← 2.24.2 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 24: Sītā claims a share in the exile · 2.24.4 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.24.3

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 24: Sītā claims a share in the exile. She insists that a wife shares her husband’s fate and chooses forest hardship with Rāma over comfort without him

In the sequence: Sītā objects that a wife shares her husband's fortune, so the exile applies to her too

2.24.3

bhartur bhāgyaṃ tu bhāryaikā prāpnoti puruṣarṣabha
ataś caivāham ādiṣṭā vane vastavyam ity api

But the wife alone obtains the fortune of her husband, O bull among men; and therefore I too am enjoined that I must dwell in the forest.

Words: bhartur bhāgyaṃ — the husband's fortune; tu — but; bhāryaikā — the wife alone; prāpnoti — obtains; puruṣarṣabha — O bull among men; ataś caivāham — and therefore I; ādiṣṭā — enjoined, directed; vane — in the forest; vastavyam — it is to be dwelt; ity api — even so

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.