Shloka 3.11.25
पञ्चाप्सरो-सरः कथनम् तथा अगस्त्याश्रममार्गनिर्देशः (Panchapsara Lake Account and Directions to Agastya)
क्वचित्परिदशान्मासानेकं संवत्सरं क्वचित्।।।।क्वचिच्छ चतुरो मासान् पञ्च षट्चापरान्क्वचित्।अपरत्राधिकं मासादप्यर्धमधिकं क्वचित्।।।।त्रीन्मासानष्टमासांश्च राघवो न्यवसत्सुखम्।
kvacit paridaśān māsān ekaṃ saṃvatsaraṃ kvacit |
kvacit ca caturo māsān pañca ṣaṭ cāparān kvacit |
aparatrādhikaṃ māsād apy ardham adhikaṃ kvacit |
trīn māsān aṣṭamāsāṃś ca rāghavo nyavasat sukham ||
In some places Rāma stayed about ten months; in others, a full year. Somewhere he stayed four months, elsewhere five or six; in another place more than a month, and in another even more by half a month—thus also for three months or for eight months—Rāghava dwelt at ease.
Rama lived happily here for about ten months, there one year, here four or five or six months and there over one or half a month or three or eight months in another.
Steadfastness in chosen duty: Rama adapts to circumstances without abandoning the discipline of exile, living simply across many sacred dwellings.
The text summarizes the varying lengths of Rama’s stays across different hermitages during the forest period.
Kṣānti and niyama (endurance and regulated living): he remains composed through changing residences and durations.