The Plight of Sita, Described in Similes

Shloka 1 (sundara.19.1)

तस्मिन्नेव ततः काले राजपुत्री त्वनिन्दिता । रूपयौवनसम्पन्नं भूषणोत्तमभूषितम् ॥ 19.1 ॥

tasminn eva tataḥ kāle rājaputrī tv aninditā | rūpayauvanasampannaṃ bhūṣaṇottamabhūṣitam ||

At that very time, that blameless princess beheld him -- endowed with beauty and youth, adorned with the finest ornaments --

Shloka 2 (sundara.19.2)

ततो दृष्ट्वैव वैदेही रावणं राक्षसाधिपम् । प्रावेपत वरारोहा प्रवाते कदली यथा ॥ 19.2 ॥

tato dṛṣṭvaiva vaidehī rāvaṇaṃ rākṣasādhipam | prāvepata varārohā pravāte kadalī yathā ||

-- the moment beautiful Vaidehi saw Ravana, lord of the rakshasas, she trembled like a plantain tree in the wind.

Shloka 3 (sundara.19.3)

ऊरुभ्यामुदरं छाद्य बाहुभ्यां च पयोधरौ । उपविष्टा विशालाक्षी रुदती वरवर्णिनी ॥ 19.3 ॥

ūrubhyām udaraṃ chādya bāhubhyāṃ ca payodharau | upaviṣṭā viśālākṣī rudatī varavarṇinī ||

Covering her belly with her thighs and her breasts with her arms, that wide-eyed, fair-complexioned one sat weeping.

Shloka 4 (sundara.19.4)

दशग्रीवस्तु वैदेहीं रक्षितां राक्षसीगणैः । ददर्श दीनां दुःखार्तां नावं सन्नामिवार्णवे ॥ 19.4 ॥

daśagrīvas tu vaidehīṃ rakṣitāṃ rākṣasīgaṇaiḥ | dadarśa dīnāṃ duḥkhārtāṃ nāvaṃ sannām ivārṇave ||

Dashagriva saw Vaidehi, guarded by bands of rakshasis, wretched and stricken with grief, like a ship foundering upon the ocean.

Shloka 5 (sundara.19.5)

असंवृतायामासीनां धरण्यां संशितव्रताम् । छिन्नां प्रपतितां भूमौ शाखामिव वनस्पतेः ॥ 19.5 ॥

asaṃvṛtāyām āsīnāṃ dharaṇyāṃ saṃśitavratām | chinnāṃ prapatitāṃ bhūmau śākhām iva vanaspateḥ ||

She sat upon the bare earth, holding fast to her rigorous vow, like a branch snapped and fallen from a tree to the ground.

Shloka 6 (sundara.19.6)

मलमण्डनदिग्धांगीं मण्डनार्हाममण्डनाम् । मृणाली पङ्कदिग्धेव विभाति न विभाति च ॥ 19.6 ॥

malamaṇḍanadigdhāṅgīṃ maṇḍanārhām amaṇḍanām | mṛṇālī paṅkadigdheva vibhāti na vibhāti ca ||

Dirt itself had become her only adornment; worthy of ornament yet unadorned, she shone and yet did not shine, like a lotus-stalk smeared with mud.

Shloka 7 (sundara.19.7)

समीपं राजसिंहस्य रामस्य विदितात्मनः । संकल्पहयसंयुक्तैर्यान्तीमिव मनोरथैः ॥ 19.7 ॥

samīpaṃ rājasiṃhasya rāmasya viditātmanaḥ | saṃkalpahayasaṃyuktair yāntīm iva manorathaiḥ ||

She seemed to be traveling, as it were, on chariots of longing yoked with steeds of resolve, drawing near to that lion among kings, Rama, aware of his own self.

