HomeRamayanaAyodhya KandaSarga 118Shloka 2.118.51
Previous Verse
Next Verse

Shloka 2.118.51

अनसूयोपदेशः तथा सीताया स्वयंवरकथा (Anasuya’s Counsel and Sita’s Swayamvara Narrative)

दीयमानां न तु तदा प्रतिजग्राह राघवः।अविज्ञाय पितुश्छन्दमयोध्याऽधिपतेः प्रभोः।।2.118.51।।

āgacchantyāś ca vijanaṁ vanam evaṁ bhayāvaham | samāhitaṁ me śvaśrvā ca hṛdaye tad dhṛtaṁ mahat || 2.118.7 ||

As I set out for this desolate and fearsome forest, the great counsel imparted to me by my mother-in-law was placed within me, and I have held it firmly in my heart.

Then Rama did not accept the offer of my father straightaway before he knew the opinion of his father Dasaratha, king of Ayodhya.

S
Sītā
M
mother-in-law (Kaushalyā implied)
F
forest (vana)

Dharma is sustained by śikṣā (wise counsel) and inner steadiness: one carries righteous instruction into hardship and lives by it.

Sītā recalls the advice she received from her mother-in-law at the time of departing for forest-exile.

Steadfastness and receptivity to guidance—Sītā’s commitment to remember and embody the elders’ counsel in adversity.