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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.43.23

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 43: Lakṣmaṇa leaves Sītā. He identifies the cry as deception, but her accusations overcome his resolve to stay and he departs toward Rāma

In the sequence: Sītā grows angrier, accusing him either of pursuing her himself or of acting for Bharata → she insists that she would die rather than belong to another man.

3.43.23

katham indīvaraśyāmaṃ rāmaṃ padmanibhekṣaṇam
upasaṃśritya bhartāraṃ kāmayeyaṃ pṛthag janam

How, having taken Rāma as my husband — dark as a blue lotus, his eyes like lotuses — could I ever desire a common man?

Words: katham — how; indīvaraśyāmaṃ — dark as a blue lotus; rāmaṃ — Rāma; padmanibhekṣaṇam — with eyes like lotuses; upasaṃśritya — having taken refuge in, resorted to; bhartāraṃ — husband; kāmayeyaṃ — could I desire; pṛthag — a common, an ordinary; janam — man

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.