Shloka 8 (sundara.19.8)

शुष्यन्तीं रुदतीमेकां ध्यानशोकपरायणाम् । दुःखस्यान्तमपश्यन्तीं रामां राममनुव्रताम् ॥ 19.8 ॥

śuṣyantīṃ rudatīm ekāṃ dhyānaśokaparāyaṇām | duḥkhasyāntam apaśyantīṃ rāmāṃ rāmānuvratām ||

-- wasting away, weeping alone, sunk in meditation and grief, seeing no end to her sorrow, that lovely woman, faithful to Rama --

Shloka 9 (sundara.19.9)

चेष्टमानामथाविष्टां पन्नगेन्द्रवधूमिव । धूप्यमानां ग्रहेणेव रोहिणीं धूमकेतुना ॥ 19.9 ॥

ceṣṭamānām athāviṣṭāṃ pannagendravadhūm iva | dhūpyamānāṃ graheṇeva rohiṇīṃ dhūmaketunā ||

-- writhing in her agitation, like the consort of the serpent-king caught in a spell, or like Rohini smoked over by the comet-planet Ketu.

Shloka 10 (sundara.19.10)

वृत्तशीले कुले जातामाचारवति धार्मिके । पुनः संस्कारमापन्नां जातामिव च दुष्कुले ॥ 19.10 ॥

vṛttaśīle kule jātām ācāravati dhārmike | punaḥ saṃskāram āpannāṃ jātām iva ca duṣkule ||

Born into a family of good conduct, righteous and disciplined, she seemed now as though born anew into some base and lowly clan.

Shloka 11 (sundara.19.11)

अभूतेनापवादेन कीर्तिं निपतितामिव । अम्नायानामयोगेन विद्यां प्रशिथिलामिव ॥ 19.11 ॥

abhūtenāpavādena kīrtiṃ nipatitām iva | āmnāyānām ayogena vidyāṃ praśithilām iva ||

She seemed like fame brought low by a baseless slander, like learning grown feeble through neglect of daily recitation.

Shloka 12 (sundara.19.12)

सन्नामिव महाकीर्तिं श्रद्धामिव विमानिताम् । प्रज्ञामिव परिक्षीणामाशां प्रतिहतामिव ॥ 19.12 ॥

sannām iva mahākīrtiṃ śraddhām iva vimānitām | prajñām iva parikṣīṇām āśāṃ pratihatām iva ||

Like great fame in decline, like faith held in contempt, like wisdom worn thin, like hope struck down.

Shloka 13 (sundara.19.13)

आयतीमिव विध्वस्तामाज्ञां प्रतिहतामिव । दीप्तामिव दिशं काले पूजामपहतामिव ॥ 19.13 ॥

āyatīm iva vidhvastām ājñāṃ pratihatām iva | dīptām iva diśaṃ kāle pūjām apahatām iva ||

Like prosperity laid waste, like a command defied, like a quarter of the sky ablaze at the hour of dissolution, like worship torn away.

Shloka 14 (sundara.19.14)

पौर्णमासीमिव निशां तमोग्रस्तेन्दुमण्डलाम् । पद्मिनीमिव विध्वस्तां हतशूरां चमूमिव ॥ 19.14 ॥

paurṇamāsīm iva niśāṃ tamograstendumaṇḍalām | padminīm iva vidhvastāṃ hataśūrāṃ camūm iva ||

Like a full-moon night whose lunar orb is swallowed by darkness, like a lotus-pond laid waste, like an army whose champions have fallen.

Shloka 15 (sundara.19.15)

प्रभामिव तमोध्वस्तामुपक्षीणामिवापगाम् । वेदीमिव परामृष्टां शान्तामग्निशिखामिव ॥ 19.15 ॥

prabhām iva tamodhvastām upakṣīṇām ivāpagām | vedīm iva parāmṛṣṭāṃ śāntām agniśikhām iva ||

Like radiance ruined by darkness, like a river run dry, like a sacrificial altar defiled, like a flame of fire gone cold.

Shloka 16 (sundara.19.16)

उत्कृष्टपर्णकमलां वित्रासितविहंगमाम् । हस्तिहस्तपरामृष्टामाकुलामिव पद्मिनीम् ॥ 19.16 ॥

utkṛṣṭaparṇakamalāṃ vitrāsitavihaṅgamām | hastihastaparāmṛṣṭām ākulām iva padminīm ||

Like a lotus-pond in turmoil, its leaves and lotuses torn away, its birds startled into flight, churned by an elephant's trunk.

