Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 30, Shloka 20
सीताया वनानुगमननिश्चयः
Sita’s Resolve to Accompany Rama to the Forest
पश्चादपि हि दुःखेन मम नैवास्ति जीवितम्।उज्झितायास्त्वया नाथ तदैव मरणं वरम्।।2.30.20।।
paścād api hi duḥkhena mama naivāsti jīvitam | ujjhitāyās tvayā nātha tadaiva maraṇaṃ varam || 2.30.20 ||
पश्चादपि दुःखसन्तप्ते मयि जीवितस्य न किञ्चिदपि शेषं भवेत्। हे नाथ, त्वया परित्यक्तायाः तस्मिन्नेव क्षणे मरणमेव वरम्॥
If forsaken, O Lord! I shall not live a life of sorrow. Instant death is better (than abandoned existence).
FAQs
Dharma is framed as inseparability in rightful marriage: abandonment is portrayed not merely as emotional loss but as a collapse of the moral order of her life.
Sītā argues that being left behind while Rāma goes to exile would be unbearable, equating it with a fate worse than death.
Uncompromising fidelity—she refuses a compromised life that contradicts her understanding of duty.