Shloka 53
सावित्री-यमसंवादः
Sāvitrī’s Dialogue with Yama and the Restoration of Satyavān
“बहिनो! तुमलोग शीघ्र मुझे मारकर खा जाओ। अब इस जीवनके लिये मुझे तनिक भी लोभ नहीं है। मैं काले घुँधघराले केश-कलापसे सुशोभित अपने स्वामी कमलनयन भगवान् श्रीरामके बिना जीना ही नहीं चाहती। प्राणवल्लभ रघुनाथजीके दर्शनसे वंचित होनेके कारण निराहार ही रहकर ताड़के पेड़पर रहनेवाली नागिनकी तरह मैं अपने शरीरको सुखा डालूँगी; परंतु श्रीरामके सिवा दूसरे किसी पुरुषका सेवन कदापि नहीं करूँगी। मेरी इस बातको सत्य समझो और इसके बाद जो कुछ करना हो, करो” || ५०-- ५२ || तस्यास्तदू वचन श्रुत्वा राक्षस्यस्ता: खरस्वना: । आखखुयातु राक्षसेन्द्राय जग्मुस्तत् सर्वमादृता:,सीताकी यह बात सुनकर कठोर बोली बोलनेवाली वे राक्षसियाँ राक्षलराज रावणको आदरपूर्वक वह सब समाचार निवेदन करनेके लिये चली गयीं
bahinaḥ! yūyaṁ śīghraṁ māṁ hatvā khādatha. adhunā asya jīvitasya me tan-mātram api lobho nāsti. kāla-ghuñgharāla-keśa-kalāpena suśobhitaṁ kamala-nayanaṁ svāminaṁ bhagavantaṁ śrīrāmaṁ vinā jīvitum eva na icchāmi. prāṇa-vallabha-raghunātha-darśanāt vañcitā nirāhārā bhūtvā tāḍake vṛkṣe vasantī nāginī iva ahaṁ śarīraṁ śoṣayiṣyāmi; kintu śrīrāmaṁ vinā anyasya kasyacit puruṣasya sevanaṁ kadācana na kariṣyāmi. etad vacanaṁ me satyam iti jānīta; tataḥ paraṁ yat kartavyaṁ tat kuruta. tasyās tad vacanaṁ śrutvā rākṣasyaḥ tāḥ khara-svanāḥ ākhyātuṁ rākṣasendrāya jagmuḥ tat sarvam ādṛtāḥ.
“Sisters! Kill me quickly and eat me. I have not the slightest desire to cling to this life anymore. Without my lord—Lord Śrī Rāma, lotus-eyed and adorned with dark, curling locks—I do not wish to live at all. Deprived of the sight of my beloved Raghunātha, I will remain without food and wither this body away, like a she-serpent dwelling on a palmyra tree; but I will never, ever yield myself to any man other than Śrī Rāma. Know my words to be true; then do whatever you must.” Hearing Sītā’s statement, those harsh-voiced rākṣasīs went respectfully to report everything to the lord of the rākṣasas, Rāvaṇa.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights steadfast dharma through unwavering fidelity and moral resolve under coercion: Sītā rejects survival or comfort gained by violating her commitment to Rāma, choosing suffering—even death—over adharma.
Sītā, threatened by rākṣasīs in Laṅkā, declares she would rather be killed and eaten or waste away fasting than accept any man other than Rāma. The rākṣasīs then go to report her defiant words to Rāvaṇa.