Ramayana, Book II, Canto 29: Sítá’s Appealअयोध्याकाण्डम्

Ralph T. H. Griffith’s English verse (1870–74), beside the Sanskrit of sarga 2.29.

29Sanskrit sarga 2.29 · Sanskrit source · English source

Sanskrit

श्रीमद्वाल्मीकियरामायणे अयोध्याकाण्डे एकोनत्रिंशः सर्गः ॥२-२९॥
एतत् तु वचनं श्रुत्वा सीता रामस्य दुःखिता।
प्रसक्ताश्रुमुखी मन्दमिदं वचनमब्रवीत्॥ १॥
ये त्वया कीर्तिता दोषा वने वस्तव्यतां प्रति।
गुणानित्येव तान् विद्धि तव स्नेहपुरस्कृता॥ २॥
मृगाः सिंहा गजाश्चैव शार्दूलाः शरभास्तथा।
चमराः सृमराश्चैव ये चान्ये वनचारिणः॥ ३॥
अदृष्टपूर्वरूपत्वात् सर्वे ते तव राघव।
रूपं दृष्ट्वापसर्पेयुस्तव सर्वे हि बिभ्यति॥ ४॥
त्वया च सह गन्तव्यं मया गुरुजनाज्ञया।
त्वद्वियोगेन मे राम त्यक्तव्यमिह जीवितम्॥ ५॥
नहि मां त्वत्समीपस्थामपि शक्रोऽपि राघव।
सुराणामीश्वरः शक्तः प्रधर्षयितुमोजसा॥ ६॥
पतिहीना तु या नारी न सा शक्ष्यति जीवितुम्।
काममेवंविधं राम त्वया मम निदर्शितम्॥ ७॥
अथापि च महाप्राज्ञ ब्राह्मणानां मया श्रुतम्।
पुरा पितृगृहे सत्यं वस्तव्यं किल मे वने॥ ८॥
लक्षणिभ्यो द्विजातिभ्यः श्रुत्वाहं वचनं गृहे।
वनवासकृतोत्साहा नित्यमेव महाबल॥ ९॥
आदेशो वनवासस्य प्राप्तव्यः स मया किल।
सा त्वया सह भर्त्राहं यास्यामि प्रिय नान्यथा॥ १०॥
कृतादेशा भविष्यामि गमिष्यामि त्वया सह।
कालश्चायं समुत्पन्नः सत्यवान् भवतु द्विजः॥ ११॥
वनवासे हि जानामि दुःखानि बहुधा किल।
प्राप्यन्ते नियतं वीर पुरुषैरकृतात्मभिः॥ १२॥
कन्यया च पितुर्गेहे वनवासः श्रुतो मया।
भिक्षिण्याः शमवृत्ताया मम मातुरिहाग्रतः॥ १३॥
प्रसादितश्च वै पूर्वं त्वं मे बहुतिथं प्रभो।
गमनं वनवासस्य कांक्षितं हि सह त्वया॥ १४॥
कृतक्षणाहं भद्रं ते गमनं प्रति राघव।
वनवासस्य शूरस्य मम चर्या हि रोचते॥ १५॥
शुद्धात्मन् प्रेमभावाद्धि भविष्यामि विकल्मषा।
भर्तारमनुगच्छन्ती भर्ता हि परदैवतम्॥ १६॥
प्रेत्यभावे हि कल्याणः संगमो मे सदा त्वया।
श्रुतिर्हि श्रूयते पुण्या ब्राह्मणानां यशस्विनाम्॥ १७॥
इहलोके च पितृभिर्या स्त्री यस्य महाबल।
अद्भिर्दत्ता स्वधर्मेण प्रेत्यभावेऽपि तस्य सा॥ १८॥
एवमस्मात् स्वकां नारीं सुवृत्तां हि पतिव्रताम्।
नाभिरोचयसे नेतुं त्वं मां केनेह हेतुना॥ १९॥
भक्तां पतिव्रतां दीनां मां समां सुखदुःखयोः।
नेतुमर्हसि काकुत्स्थ समानसुखदुःखिनीम्॥ २०॥
यदि मां दुःखितामेवं वनं नेतुं न चेच्छसि।
विषमग्निं जलं वाहमास्थास्ये मृत्युकारणात्॥ २१॥
एवं बहुविधं तं सा याचते गमनं प्रति।
नानुमेने महाबाहुस्तां नेतुं विजनं वनम्॥ २२॥
एवमुक्ता तु सा चिन्तां मैथिली समुपागता।
स्नापयन्तीव गामुष्णैरश्रुभिर्नयनच्युतैः॥ २३॥
चिन्तयन्तीं तदा तां तु निवर्तयितुमात्मवान्।
क्रोधाविष्टां तु वैदेहीं काकुत्स्थो बह्वसान्त्वयत्॥ २४॥
इत्यार्षे श्रीमद्रामायणे वाल्मीकीये आदिकाव्ये अयोध्याकाण्डे एकोनत्रिंशः सर्गः ॥२-२९॥

