Shloka 17
सीताव्यथा
वर्णनम् / Sītā’s Distress and Rāvaṇa’s Attempt at Coercive Allurement
पतिशोकातुरां शुष्कां नदीं विस्रावितामिव।परया मृजया हीनां कृष्णपक्षनिशामिव।।।।
patiśokāturāṃ śuṣkāṃ nadīṃ visrāvitām iva |
parayā mṛjayā hīnāṃ kṛṣṇapakṣaniśām iva ||
Vom Kummer um ihren Gemahl gequält, wirkte sie ausgedörrt, wie ein Fluss, dessen Lauf dünn geworden und vertrocknet ist, nicht mehr tauglich zur vollen rituellen Waschung; wie eine Nacht der dunklen Monatshälfte, ihres Glanzes beraubt.
A delicate lady with beautiful limbs who deserved to be in a gem-crusted house was (now) like a lotus stem just plucked out and scorched by the Sun's heat.
FAQs
Dharma includes steadfast loyalty and truth in relationships; separation inflicted by adharma causes profound suffering. The verse frames grief as a drying of life’s ‘flow’—a moral indictment of coercion.
Sītā’s sorrow from separation is foregrounded, showing how captivity erodes vitality and outward auspiciousness.
Constancy: her pain arises from unwavering devotion to Rāma and commitment to satya, not from wavering or compromise.