Shloka 5.25.14
सीताविलापः (Sita’s Lament amid Rākṣasī Threats)
एषाल्पपुण्या कृपणा विनशिष्याम्यनाथवत्।समुद्रमध्ये नौः पूर्णा वायुवेगैरिवाहता।।5.25.14।।
eṣālpapuṇyā kṛpaṇā vinaśiṣyāmy anāthavat |
samudramadhye nauḥ pūrṇā vāyuvegair ivāhatā ||5.25.14||
I—of scant merit, wretched, like one without refuge—shall be destroyed, like a fully laden boat struck by gale-forces in the midst of the sea.
'I am a woman of low merit, a wretched woman, an orphan. I will be ruined like the loaded boat that gets hit in the midst of the ocean by the stormy wind.
The verse implicitly condemns the adharma that leaves the innocent ‘anātha’ (without refuge). It also shows how suffering can distort self-perception, a caution for ethical reflection.
Sītā, overwhelmed, voices fear of perishing in captivity, using a vivid image of a storm-battered boat at sea.
Vulnerability and truthfulness in lament: she articulates her inner state plainly, even while her earlier resolve remains the moral anchor of the episode.