Sources

Sita and Lakshmana

Valmiki · Aranya Kanda
3.45.1–40 (CrEd 3.43.1–37)

A cry rings out from the forest in Rama's voice, and Sita begs Lakshmana to run to him. He refuses: no one can harm Rama, and Rama left her in his keeping. Stung by her charges, he commends her to the forest deities and goes.

Sanskrit · English·Translation: Raam Leela

Show

Part 1

The cry

Valmiki 3.45.1–16 (CrEd 3.43.1–14)

॥ 3.45.1 ॥

CrEd 3.43.1

silent moment

॥ 3.45.1 ॥

CrEd 3.43.1

Sita

Sanskrit

आर्तस्वरं तु तं भर्तुर् विज्ञाय सदृशं वने ।
उवाच लक्ष्मणं सीता गच्छ जानीहि राघवम् ॥

ārtasvaraṃ tu taṃ bhartur vijñāya sadṛśaṃ vane
uvāca lakṣmaṇaṃ sītā gaccha jānīhi rāghavam

English

That cry of anguish, like her husband’s voice,
she knew it, there in the forest;
and Sita said to Lakshmana:
“Go, find what has befallen Raghava.”

॥ 3.45.2–3a ॥

CrEd 3.43.2–3a

Sita

Sanskrit

न हि मे जीवितं स्थाने हृदयं वावतिष्ठते ।
क्रोशतः परमार्तस्य श्रुतः शब्दो मया भृशम् ।
आक्रन्दमानं तु वने भ्रातरं त्रातुम् अर्हसि ॥

na hi me jīvitaṃ sthāne hṛdayaṃ vāvatiṣṭhate
krośataḥ paramārtasya śrutaḥ śabdo mayā bhṛśam
ākrandamānaṃ tu vane bhrātaraṃ trātum arhasi

English

My life does not keep its place,
nor does my heart stand still.
One crying out in utmost pain:
I have heard his voice, and loud.
Your brother cries out in the forest;
it is for you to save him.

॥ 3.45.4b ॥

CrEd 3.43.4c

silent moment

॥ 3.45.5 ॥

CrEd 3.43.5

silent moment

॥ 3.45.5b–6a ॥

CrEd 3.43.5c–6a

Sita

Sanskrit

सौमित्रे मित्ररूपेण भ्रातुस् त्वम् असि शत्रुवत् ।
यस् त्वम् अस्याम् अवस्थायां भ्रातरं नाभिपद्यसे ॥

saumitre mitrarūpeṇa bhrātus tvam asi śatruvat
yas tvam asyām avasthāyāṃ bhrātaraṃ nābhipadyase

English

Saumitri, in the form of a friend
you are your brother’s enemy,
you who, in such a plight as this,
do not go to your brother’s aid.

॥ 3.45.6b–7a ॥

CrEd 3.43.6c

3.45.7a: popular text only · not in the CrEd

Sita

Sanskrit

इच्छसि त्वं विनश्यन्तं रामं लक्ष्मण मत्कृते ।
लोभात् तु मत्कृतं नूनं नानुगच्छसि राघवम् ॥

icchasi tvaṃ vinaśyantaṃ rāmaṃ lakṣmaṇa matkṛte
lobhāt tu matkṛtaṃ nūnaṃ nānugacchasi rāghavam

English

You wish to see Rama perish,
Lakshmana, for my sake;
surely it is greed, for my sake,
that keeps you from following Raghava.

॥ 3.45.9b–10a ॥

CrEd 3.43.9

silent moment

॥ 3.45.11b–13a ॥

CrEd 3.43.10–11

Lakshmana

Sanskrit

देवि देवमनुष्येषु गन्धर्वेषु पतत्रिषु ।
राक्षसेषु पिशाचेषु किंनरेषु मृगेषु च ।
दानवेषु च घोरेषु न स विद्येत शोभने ।
यो रामं प्रतियुध्येत समरे वासवोपमम् ॥

devi devamanuṣyeṣu gandharveṣu patatriṣu
rākṣaseṣu piśāceṣu kiṃnareṣu mṛgeṣu ca
dānaveṣu ca ghoreṣu na sa vidyeta śobhane
yo rāmaṃ pratiyudhyeta samare vāsavopamam

English

Lady, among gods and men,
among gandharvas and birds,
rakshasas and pishachas,
kinnaras and beasts,
and the terrible danavas,
there is none, O lovely one,
who could fight back against Rama,
Indra’s equal in battle.

