Shloka 8
मायामृगप्रकरणम्
The Illusory Deer Episode: Ravana and Maricha at Rama’s Hermitage
प्रलोभयित्वा वैदेहीं यथेष्टं गन्तुमर्हसि।तां शून्ये प्रसभं सीतामानयिष्यामि मैथिलीम्।।3.42.8।।
pralobhayitvā vaidehīṃ yatheṣṭaṃ gantum arhasi |
tāṃ śūnye prasabhaṃ sītām ānayiṣyāmi maithilīm || 3.42.8 ||
“വൈദേഹിയെ വശീകരിച്ച ശേഷം നീ ഇഷ്ടമുള്ളിടത്തേക്ക് പോകാം; അവൾ കാവലില്ലാതെ ഒറ്റയ്ക്കായിരിക്കുമ്പോൾ ഞാൻ മൈഥിലിയായ സീതയെ ബലമായി പിടിച്ച് കൊണ്ടുപോകും.”
You may go whereever you like after tempting Vaidehi. When the princess of Mithila is alone, I will bring her by force.
FAQs
It illustrates a direct violation of dharma: deception (māyā) used to create vulnerability, followed by coercion. Ramayana frames such acts as the opposite of satya and maryādā—truthfulness and moral boundaries.
Rāvaṇa assigns roles: Mārīca must lure Sītā away from safety; Rāvaṇa will then abduct her when she is isolated.
The verse emphasizes, by negation, the virtue of protecting the vulnerable and honoring consent—core dhārmic duties that Rāvaṇa explicitly rejects.