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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.27.20

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 27: Rāma agrees that Sītā will accompany him. Sītā rejects separation despite every hardship, Rāma agrees to take her and asks her to distribute their possessions

In the sequence: unable to imagine enduring fourteen years apart, she again threatens death, embraces him, and breaks down

2.27.20

idaṃ hi sahituṃ śokaṃ muhūrtam api notsahe
kiṃ punar daśavarṣāṇi trīṇi caikaṃ ca duḥkhitā

This grief I cannot bear even for a moment—how much less, in misery, for fourteen years!

Words: idaṃ — this; hi — indeed; sahituṃ — to endure; śokaṃ — grief; muhūrtam — a moment; api — even; notsahe — I cannot bear; kiṃ punar — how much less; daśavarṣāṇi — ten years; trīṇi — three; caikaṃ — and one; ca — and; duḥkhitā — grieving, in misery

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.