Shloka 18
रावणस्य सीताप्रलोभनम्
Ravana’s Attempt to Allure Sita
साधु किं तेऽन्यया बुद्ध्या रोचयस्व वचो मम।भजस्वमाभितप्तस्य प्रसादं कर्तुमर्हसि।।3.55.18।।
sādhu kiṃ te 'nyayā buddhyā rochayasva vaco mama |
bhajasva m ābhitaptasya prasādaṃ kartum arhasi ||3.55.18||
“മറ്റൊരു ചിന്ത എന്തിന്? എന്റെ വാക്ക് സ്വീകരിക്കൂ. ഞാൻ കാമാഗ്നിയിൽ ദഹിക്കുന്നു; നീ കൃപചെയ്ത് എനിക്ക് പ്രസാദം നൽകേണ്ടതാകുന്നു।”
O Sita dear ! be my chief queen among the many thousands of women I have married.
FAQs
Dharma restrains kāma (desire) and rejects entitlement; demanding ‘favour’ from a harmed person inverts moral order and violates satya and compassion.
Rāvaṇa presses Sītā to comply, framing his desire as a reason she should grant him grace.
Sītā’s self-respect and adherence to dharma are implied: she is not responsible to soothe the wrongdoer’s desire.