Shloka 5.15.19
अशोकवनिकायां सीतादर्शनम् (Sita Seen in the Ashoka Grove)
ततो मलिनसंवीतां राक्षसीभिस्समावृताम्।।5.15.18।।उपवासकृशां दीनां निश्श्वसन्तीं पुनः पुनः।ददर्श शुक्लपक्षादौ चन्द्ररेखामिवामलाम्।।5.15.19।।
mandaprakhyāyamānena rūpeṇa ruciraprabhām |
pinaddhāṃ dhūmajālena śikhām iva vibhāvasoḥ || 5.15.20 ||
Her form was only faintly discernible, yet she still bore a lovely radiance—like a flame’s tip, wrapped over by a net of smoke.
Then he beheld a lady surrounded by female demons. Clad in soiled clothes she looked dejected, emaciated through fasting and was sighing repeatedly. She appeared thin and pale like the crescent Moon at the beginning of the bright fortnight.
The simile teaches that Dharma and satya can be obscured by suffering and oppression yet remain inherently luminous; virtue may be veiled, not destroyed.
After seeing Sītā’s weakened state, the narrator describes her diminished outward appearance while emphasizing her undiminished inner radiance.
Moral steadfastness (niṣṭhā): Sītā’s inner brilliance persists even when her body is worn by hardship.