Shloka 3.61.9
सीतान्वेषणारम्भः — The Search for Sita Begins
विवशं शोकसन्तप्तं दीनं भग्नमनोरथम्।।।।मामिहोत्सृज्य करुणं कीर्तिर्नरमिवानृजुम्।क्व गच्छसि वरारोहे मां नोत्सृज सुमध्यमे।।।।त्वया विरहितश्चाहं मोक्ष्ये जीवितमात्मनः।
vivaśaṃ śokasantaptaṃ dīnaṃ bhagnamanoratham | mām ihotsṛjya karuṇaṃ kīrtir naram ivānṛjum | kva gacchasi varārohe māṃ notsṛja sumadhyame | tvayā virahitaś cāhaṃ mokṣye jīvitam ātmanaḥ ||
Helpless, scorched by sorrow, wretched and with hopes shattered—have you left me here pitiable, as fame abandons a crooked man? Where have you gone, O fair-limbed one? O slender-waisted lady, do not leave me; separated from you, I shall give up my life.
O lovely lady! where have you gone, leaving me here like fame deserting a crook? I am helpless grief-stricken, pitiable, pathetic and disappointed. O lady of slender waist, leave me not. Separated from you, I will give up my life.
Dharma is framed through relational fidelity: abandonment of the righteous is as unthinkable as fame abandoning integrity; the verse uses this moral metaphor to show how deeply Rāma associates right order with Sītā’s presence.
Rāma, unable to find Sītā, speaks as if to her directly, pleading that she not ‘abandon’ him.
Rāma’s unwavering commitment to Sītā and his moral imagination—he interprets separation as a rupture in the rightful order of life.