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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.33.10
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 33: Bark garments over Sītā’s silk. Rāma declines royal provisions and helps Sītā fasten her bark clothing, Daśaratha protests her humiliation
In the sequence: Sītā does not know how to wear hers and asks Rāma for help → he fastens it over her silk clothing, provoking an outcry from those watching
2.33.10
sā vyapatrapamāṇeva pratigṛhya ca durmanāḥ
gandharvarājapratimaṃ bhartāram idam abravīt
kathaṃ nu cīraṃ badhnanti munayo vanavāsinaḥ
As if abashed and downcast at heart, she took it and said to her husband, who was like the king of the gandharvas: “How, pray, do the forest-dwelling sages fasten on the bark-garment?”
Words: sā — she; vyapatrapamāṇeva — as if abashed; pratigṛhya — having taken; ca — and; durmanāḥ — downcast, sad at heart; gandharvarājapratimaṃ — like the king of the gandharvas; bhartāram — to her husband; idam — this; abravīt — said; kathaṃ — how; nu — pray; cīraṃ — the bark-garment; badhnanti — do they tie, fasten; munayo — sages; vanavāsinaḥ — forest-dwelling
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.