Shloka 5.34.16
सीताहनूमद्भाषणम् — Sita Tests the Messenger; Hanuman Offers Reassurance
उपवासकृशां दीनां कामरूप निशाचर।सन्तापयसि मां भूयस्सन्तप्तां तन्न शोभनम्।।।।
upavāsa-kṛśāṃ dīnāṃ kāma-rūpa niśācara |
santāpayasi māṃ bhūyaḥ santaptāṃ tan na śobhanam ||
O night-roamer, who can assume any form at will—tormenting me yet again, when I am wretched, emaciated by fasting, and already scorched by grief, is not fitting.
"Oh! you are one who can assume any form at will. You are a night-stalker. It is not good for you to cause pain to me who is already emaciated through fasting, who is pitiable and who is already afflicted.
The verse condemns cruelty toward the vulnerable; dharma demands restraint and compassion, not repeated harassment of one already suffering.
Sītā, weakened by fasting and sorrow, rebukes the visitor for intensifying her pain, suspecting him to be a shape-shifting aggressor.
Sītā’s moral courage and insistence on propriety—she names adharma as adharma despite her weakness.