English Griffith

Thus Ráma spake. Her lord’s address
The lady heard with deep distress,
And, as the tear bedimmed her eye,
In soft low accents made reply:
“The perils of the wood, and all
The woes thou countest to appal,
Led by my love I deem not pain;
Each woe a charm, each loss a gain.
Tiger, and elephant, and deer,
Bull, lion, buffalo, in fear,
Soon as thy matchless form they see,
With every silvan beast will flee.
With thee, O Ráma, I must go:
My sire’s command ordains it so.
Bereft of thee, my lonely heart
Must break, and life and I must part.
While thou, O mighty lord, art nigh,
Not even He who rules the sky,
Though He is strongest of the strong,
With all his might can do me wrong.
Nor can a lonely woman left
By her dear husband live bereft.
In my great love, my lord, I ween,
The truth of this thou mayst have seen.
In my sire’s palace long ago
I heard the chief of those who know,
The truth-declaring Bráhmans, tell
My fortune, in the wood to dwell.
I heard their promise who divine
The future by each mark and sign,
And from that hour have longed to lead
The forest life their lips decreed.
Now, mighty Ráma, I must share
Thy father’s doom which sends thee there;
In this I will not be denied,
But follow, love, where thou shalt guide.
O husband, I will go with thee,
Obedient to that high decree.
Now let the Bráhmans’ words be true,
For this the time they had in view.
I know full well the wood has woes;
But they disturb the lives of those
Who in the forest dwell, nor hold
Their rebel senses well controlled.
In my sire’s halls, ere I was wed,
I heard a dame who begged her bread
Before my mother’s face relate
What griefs a forest life await.
And many a time in sport I prayed
To seek with thee the greenwood shade,
For O, my heart on this is set,
To follow thee, dear anchoret.
May blessings on thy life attend:
I long with thee my steps to bend,
For with such hero as thou art
This pilgrimage enchants my heart.
Still close, my lord, to thy dear side
My spirit will be purified:
Love from all sin my soul will free:
My husband is a God to me.
So, love, with thee shall I have bliss
And share the life that follows this.
I heard a Bráhman, dear to fame,
This ancient Scripture text proclaim:
“The woman whom on earth below
Her parents on a man bestow,
And lawfully their hands unite
With water and each holy rite,
She in this world shall be his wife,
His also in the after life.”
Then tell me, O beloved, why
Thou wilt this earnest prayer deny,
Nor take me with thee to the wood,
Thine own dear wife so true and good.
But if thou wilt not take me there
Thus grieving in my wild despair,
To fire or water I will fly,
Or to the poisoned draught, and die.”

So thus to share his exile, she
Besought him with each earnest plea,
Nor could she yet her lord persuade
To take her to the lonely shade.
The answer of the strong-armed chief
Smote the Videhan’s soul with grief,
And from her eyes the torrents came
bathing the bosom of the dame.