← 2.24.3 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 24: Sītā claims a share in the exile · 2.24.5 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.24.4
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
2.24.4
na pitā nātmajo nātmā na mātā na sakhījanaḥ
iha pretya ca nārīṇāṃ patir eko gatiḥ sadā
Not father, not son, not oneself, not mother, not friends—for women, here and in the hereafter, the husband alone is ever the refuge.
Words: na pitā — not the father; nātmajo — not the son; nātmā — not oneself; na mātā — not the mother; na sakhījanaḥ — not friends; iha — here (in this world); pretya ca — and after death; nārīṇāṃ — of women; patir eko — the husband alone; gatiḥ — refuge, recourse; sadā — always
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.