Shloka 3.60.34
सीतान्वेषणविलापः (Rama’s Lament and Search for Sita)
मया विरहिता बाला रक्षसां भक्षणाय वै।सार्धेनेव परित्यक्ता भक्षिता बहुबान्धवा।।3.60.34।।
mayā virahitā bālā rakṣasāṃ bhakṣaṇāya vai | sārdheneva parityaktā bhakṣitā bahubāndhavā || 3.60.34 ||
Separated from him, the young woman—though she has many kinsmen—he imagines has been seized for a rākṣasa’s meal and then cast aside as if half-eaten.
The young lady having many relations, forsaken by me, has been (perhaps) picked up by a demon for food and later abandoned half-eaten.
Dharma is framed as guardianship beyond social support: even if one has relatives, immediate protectors must not fail; Rāma’s lament shows the ethical weight he places on his own role.
Rāma continues to imagine Sītā’s fate in gruesome terms, intensifying his urgency to search.
Sense of duty and accountability—he interprets tragedy as a failure of protection rather than mere misfortune.