Shloka 5.19.17
सीताव्यथा-वर्णनम् / Sītā’s Distress and Rāvaṇa’s Attempt at Coercive Allurement
पतिशोकातुरां शुष्कां नदीं विस्रावितामिव।परया मृजया हीनां कृष्णपक्षनिशामिव।।।।
utkṛṣṭaparṇakamalāṃ vitrāsitavihaṅgamām |
hastihastaparāmṛṣṭām ākulāṃ padminīm iva ||
She appeared like a lotus-pond with splendid leaves and lotuses, its birds frightened away, churned and crushed by the trunks of elephants.
Stricken with grief caused by separation from her husband, she appeared like a river gone thin and dry, not fit for ablution, like a night during dark fortnight of the month deprived of all its glow.
Dharma protects the gentle and beautiful from brute force. The image condemns the misuse of power that terrorizes the innocent and destroys tranquility.
Sītā’s shaken state is depicted through a vivid natural metaphor of a serene lotus-pond violently disturbed.
Gentleness and dignity: Sītā is likened to a refined, life-giving pond—her nature is peace, while the disturbance comes from external aggression.