Ramayana — Sundara Kanda, Sarga 19, Shloka 9
सीताव्यथा
वर्णनम् / Sītā’s Distress and Rāvaṇa’s Attempt at Coercive Allurement
वेष्टमानां तथाऽविष्टां पन्नगेन्द्रवधूमिव।धूप्यमानां ग्रहेणेव रोहिणीं धूमकेतुना।।।।
veṣṭamānāṃ tathā''viṣṭāṃ pannagendravadhūm iva |
dhūpyamānāṃ graheṇeva rohiṇīṃ dhūmaketunā ||
جالسةً على تلك الحال، ملتفّةً ومأسورةً بحزنها، بدت كزوجةِ ملكِ الحيّات ملتفّةً على نفسها؛ وكروهِني كأن كوكباً نحساً، مذنّباً، قد غشّاها فأضرم عليها دخاناً وكدراً.
Sitting in that manner she resembled a coiled serpent queen, the star Rohini overshadowed by a smoking comet (that is Ravana).
FAQs
The verse highlights how adharma (coercion and unlawful possession) darkens and diminishes what is pure; Sītā’s steadfastness implies dharma as inner integrity even when externally oppressed.
Hanumān, hidden in Laṅkā, looks upon Sītā in Aśoka-vana and sees her overwhelmed by grief and confinement, expressed through ominous celestial similes.
Sītā’s satya and śīla (truthfulness and moral purity): though ‘overshadowed,’ she remains the same luminous person, not consenting inwardly to wrongdoing.