Shloka 2.61.4
कौसल्याविलापः — Kausalya’s Lament and Ethical Analogies on Kingship
सा नूनं तरुणी श्यामा सुकुमारी सुखोचिता।कथमुष्णं च शीतं च मैथिली प्रसहिष्यते।।2.61.4।।
sā nūnaṃ taruṇī śyāmā sukumārī sukhocitā | katham uṣṇaṃ ca śītaṃ ca maithilī prasahiṣyate || 2.61.4 ||
She is surely young, dark-hued, tender, and accustomed to comfort—how will Maithilī endure both heat and cold?
How can the daughter of Mithila (Sita) who in the prime of her life, accustomed to comforts, endure heat and cold indeed?
Dharma must be tempered by compassion: Kausalyā points to the foreseeable hardship imposed on Sītā, implying that righteous governance should avoid causing undue suffering to the blameless.
Kausalyā laments Sītā’s impending hardships in exile, focusing on the extremes of climate in forest life.
Sītā’s fortitude is implicitly invoked—she will be required to endure conditions far beyond her sheltered upbringing.