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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.24.9

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: she reminds him that her parents have already taught her her responsibilities and says she can live happily in the forest while caring for him

2.24.9

sukhaṃ vane nivatsyāmi yathaiva bhavane pituḥ
acintayantī trīṃl lokāṃś cintayantī pativratam

I shall dwell happily in the forest, just as in my father's house, giving no thought to the three worlds, thinking only of devotion to my husband.

Words: sukhaṃ — happily; vane — in the forest; nivatsyāmi — I shall dwell; yathaiva — just as; bhavane pituḥ — in my father's house; acintayantī — not thinking of; trīṃl lokāṃś — the three worlds; cintayantī — thinking of; pativratam — devotion to my husband

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. 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.