Shloka 12
सीताविलापः
Sita’s Lament and Resolve under Threat
अनन्य दैवत्वमियं क्षमा चभूमौ च शय्या नियमश्च धर्मे।पतिव्रतात्वं विफलं ममेदंकृतं कृतघ्नेष्विव मानुषाणाम्।।5.28.12।।
ananya-daivatvam iyaṁ kṣamā ca
bhūmau ca śayyā niyamaś ca dharme |
pativratātvaṁ viphalaṁ mamedaṁ
kṛtaṁ kṛtaghneṣv iva mānuṣāṇām || 5.28.12 ||
Meine hingebungsvolle Verehrung, dich allein als Gottheit zu haben, meine Geduld, mein Lager auf der Erde und meine Zucht im Dharma — diese meine eheliche Keuschheit hat sich als fruchtlos erwiesen, wie eine gute Tat, die man Undankbaren erweist.
"I am devoted to you and to no other god. My hardship in sleeping on the ground, my righteousness, my discipline and chastity have all proved futile like the devotion of an ungrateful person.
FAQs
The verse spotlights pativratā-dharma and disciplined living, while also expressing the anguish that arises when righteous conduct seems unrewarded—raising the Ramayana’s recurring question of how dharma is tested before it is vindicated.
Sītā laments that her austerity, patience, and exclusive devotion appear to have yielded no protection, as she faces mortal danger in Laṅkā.
Sītā’s chastity, restraint, and endurance—virtues held as exemplary in the epic, even when they become the very ground of her suffering and trial.