Shloka 3
रावणस्य तर्जनं सीताया धर्मोक्तिः
Ravana’s Threats and Sita’s Dharma-Centered Reply
सन्नियच्छति मे क्रोधं त्वयि कामः समुत्थितः।द्रवतोऽमार्गमासाद्य हयानिव सुसारथिः।।।।
sanniyacchati me krodhaṃ tvayi kāmaḥ samutthitaḥ |
dravato 'mārgam āsādya hayān iva susārathiḥ ||
تیری طرف اُٹھنے والی خواہش میرے غضب کو تھام لیتی ہے—جیسے ماہر سارَتھی تیز دوڑتے گھوڑوں کو، جو غلط راہ پر نکل جائیں، قابو میں کر لیتا ہے۔
He was comparable to the wish-fulfilling tree grown in heaven, a personified spring season and a memorial structure raised on the cremation ground. He looked frightening even though well-adorned.
FAQs
It indirectly highlights the need for self-control: powerful impulses (desire or anger) must be governed like horses by a charioteer. However, in context Rāvaṇa’s ‘restraint’ is not dharmic; it serves an adharma-driven obsession rather than righteousness.
In Aśoka-vana, Rāvaṇa addresses Sītā, attempting to sway her; he claims his desire for her checks his anger even as she resists him.
The verse uses the ideal of restraint (dama/saṃyama) as an image, though it is spoken by Rāvaṇa and thus functions as rhetorical persuasion rather than genuine virtue.