Shloka 3.60.5
सीतान्वेषणविलापः (Rama’s Lament and Search for Sita)
उद्भ्रमन्निव वेगेन विक्षिपन्रघुनन्दनः।तत्र तत्रोटजस्थानमभिवीक्षय समन्ततः।।3.60.4।।ददर्श पर्णशालां च रहितां सीतया तदा।श्रिया विरहितां ध्वस्तां हेमन्ते पद्मिनीमिव।।3.60.5।।
dadarśa parṇaśālāṃ ca rahitāṃ sītayā tadā |
śriyā virahitāṃ dhvastāṃ hemante padminīm iva || 3.60.5 ||
Then he saw the leaf-cottage, empty of Sītā—its splendor gone and its order shattered—like a lotus-pond in winter, bereft of the beauty of its lotuses.
Rama, the delight of the Raghu dynasty, hurtled in, turning round, throwing his hands to and fro, casting his looks all around the cottage where she used to move. The cottage, devoid of Sita looked like a lotuspond, the beauty of its lotuses destroyed by winter.
The verse highlights the dharmic ideal of fidelity and mutual belonging in marriage: the home’s ‘śrī’ (grace) is portrayed as inseparable from Sītā’s presence.
Rāma reaches the hut and realizes Sītā is missing; the scene itself looks devastated, confirming a crisis.
Constancy in love and truthfulness of feeling—Rāma’s perception shows how deeply he values Sītā as the heart of their shared life.