Shloka 3.46.37
रावणस्य परिव्राजकवेषेण सीतासमीपगमनम् (Ravana Approaches Sita Disguised as a Mendicant)
ततः सुवेषं मृगयागतं पतिं प्रतीक्षमाणा सहलक्ष्मणं तदा।विवीक्षमाणा हरितं ददर्श तन्महद्वनं नैव तु रामलक्ष्णौ।।।।
tām apaśyat tato bālāṃ rāmapatnīṃ yaśasvinīm |
rohiṇīṃ śaśinā hīnāṃ grahavad bhṛśadāruṇaḥ ||
Then the exceedingly cruel one beheld her—young, illustrious, Rāma’s wife—like a baleful planet gazing upon Rohiṇī when the moon is absent.
Sita looked out for the beautiful figure of Rama who had gone to hunt the deer along with Lakshmana. Waiting eagerly for her husband, she only saw the vast stretch of green forest but not Rama and Lakshmana.ityārṣē śrīmadrāmāyaṇē vālmīkīya ādikāvyē araṇyakāṇḍē ṣaṭcatvāriṅśassargaḥ৷৷Thus ends the fortysixth sarga of Aranyakanda of the holy Ramayana the first epic composed by sage Valmiki.
Dharma condemns the predatory gaze and intent toward another’s spouse; the simile frames such desire as inauspicious and destructive.
Rāvaṇa, having found Sītā alone, fixes his attention on her, foreshadowing the wrongful act to come.
Sītā’s virtue is implied through “Rāma’s wife” and “illustrious”—her fidelity and honor stand in contrast to Rāvaṇa’s cruelty.