Shloka 6.5.5
सेनानिवेशः रामविलापश्च (Encampment on the Northern Shore; Rama’s Lament and Sandhyā)
नमेदुःखंप्रियादूरेनमेदुःखंहृतेतिवा ।एतदेवानुशोचामिवयोऽस्याह्यतिवर्तते ।।।।
na me duḥkhaṃ priyā dūre na me duḥkhaṃ hṛteti vā | etad evānuśocāmi vayo'syā hy ativartate ||
I do not grieve because my beloved is far away, nor do I grieve merely that she has been taken; what I truly lament is this alone—that her youth is indeed passing away.
There is no grief in me that my beloved is at a distance, nor that she is taken away. Indeed her age is advancing. On this account I am feeling for her.
Dharma is expressed as compassionate responsibility: love is not reduced to possessiveness or outrage, but to concern for the beloved’s wellbeing and the harm caused by time and suffering.
In the wartime setting, Rāma reflects on Sītā’s condition in separation, emphasizing not distance itself but the irreversible loss of her youthful time amid distress.
Rāma’s tenderness and moral seriousness—his grief is shaped by empathy and a truthful recognition of time’s passage.