Ramayana — Sundara Kanda, Sarga 68, Shloka 13
सीताया यशोधर्मविचारः
Sita’s Counsel on Honor, Rescue-Strategy, and Hanuman’s Reassurance
यथाऽहं तस्य वीरस्य वनादुपधिना हृता।रक्षसा तद्भयादेव तथा नार्हति राघवः।।।।
yathāhaṃ tasya vīrasya vanād upadhinā hṛtā | rakṣasā tadbhayād eva tathā nārhati rāghavaḥ ||
यथा अहं तस्य वीरस्य वनात् उपधिना रक्षसा तद्भयादेव हृता, तथा राघवः मां न नयेत्; तत् तस्य न अर्हति।
'Tell valiant Rama not to take me back the way Ravana, the demon abducted me out of fear. Which is not right.
FAQs
Dharma distinguishes righteous means from unrighteous: Sītā rejects rescue by fear or deceit because it would mirror the adharma of her abduction and diminish Rāma’s maryādā.
Sītā cautions that Rāma should not retrieve her by a method resembling Rāvaṇa’s deceptive abduction.
Sītā’s integrity and insistence on honorable conduct even under extreme suffering.