Shloka 31
रावणस्य परिव्राजकवेषेण सीतासमीपगमनम्
Ravana Approaches Sita Disguised as a Mendicant
कासि कस्य कुतश्चित्त्वं किं निमित्तं च दण्डकान्।एका चरसि कल्याणि घोरान्राक्षससेवितान्।।।।
kāsi kasya kutaś cit tvaṃ kiṃ nimittaṃ ca daṇḍakān |
ekā carasi kalyāṇi ghorān rākṣasa-sevitān ||
โอ้สตรีผู้เป็นมงคล เจ้าเป็นใคร? เป็นของผู้ใด และมาจากที่ใด? ด้วยเหตุอันใดเจ้าจึงเที่ยวไปเพียงลำพังในป่าทัณฑกะอันน่าสะพรึง ซึ่งเหล่ารากษสชอบสัญจร?
Who are you, O auspicious lady! ? Who are your people? Why are you here? From where have you come? For what reason are you going about alone in this fierce Dandaka tract, inhabited by demons?
FAQs
It raises the dharmic need for appropriate boundaries: questions of identity and purpose can be legitimate, yet dharma also warns against revealing oneself to unverified strangers.
Rāvaṇa directly presses Sītā for her identity, origin, and reason for being alone in the Daṇḍaka forest.
The verse sets up Sītā’s truthfulness (satya) and openness, which can become vulnerable when met by deceit.