Shloka 39

सीताविलापः

Sita’s Lament and Prophecy of Lanka’s Ruin

Devanagari script

नाजानाज्जीवतीं रामस्स मां लक्ष्मणपूर्वजः।।।।जानन्तौ तौ न कुर्यातां नोर्य्वां हि मम मार्गणम्।

Transliteration

nājānāj jīvatīṃ rāmas sa māṃ lakṣmaṇapūrvajaḥ |

jānantau tau na kuryātāṃ norvyāṃ hi mama mārgaṇam ||

Translation

Rāma, der ältere Bruder Lakṣmaṇas, weiß nicht, dass ich hier am Leben bin. Wüssten es die beiden, würden sie die Suche nach mir über die ganze Erde nicht unterlassen.

Word by Word

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध

• ajānāt: knew/was aware
• ajānāt: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jñā (धातु)
• Form: लङ्-लकार (Imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद; with negation ‘did not know’

• jīvatīm: living/alive
• jīvatīm: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jīvat (प्रातिपदिक; present participle stem from √jīv)
• Form: वर्तमानकालिक कृदन्त (present participle/शतृ), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; qualifies mām

• rāmaḥ: Rama
• rāmaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• saḥ: he/that (one)
• saḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; demonstrative pronoun

• mām: me
• mām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन

• lakṣmaṇa-pūrvajaḥ: Lakshmana's elder brother
• lakṣmaṇa-pūrvajaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lakṣmaṇa + pūrvaja (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (lakṣmaṇasya pūrvajaḥ = elder brother of Lakṣmaṇa), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• jānantau: (if) knowing
• jānantau: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jñā (धातु) + śatṛ (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: वर्तमानकालिक कृदन्त (present participle/शतृ), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; ‘knowing’

• tau: those two
• tau: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; pronoun

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध

• kuryātām: would do/undertake
• kuryātām: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, द्विवचन; परस्मैपद; ‘would do/undertake’

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध (in norvyām sandhi)

• urvyām: on the earth
• urvyām: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: urvī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन

• hi: indeed/for
• hi: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; emphatic particle (निपात)

• mama: my/of me
• mama: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), एकवचन

• mārgaṇam: search
• mārgaṇam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mārgaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन

Context

"Neither Lakshmana nor his elder brother knows that I am here alive. (Had they known) both of them would have ransacked this earth.

Characters & Entities

• Sītā
• Rāma
• Lakṣmaṇa
• Earth (urvī)

FAQs

What is the core ethical principle (Dharma) in this verse?

Dharma as responsibility: the righteous do not abandon their duty to protect family and uphold justice; knowledge of suffering compels action.

What is the narrative situation?

Sītā assumes Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa have not found her location; she reasons that if they knew, they would search the whole world.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa’s perseverance and fraternal solidarity in dharmic duty, as imagined by Sītā.