॥ 3.45.13b–14a ॥

CrEd 3.43.12

Lakshmana

Sanskrit

अवध्यः समरे रामो नैवं त्वं वक्तुम् अर्हसि ।
न त्वाम् अस्मिन् वने हातुम् उत्सहे राघवं विना ॥

avadhyaḥ samare rāmo naivaṃ tvaṃ vaktum arhasi
na tvām asmin vane hātum utsahe rāghavaṃ vinā

English

Rama cannot be slain in battle;
you should not speak this way.
I cannot bring myself to leave you
in this forest, with Raghava gone.

॥ 3.45.15b–16a ॥

CrEd 3.43.14

Lakshmana

Sanskrit

हृदयं निर्वृतं तेऽस्तु संतापस् त्यज्यताम् अयम् ।
आगमिष्यति ते भर्ता शीघ्रं हत्वा मृगोत्तमम् ॥

hṛdayaṃ nirvṛtaṃ te 'stu saṃtāpas tyajyatām ayam
āgamiṣyati te bhartā śīghraṃ hatvā mṛgottamam

English

Let your heart be at peace;
let this burning grief be put away.
Your husband will soon return,
when he has slain that finest deer.

॥ 3.45.15b–16a ॥

CrEd 3.43.14

silent moment

Part 2

The forest deities

Valmiki 3.45.16–40 (CrEd 3.43.15–37)

॥ 3.45.16b–17a ॥

CrEd 3.43.15

Lakshmana

Sanskrit

न स तस्य स्वरो व्यक्तं न कश् चिद् अपि दैवतः ।
गन्धर्वनगरप्रख्या माया सा तस्य रक्षसः ॥

na sa tasya svaro vyaktaṃ na kaś cid api daivataḥ
gandharvanagaraprakhyā māyā sā tasya rakṣasaḥ

English

That was plainly not his voice,
nor was it any god’s;
like a city of the gandharvas,
it was that rakshasa’s illusion.

॥ 3.45.17b–18a ॥

CrEd 3.43.16

Lakshmana

Sanskrit

न्यासभूतासि वैदेहि न्यस्ता मयि महात्मना ।
रामेण त्वं वरारोहे न त्वां त्यक्तुम् इहोत्सहे ॥

nyāsabhūtāsi vaidehi nyastā mayi mahātmanā
rāmeṇa tvaṃ varārohe na tvāṃ tyaktum ihotsahe

English

You are a trust, Vaidehi,
placed in my keeping by great-souled
Rama; O lady of fair form,
I cannot bring myself to leave you here.

॥ 3.45.20 ॥

CrEd 3.43.19

silent moment

॥ 3.45.21b–22a ॥

CrEd 3.43.20

Sita

Sanskrit

अनार्य करुणारम्भ नृशंस कुलपांसन ।
अहं तव प्रियं मन्ये रामस्य व्यसनं महत् ॥

anārya karuṇārambha nṛśaṃsa kulapāṃsana
ahaṃ tava priyaṃ manye rāmasya vyasanaṃ mahat

English

Ignoble one, pitiless in your deeds,
cruel one, disgrace to your house!
I think that Rama’s great disaster
is a thing dear to you.

॥ 3.45.24 ॥

CrEd 3.43.22

Sita

Sanskrit

सुदुष्टस् त्वं वने रामम् एकम् एकोऽनुगच्छसि ।
मम हेतोः प्रतिच्छन्नः प्रयुक्तो भरतेन वा ॥

suduṣṭas tvaṃ vane rāmam ekam eko 'nugacchasi
mama hetoḥ praticchannaḥ prayukto bharatena vā

English

Utterly wicked, you followed Rama
into the forest, you alone, him alone,
for my sake, with your purpose hidden,
or else set on by Bharata.

॥ 3.45.25–26a ॥

CrEd 3.43.23

3.45.25a: popular text only · not in the CrEd

Sita

Sanskrit

तन् न सिद्ध्यति सौमित्रे तवापि भरतस्य वा ।
कथम् इन्दीवरश्यामं रामं पद्मनिभेक्षणम् ।
उपसंश्रित्य भर्तारं कामयेयं पृथग् जनम् ॥

tan na siddhyati saumitre tavāpi bharatasya vā
katham indīvaraśyāmaṃ rāmaṃ padmanibhekṣaṇam
upasaṃśritya bhartāraṃ kāmayeyaṃ pṛthag janam

English

That shall not come to pass, Saumitri,
for you, nor yet for Bharata.
How could I, who have Rama,
dark as the blue lotus, lotus-eyed,
for my husband and my refuge,
desire some common man?

॥ 3.45.27b–28a ॥

CrEd 3.43.25

silent moment

॥ 3.45.28b ॥

CrEd 3.43.26ab

Lakshmana

Sanskrit

उत्तरं नोत्सहे वक्तुं दैवतं भवती मम ॥

uttaraṃ notsahe vaktuṃ daivataṃ bhavatī mama

English

I cannot bring myself to answer;
you are a deity to me.

