Shloka 2
Dyumatsena’s Restoration and Sāvitrī’s Disclosure of Yama’s Boons (आरण्यकपर्व, अध्याय २८२)
राक्षसीभिरुपास्यन्तीं समासीनां शिलातले । रावण: कामबाणार्तों ददर्शोपससर्प च,मार्कण्डेयजी कहते हैं--युधिष्ठिर!| तदनन्तर एक दिन जब पतिव्रता सीता स्वामीके वियोगके दुःखसे पीड़ित हो मैले कपड़े पहने केवल चूड़ामणिमात्र आभूषण धारण किये राक्षसियोंसे घिरी हुई एक शिलापर बैठी दीनभावसे रो रही थीं, उसी समय देवता, दानव, गन्धर्व, यक्ष और किम्पुरुष किसीसे कभी युद्धमें परास्त न होनेवाला रावण कामबाणसे पीड़ित हो अशोकवाटिकामें गया। वहाँ उसने सीताको देखा और कामवेदनासे व्यथित होकर वह उनके समीप चला गया
rākṣasībhir upāsyantīṃ samāsīnāṃ śilātale | rāvaṇaḥ kāmabāṇārto dadarśopasasarpa ca ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “Surrounded and attended by the rākṣasīs, Sītā sat upon a stone slab. Rāvaṇa, tormented by the arrows of desire, saw her there and drew near.” In ethical and narrative terms, the verse contrasts Sītā’s steadfast, sorrowful restraint in separation with Rāvaṇa’s loss of self-mastery under kāma (desire), setting the stage for a moral conflict between fidelity and coercive passion.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical contrast between steadfastness in dharma (Sītā’s restrained endurance under suffering) and the moral danger of unchecked desire (Rāvaṇa ‘wounded by kāma’), implying that loss of self-control leads one to approach wrongdoing.
Sītā is shown seated on a stone surface, surrounded by rākṣasī attendants/guards. Rāvaṇa, overcome by desire, notices her and moves toward her, initiating the next phase of his attempt to sway or coerce her.