Shloka 3.55.4
रावणस्य सीताप्रलोभनम् (Ravana’s Attempt to Allure Sita)
अश्रुपूर्णमुखीं दीनां शोकभाराभिपीडिताम्।वायुवेगैरिवाक्रान्तां मज्जन्तीं नावमर्णवे।।3.55.4।।मृगयूथपरिभ्रष्टां मृगीं श्वभिरिवावृताम्।अधोमुखमुखीं सीतामभ्येत्य च निशाचरः।।3.55.5।।तां तु शोकपरां दीनामवशां राक्षसाधिपः।स बलाद्दर्शयामास गृहं देवगृहोपमम्।।3.55.6।।
aśrupūrṇamukhīṃ dīnāṃ śokabhārābhipīḍitām |
vāyuvegair ivākrāntāṃ majjantīṃ nāvam arṇave || 3.55.4 ||
Sītā—her face flooded with tears, wretched and crushed beneath the weight of grief—seemed like a boat upon the sea, driven by fierce winds and sinking down.
The demon Ravana forcibly took Sita, her face full of tears, to show her his heaven-like home. Inflicted with grief she looked wretched. She resembled a female deer hounded out of the herd. With her head bent in grief, she looked pathetic like one not under her control, like a boat sinking under the sea driven by the wind.
The verse highlights the moral gravity of adharma: when righteousness is violated (Sītā’s abduction), the innocent suffer intensely. It implicitly condemns coercion and harm to the blameless.
After being seized by Rāvaṇa, Sītā is depicted in extreme distress as she is carried toward his domain.
Sītā’s inner purity and steadfastness are implied: her suffering is not due to wrongdoing but due to being wronged, underscoring her blamelessness.