Shloka 3.59.2
अरण्यकाण्डे एकोनषष्टितमः सर्गः — Maricha’s Mimic Cry and the Rama–Lakshmana–Sita Confrontation
तमुवाच किमर्थं त्वमागतोऽपास्य मैथिलीम्।यदा सा तव विश्वासाद्वने विरहिता मया।।।।
tam uvāca kimarthaṃ tvam āgato 'pāsya maithilīm | yadā sā tava viśvāsād vane virahitā mayā ||
She said to him: “Why have you come here, leaving Maithilī behind, when I left her alone in the forest, trusting in you?”
Why did you come, leaving the princess from Mithila alone in the forest when I had left her under your trust ?
It frames dharma as entrusted responsibility: when protection is assigned in trust, abandoning that duty appears (to the speaker) as a moral breach.
Sītā challenges Lakṣmaṇa for leaving her alone, interpreting his departure as neglect of the protective charge.
The virtue of guardianship and accountability—being faithful to a trust placed by elders or superiors.