Shloka 2.20.51
अयोध्याकाण्डे विंशः सर्गः — Rama Enters Kauśalyā’s Antaḥpura; Ritual Preparations and the Shock of Exile
स्थिरं हि नूनं हृदयं ममायसंन भिद्यते यद्भुवि नावदीर्यते।अनेन दुःखेन च देहमर्पितंध्रुवं ह्यकाले मरणं न विद्यते।।।।
sthiraṃ hi nūnaṃ hṛdayaṃ mamāyasaṃ na bhidyate yad bhuvi nāvadīryate | anena duḥkhena ca deham arpitaṃ dhruvaṃ hy akāle maraṇaṃ na vidyate ||
Surely my heart is firm—made of iron—for it neither shatters nor breaks upon the earth. And this body, surrendered to such grief, will not meet an untimely death; that is certain.
Surely my still (hard) heart is made of iron. It neither bursts nor breaks down on the ground. Pervaded by grief, there is no untimely death for this my body, too.
The verse frames endurance as a grim form of duty: one may be compelled to live and bear consequences, even when escape through death seems desired.
Kausalyā continues her lament, astonished that neither her heart nor her body collapses under grief, as she faces Rāma’s departure.
Stoic endurance (though unwanted)—the capacity to remain standing under unbearable emotional weight.