॥ 3.45.29–30a ॥

CrEd 3.43.26cd–27

condensed from 3.45.29–30a

Lakshmana

Sanskrit

वाक्यम् अप्रतिरूपं तु न चित्रं स्त्रीषु मैथिलि ।
स्वभावस् त्व् एष नारीणाम् एषु लोकेषु दृश्यते ।
विमुक्तधर्माश् चपलास् तीक्ष्णा भेदकराः स्त्रियः ॥

vākyam apratirūpaṃ tu na citraṃ strīṣu maithili
svabhāvas tv eṣa nārīṇām eṣu lokeṣu dṛśyate
vimuktadharmāś capalās tīkṣṇā bhedakarāḥ striyaḥ

English

Unfitting words are no wonder
in women, Maithili;
this is the nature of women,
seen throughout these worlds:
loosed from dharma, fickle,
sharp, are women, sowers of discord.

॥ 3.45.32b–33a ॥

CrEd 3.43.29

Lakshmana

Sanskrit

धिक् त्वाम् अद्य प्रणश्यन्तीं यन् माम् एवं विशङ्कसे ।
स्त्रीत्वाद् दुष्टस्वभावेन गुरुवाक्ये व्यवस्थितम् ॥

dhik tvām adya praṇaśyantīṃ yan mām evaṃ viśaṅkase
strītvād duṣṭasvabhāvena guruvākye vyavasthitam

English

Shame on you, who are lost today,
that you suspect me so,
from a woman’s evil nature,
me, who stand by my elder’s word.

॥ 3.45.33b–34a ॥

CrEd 3.43.30

Lakshmana

Sanskrit

गमिष्ये यत्र काकुत्स्थः स्वस्ति तेऽस्तु वरानने ।
रक्षन्तु त्वां विशालाक्षि समग्रा वनदेवताः ॥

gamiṣye yatra kākutsthaḥ svasti te 'stu varānane
rakṣantu tvāṃ viśālākṣi samagrā vanadevatāḥ

English

I will go where Kakutstha is.
May it be well with you, fair-faced one.
May they guard you, wide-eyed lady,
all the deities of the forest.

॥ 3.45.34b-c ॥

CrEd 3.43.31

Lakshmana

Sanskrit

निमित्तानि हि घोराणि यानि प्रादुर्भवन्ति मे ।
अपि त्वां सह रामेण पश्येयं पुनर् आगतः ॥

nimittāni hi ghorāṇi yāni prādurbhavanti me
api tvāṃ saha rāmeṇa paśyeyaṃ punar āgataḥ

English

For the omens that rise before me
are terrible indeed.
Will I see you with Rama
when I come back again?

॥ 3.45.35 ॥

CrEd 3.43.32

silent moment

॥ 3.45.36 ॥

CrEd 3.43.33

Sita

Sanskrit

गोदावरीं प्रवेक्ष्यामि हीना रामेण लक्ष्मण ।
आबन्धिष्येऽथवा त्यक्ष्ये विषमे देहम् आत्मनः ॥

godāvarīṃ pravekṣyāmi hīnā rāmeṇa lakṣmaṇa
ābandhiṣye 'thavā tyakṣye viṣame deham ātmanaḥ

English

Into the Godavari I will go,
bereft of Rama, Lakshmana;
or I will hang myself, or cast away
my body from some rugged height.

॥ 3.45.37 ॥

CrEd 3.43.34

Sita

Sanskrit

पिबामि वा विषं तीक्ष्णं प्रवेक्ष्यामि हुताशनम् ।
न त्व् अहं राघवाद् अन्यं कदापि पुरुषं स्पृशे ॥

pibāmi vā viṣaṃ tīkṣṇaṃ pravekṣyāmi hutāśanam
na tv ahaṃ rāghavād anyaṃ kadāpi puruṣaṃ spṛśe

English

Or I will drink sharp poison,
or I will enter the fire;
but never will I touch
any man but Raghava.

॥ 3.45.38 ॥

CrEd 3.43.35

silent moment

॥ 3.45.39 ॥

CrEd 3.43.36

silent moment

॥ 3.45.40 ॥

CrEd 3.43.37

silent moment

॥ 3.45.40 ॥

CrEd 3.43.37

silent moment

In other Hindu scriptures

The line on the ground (Lakshman Rekha)

Ananda Ramayana, Sara 7.98–106; Tulsidas, Ramcharitmanas 6.35.1 · not in Valmiki

Valmiki: Lakshmana commends her to the forest deities and goes (CrEd 3.43.30, 37)