निमित्तप्रादुर्भावः — Auspicious Omens Arise for Sita
सुन्दरकाण्ड
Sarga 29 depicts a decisive emotional turn in Ashoka Vatika: while Sita stands under the śiṃśupā tree in agony and joyless distress, a sequence of śubha-nimitta (auspicious omens) manifests as bodily signs. Her left eye throbs auspiciously; her left arm—once a pillow for her beloved—quivers; her left thigh throbs, explicitly presaging reunion with Rama. Even her dust-dulled, gold-hued garment slips slightly, read as a favorable sign. These omens, described as time-tested and affirmed by siddhas (seer-figures), restore her inner vitality: the text likens her renewed joy to a heat-and-wind-blighted seed revived by rain. The chapter closes with heightened radiance imagery—Sita’s face shining like the moon released from Rahu—and a calm, joy-illumined composure that replaces exhaustion and fear, signaling narrative readiness for hope and forthcoming action.
Verse 5.29.1
तथागतां तां व्यथितामनिन्दितां व्यपेतहर्षां परिदीनमानसाम्।शुभां निमित्तानि शुभानि भेजिरे नरं श्रिया जुष्टमिवोपजीविनः।।5.29.1।।
As she stood thus—agonized yet blameless, joyless and distressed in mind—auspicious signs came to her, like dependents gathering around a man favored by fortune.
Verse 5.29.2
तस्याः शुभं वाममरालपक्ष्म राजीवृतं कृष्णविशालशुक्लम्।प्रास्पन्दतैकं नयनं सुकेश्या मीनाहतं पद्ममिवाभिताम्रम्।।5.29.2।।
For her—the lady of beautiful hair—her left eye throbbed auspiciously: ringed by curved lashes, with a broad black pupil set in white, like a reddish lotus lightly struck by a fish.
Verse 5.29.3
भुजश्च चार्वञ्चितपीनवृत्तःपरार्थ्यकालागरुचन्दनार्हः।अनुत्तमेनाध्युषितः प्रियेण चिरेण वामः समवेपताऽशु।।5.29.3।।
And her left arm—beautifully curved, full and rounded, worthy of fine aloe-wood and sandal paste—once long used as the resting place for her incomparable beloved, suddenly began to throb.
Verse 5.29.4
गजेन्द्रहस्तप्रतिमश्च पीनस्तयोर्द्वयोः सम्हतयोः सुजातः।प्रस्पन्दमानः पुनरूरुरस्यारामं पुरस्तात् स्थितमाचचक्षे।।5.29.4।।
Again her well-shaped, full thigh—close-set with its mate and like the trunk of a royal elephant—began to throb, as though pointing to Rāma standing before her.
Verse 5.29.5
शुभं पुनर्हेमसमानवर्ण मीषद्रजोध्वस्तमिवामलाक्ष्याः।वास स्स्थिताया श्शिखराग्रदन्त्याः किञ्चित्परिस्रंसत चारुगात्य्राः।।5.29.5।।
Again, as an auspicious sign, the garment of the clear-eyed lady—golden in hue though slightly dulled by dust—slipped a little as she stood, she whose teeth were fine and well-formed and whose limbs were lovely.
Verse 5.29.6
एतैर्निमित्तैरपरैश्च सुभ्रूः सम्बोधिता प्रागपि साधु सिद्धैः।वातातपक्लान्तमिव प्रणष्टं वर्षेण बीजं प्रतिसंजहर्ष।।5.29.6।।
Encouraged by these and other auspicious omens—long ago affirmed as favorable by accomplished seers—Sītā of lovely brows felt her joy return, like a seed dried up by wind and sun that revives again when rain falls.
Verse 5.29.7
तस्याः पुनर्बिम्बफलाधरोष्ठंस्वक्षिभ्रुकेशान्तमरालपक्ष्म।वक्त्रं बभासे सितशुक्लदंष्ट्रंराहोर्मुखाच्चन्द्र इव प्रमुक्तः।।5.29.7।।
Then her face—its lips like the bimba fruit, its brows and eyes beautiful, its eyelashes gracefully curved, its teeth bright and white—shone forth like the moon released from the mouth of Rāhu.
Verse 5.29.8
सा वीतशोका व्यपनीततन्द्रीशान्तज्वरा हर्षविबुद्धसत्त्वा।अशोभतार्या वदनेन शुक्ले शीतांशुना रात्रिरिवोदितेन।।5.29.8।।
Freed from grief, her weariness removed, her fevered anxiety calmed, and her spirit awakened by joy, the noble Sītā shone with her brightened face—like a night in the bright fortnight when the cool moon has risen.