Shloka 3.57.24
मारीचवधोत्तरं रामस्य शङ्का-निमित्त-दर्शनं लक्ष्मण-निग्रहश्च (After Maricha’s Slaying: Omens, Anxiety, and Rama’s Rebuke of Lakshmana)
मनश्च मे दीनमिहाप्रहृष्टं चक्षुश्च सव्यं कुरुते विकारम्।असंशयं लक्ष्मण नास्ति सीता हृता मृता वा पथि वर्तते वा।।।।
manaś ca me dīnam ihāprahṛṣṭaṃ cakṣuś ca savyaṃ kurute vikāram |
asaṃśayaṃ lakṣmaṇa nāsti sītā hṛtā mṛtā vā pathi vartate vā ||
My heart is sunk in sorrow, and here my left eye throbs with a strange omen. O Lakṣmaṇa, without doubt Sītā is no longer here—she has been abducted, or she has died, or she lies somewhere along the way.
With my heart dejected and depressed, my left eye throbbing, O Lakshmana, I have no doubt that Sita is either abducted or dead or abandoned on the way.ইত্যার্ষে শ্রীমদ্রামাযণে বাল্মীকীয আদিকাব্যে অরণ্যকাণ্ডে সপ্তপঞ্চাশস্সর্গঃ৷৷Thus ends the fiftyseventh sarga of Aranyakanda of the holy Ramayana the first epic composed by sage Valmiki.
Dharma includes facing truth in adversity: acknowledging grim possibilities is part of responsible action, not surrender.
Rāma, overwhelmed by omens and Sītā’s absence, states his firm fear that she has been abducted or killed.
Truthfulness joined to urgency—Rāma does not soften reality, preparing for immediate search and rescue.