of the prophecy has now arrived. Let the utterance of the Brāhmaṇas prove true. (11)

Meaning

“I certainly know there are sufferings of various kinds in the forest. They are, however, invariably experienced by men of unsubdued mind alone, O heroic prince ! (12)

Meaning

“While I was still unmarried, the prediction about my dwelling in the forest was heard by me in my father’s house from the mouth of a hermitess, spending her life in quietism, in the presence of my mother. Here too, my lord, you have been actually asked on many an occasion in the past the favour of taking me to the forest and spending some time there. Indeed a journey with a view to spending some time in the forest with you is longed for by me. (13-14)

Meaning

“I am feeling jubilant over the prospect of my departure for the forest. May all be well with you, O scion of Raghu ! Service to you,a heroic prince, dwelling in the forest is surely delightful to me. (15)

Meaning

“Following my husband to the forest with loving devotion I shall surely be absolved from all guilt, O pure-minded prince; for the husband is the supreme deity for a wife. (16)

Meaning

“On my remaining united with you even in the forest, my union with you will continue forever and will be a source of blessedness to us both even hereafter. On this subject, O highly powerful prince, is heard from the lips of celebrated Brāhmaṇas the following holy Śruti text : ‘Even in the other world a woman continues to be the wife of that very man to whom she was given away in this world by her parents with water in their hands to solemnize the gift according to the moral code binding on them.’ (17-18)

Meaning

“Such being the case, for what reason on earth do you not agree to take me, your own wife, actually so devoted to her husband and of such good character, from this city? (19)

Meaning

“You ought, therefore, to take me, so devoted and faithful to my husband (yourself), miserable for fear of separation, alike to pleasure and pain and sharing your joys and sorrows, O scion of Kākutstha ! (20)

Meaning

“If you do not feel inclined at all to take me, afflicted as I am as shown above, to the forest, I shall resort to poison, fire or water to hasten my end.” (21)

Meaning

In this way Sītā entreated him in many ways to let her accompany him. Nevertheless Śrī Rāma, the mighty-armed prince, did not consent to take her to the forest, which was destitute of friends. (22)

Meaning

Discouraged thus, the celebrated Sītā, the princess of Mithilā, for her part, fell a prey to anxiety, moistening the earth as it were with burning tears dropped from her eyes. (23)

Meaning

In order, however, to divert her from her resolve, the self-possessed Śrī Rāma, a scion of Kakutstha, for his part then pacified in many ways the said princess of the Videha kingdom, who was overwhelmed with indignation roused by love and fell abrooding. (24)