Shloka 5.22.28
रावणस्य तर्जनं सीताया धर्मोक्तिः (Ravana’s Threats and Sita’s Dharma-Centered Reply)
तरुणादित्यवर्णाभ्यां कुण्डलाभ्यां विभूषितः।रक्तपल्लवपुष्पाभ्यामशोकाभ्यामिवाचलः।।।।
taruṇādityavarṇābhyāṁ kuṇḍalābhyāṁ vibhūṣitaḥ | raktapallavapuṣpābhyām aśokābhyām ivācalaḥ ||
Adorned with earrings the color of the rising sun, he stood like a mountain bearing two aśoka trees with red leaves and blossoms.
He stood like a mountain with two Ashoka trees clothed with red leaves and flowers in the form of ear-rings of the colour of the rising Sun.
The verse underscores the epic’s moral contrast: dazzling beauty and ornament can coexist with adharma; dharma is an inner alignment, not outward brilliance.
The narrator completes a sequence of visual similes describing Rāvaṇa’s appearance as he confronts Sītā.
By contrast to ornamented power, Sītā’s austere fidelity and truthfulness (satya) are framed as the real spiritual radiance.