Valmiki Ramayana 2.61.4 — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 61, Shloka 4
कौसल्याविलापः
Kausalya’s Lament and Ethical Analogies on Kingship
सा नूनं तरुणी श्यामा सुकुमारी सुखोचिता।कथमुष्णं च शीतं च मैथिली प्रसहिष्यते।।2.61.4।।
sā nūnaṃ taruṇī śyāmā sukumārī sukhocitā | katham uṣṇaṃ ca śītaṃ ca maithilī prasahiṣyate || 2.61.4 ||
એ તો નિશ્ચયે યુવાન, શ્યામવર્ણી, અતિ કોમળ અને સુખમાં પોષાયેલી છે; એવી મૈથિલી ગરમી અને ઠંડી—બન્નેને કેવી રીતે સહન કરશે?
How can the daughter of Mithila (Sita) who in the prime of her life, accustomed to comforts, endure heat and cold indeed?
FAQs
Dharma must be tempered by compassion: Kausalyā points to the foreseeable hardship imposed on Sītā, implying that righteous governance should avoid causing undue suffering to the blameless.
Kausalyā laments Sītā’s impending hardships in exile, focusing on the extremes of climate in forest life.
Sītā’s fortitude is implicitly invoked—she will be required to endure conditions far beyond her sheltered upbringing.
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