Shloka 5.15.25
अशोकवनिकायां सीतादर्शनम् (Sita Seen in the Ashoka Grove)
नीलनागाभया वेण्या जघनं गतयैकया।नीलया नीरदापाये वनराज्या महीमिव।।।।सुखार्हां दुःखसन्तप्तां व्यसनानामकोविदाम्।
nīlanāgābhayā veṇyā jaghanaṃ gatayaikayā |
nīlayā nīradāpāye vanarājyā mahīm iva ||
sukhārhāṃ duḥkhasantaptāṃ vyasanānām akovidām |
With a single dark braid reaching to her hips, fearsome like a black serpent, she resembled the earth at the end of the rainy season—darkened and bordered by a range of forests. Though worthy of happiness and unacquainted with calamity, she was now scorched by grief.
She (from behind) appeared like the earth covered with a range of trees at the end of rainy season with her single long black braid touching her hips looking like a black serpent. She who deserved to be happy and had not experienced worries was burning in grief. (ēkavēṇī is a trait of a prōṣitabhartṛkā Sita who was forced to stay in Lanka was a prōṣitabhartṛkā nāyikā.)
Dharma is shown as constancy under adversity: even one who deserves comfort may be forced into suffering, yet righteousness is maintained through restraint and unwavering commitment to truth.
Hanumān notices Sītā’s single braid and her changed appearance, reading it as a sign of prolonged separation and distress in Laṅkā.
Sītā’s steadfastness and purity: the single braid and lack of adornment mark a life of austerity while separated from Rāma.