Ramayana — Sundara Kanda, Sarga 19, Shloka 17
सीताव्यथा
वर्णनम् / Sītā’s Distress and Rāvaṇa’s Attempt at Coercive Allurement
पतिशोकातुरां शुष्कां नदीं विस्रावितामिव।परया मृजया हीनां कृष्णपक्षनिशामिव।।।।
patiśokāturāṃ śuṣkāṃ nadīṃ visrāvitām iva |
parayā mṛjayā hīnāṃ kṛṣṇapakṣaniśām iva ||
Afligida por el dolor de su esposo, se veía seca y consumida, como un río cuyo caudal se ha adelgazado y secado, ya no apto para la ablución plena; como una noche de la quincena oscura, despojada de su fulgor.
A delicate lady with beautiful limbs who deserved to be in a gem-crusted house was (now) like a lotus stem just plucked out and scorched by the Sun's heat.
FAQs
Dharma includes steadfast loyalty and truth in relationships; separation inflicted by adharma causes profound suffering. The verse frames grief as a drying of life’s ‘flow’—a moral indictment of coercion.
Sītā’s sorrow from separation is foregrounded, showing how captivity erodes vitality and outward auspiciousness.
Constancy: her pain arises from unwavering devotion to Rāma and commitment to satya, not from wavering or compromise.