Shloka 17 (sundara.19.17)

पतिशोकातुरां शुष्कां नदीं विस्रावितामिव । परया मृजया हीनां कृष्णपक्षे निशामिव ॥ 19.17 ॥

patiśokāturāṃ śuṣkāṃ nadīṃ visrāvitām iva | parayā mṛjayā hīnāṃ kṛṣṇapakṣe niśām iva ||

Tormented by grief for her husband, she seemed like a river run dry, its waters drained away, or like a night of the dark fortnight, stripped of its finest adornment.

Shloka 18 (sundara.19.18)

सुकुमारीं सुजातांगीं रत्नगर्भगृहोचिताम् । तप्यमानामिवोष्णेन मृणालीमचिरोद्धृताम् ॥ 19.18 ॥

sukumārīṃ sujātāṅgīṃ ratnagarbhagṛhocitām | tapyamānām ivoṣṇena mṛṇālīm aciroddhṛtām ||

Delicate, of well-formed limbs, fit for chambers set with jewels, she seemed like a lotus-fibre freshly plucked and now scorched by the sun's heat.

Shloka 19 (sundara.19.19)

गृहीतामालितां स्तम्भे यूथपेन विनाकृताम् । निःश्वसन्तीं सुदुःखार्तां गजराजवधूमिव ॥ 19.19 ॥

gṛhītām ālitāṃ stambhe yūthapena vinākṛtām | niḥśvasantīṃ suduḥkhārtāṃ gajarājavadhūm iva ||

She seemed like a royal she-elephant, captured and tethered to a post, torn from the lord of her herd, sighing deeply in her anguish.

Shloka 20 (sundara.19.20)

एकया दीर्घया वेण्या शोभमानामयत्नतः । नीलया नीरदापाये वनराज्या महीमिव ॥ 19.20 ॥

ekayā dīrghayā veṇyā śobhamānām ayatnataḥ | nīlayā nīradāpāye vanarājyā mahīm iva ||

Adorned, without effort, by a single long braid, she seemed like the earth graced with a dark line of forest when the rains have passed.

Shloka 21 (sundara.19.21)

उपवासेन शोकेन ध्यानेन च भयेन च । परिक्षीणां कृशां दीनामल्पाहारां तपोधनाम् ॥ 19.21 ॥

upavāsena śokena dhyānena ca bhayena ca | parikṣīṇāṃ kṛśāṃ dīnām alpāhārāṃ tapodhanām ||

Wasted by fasting, by grief, by meditation and by fear, thin, wretched, eating scarcely at all, one whose only wealth was her austerity --

Shloka 22 (sundara.19.22)

आयाचमानां दुःखार्तां प्राञ्जलिं देवतामिव । भावेन रघुमुख्यस्य दशग्रीवपराभवम् ॥ 19.22 ॥

āyācamānāṃ duḥkhārtāṃ prāñjaliṃ devatām iva | bhāvena raghumukhyasya daśagrīvaparābhavam ||

-- stricken with grief, her hands joined in supplication like one worshipping a deity, she prayed with all her heart for the defeat of Dashagriva at the hands of the foremost of the Raghus.

Shloka 23 (sundara.19.23)

समीक्षमाणां रुदतीमनिन्दितां सुपक्ष्मताम्रायतशुक्ललोचनाम् । अनुव्रतां राममतीव मैथिलीं प्रलोभयामास वधाय रावणः ॥ 19.23 ॥

samīkṣamāṇāṃ rudatīm aninditāṃ supakṣmatāmrāyataśuklalocanām | anuvratāṃ rāmam atīva maithilīṃ pralobhayāmāsa vadhāya rāvaṇaḥ ||

That blameless Maithili -- glancing about her, weeping, her eyes wide and white, with a reddish tinge beneath thick lashes, utterly devoted to Rama -- Ravana now set about to entice, and to threaten with death.