Shloka 5.19.14
सीताव्यथा-वर्णनम् / Sītā’s Distress and Rāvaṇa’s Attempt at Coercive Allurement
पद्मिनीमिव विध्वस्तां हतशूरां चमूमिव।प्रभामिव तमोध्वस्तामुपक्षीणामिवापगाम्।।।।
āyatīm iva vidhvastām ājñāṃ pratihatām iva |
dīptām iva diśaṃ kāle pūjām apahṛtām iva ||
She was like a hopeful promise laid waste; like a command defied; like a direction set aflame in a season of calamity; like worship stolen away.
She was like a lotus-creeper blighted, an army with its gallant warriors killed, radiance of light blocked by darkness and a stream run dry.
Dharma is social and sacred order—right command, right worship, right direction in life. Adharma ‘steals’ and ‘burns’ these foundations, producing chaos and moral disorientation.
Sītā’s plight is described via images of ruined order and stolen sanctity, reflecting the disorder created by her abduction.
Moral inviolability: the world around her is portrayed as desecrated, underscoring that the wrongdoing lies with the oppressor, not with Sītā.