Valmiki Ramayana 2.29.2: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 29, Shloka 2
सीताया वनगमननिश्चयः · Sita’s Resolve to Accompany Rama to the Forest
Spoken by Sita to RamaSetting: Ayodhya (implied)Places named: vanaAnticipation of forest-life (vanavāsa)
ये त्वया कीर्तिता दोषा वने वस्तव्यतां प्रति ।
गुणानित्येव तान्विद्धि तव स्नेहपुरस्कृतान् ॥२॥
ye tvayā kīrtitā doṣā vane vastavyatāṃ prati |
guṇān ity eva tān viddhi tava snehapuraskṛtān ||2||
Les épreuves que tu as évoquées au sujet de la demeure en forêt, sache qu’elles sont des vertus, si l’on les porte en plaçant ton amour au premier rang.
Sandhi Notes
- gajāścaiva → gajāḥ + ca + eva
- ye cānyē → ye + ca + anye
- adṛṣṭapūrvarūpatvāt → adṛṣṭa + pūrva + rūpa + tvāt
- dṛṣṭvā’pasarpeyūḥ → dṛṣṭvā + apasarpeyūḥ
Understand that the difficulties of forest life described by you will be turned into advantages if they are accompanied by your affection.
The teaching
Hardship becomes a virtue when endured with love and right intention; dharma is measured not only by circumstance but by the heart that bears it.
Duties in tension
- Avoidance of danger/suffering vs. embracing shared dharma in exile
- Protective prudence vs. courageous companionship
- Ethical theme
- Titikṣā / dharma of endurance and companionship
- How it resolves
- Attitudinal transformation (titikṣā + sneha)
For your practice
Practical sādhanā: reframe difficulties as tapas when anchored in love, duty, and remembrance; supports daily resilience practice.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism), with Shanta (peace)
- Mood
- Courageous, reframing, devotional
Themes
- Dharma
- Satya
- Shared duty
- Renunciation
- Itihasa
- Ethics
Suffering is transmuted by saṅkalpa and attachment to dharma; the same experience becomes purifying when borne without ego and with loving alignment.
Titikṣā and inner steadiness as prerequisites for higher life (echoing later Vedāntic sādhanā-catuṣṭaya formulations, rooted in Upaniṣadic ethos).
- Sita and Rama
- Spouses; reframing Rama’s cautions as virtues through love (encouraging)
- Rama and Forest
- Anticipated hardships of exile (wary)
- Sita and Forest
- Tapas-like acceptance; transforming duḥkha into guṇa (fearless)
Bhagavad Gītā 2.14 (titikṣā toward pleasure/pain); Rāmacaritamānasa, Ayodhyākāṇḍa (forest as auspicious when with Rāma); Mahābhārata (tapas and forbearance praised as virtues)
titikṣā doctrine (endurance as virtue)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa 2.29 (Sītā’s rebuttal of forest dangers); Araṇyakāṇḍa (later lived experience of forest hardships)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Encouraging
Uplifting madhyama-tāra movement on ‘गुणानित्येव’ with firm cadence
FAQs
Dharma is reinterpreted as inner orientation: when one walks the righteous path together, suffering transforms into merit (guṇa) through love, loyalty, and right intention.
Rāma has enumerated dangers of forest life; Sītā responds that those dangers become acceptable—even valuable—if she can be with him.
Sītā’s resilience and dharmic optimism: she reframes adversity as spiritually meaningful when aligned with righteous companionship.
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