# Araṇya Kāṇḍa 51 — Sītā condemns the deception *She connects the golden deer with her abduction, challenges Rāvaṇa to face the brothers and warns him to release her* Portion: Sītā’s resistance and confinement in Laṅkā · Verses: 25 · Ref format: 3.51. ## Sequence - As Rāvaṇa carries her through the sky, Sītā accuses him of stealing her in the brothers' absence (51.1–3) - she connects the deer deception with the abduction and condemns his attack on the bird who tried to save her (51.4) - she says his boasts are worthless because he has not won her in an open contest, and challenges him to stop and face the brothers (51.5–11) - she urges him to release her for his own safety, warning that Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa will destroy him otherwise (51.12–13) - she says she cannot endure long separation from Rāma (51.14) - she interprets Rāvaṇa's refusal of sound advice as a sign that death is near, invoking the river and tortures of the world of punishment (51.15–21) - she recalls Rāma's destruction of the fourteen thousand and insists that he can kill her abductor too → Rāvaṇa continues carrying her as she struggles and laments (51.22–25). ## Verses **3.51.1** kham utpatantaṃ taṃ dṛṣṭvā maithilī janakātmajā duḥkhitā paramodvignā bhaye mahati vartinī Seeing him flying up into the sky, Maithilī, Janaka's daughter, grieved and utterly distraught, in the grip of great fear, **3.51.2** roṣarodanatāmrākṣī bhīmākṣaṃ rākṣasādhipam rudatī karuṇaṃ sītā hriyamāṇedam abravīt her eyes coppery-red with angry weeping, Sītā, weeping piteously as she was carried off, spoke this to the fearsome-eyed lord of rākṣasas: **3.51.3** na vyapatrapase nīca karmaṇānena rāvaṇa jñātvā virahitāṃ yo māṃ corayitvā palāyase 'Are you not ashamed of this deed, base Rāvaṇa—you who, knowing me forsaken, steal me away and flee? **3.51.4** tvayaiva nūnaṃ duṣṭātman bhīruṇā hartum icchatā mamāpavāhito bhartā mṛgarūpeṇa māyayā yo hi mām udyatas trātuṃ so 'py ayaṃ vinipātitaḥ Surely by you alone, evil-souled coward wishing to abduct me, was my husband lured away by magic in the guise of a deer; and even he who rose to save me has been struck down. **3.51.5** paramaṃ khalu te vīryaṃ dṛśyate rākṣasādhama viśrāvya nāmadheyaṃ hi yuddhe nāsti jitā tvayā Truly a supreme valour of yours is on display, vilest of rākṣasas!—for, though you proclaim your name aloud, in fair battle you have won nothing. **3.51.6** īdṛśaṃ garhitaṃ karma kathaṃ kṛtvā na lajjase striyāś ca haraṇaṃ nīca rahite ca parasya ca Having done such a contemptible deed, how are you not ashamed—the carrying off of a woman, base one, in a lonely place, and the wife of another at that! **3.51.7** kathayiṣyanti lokeṣu puruṣāḥ karma kutsitam sunṛśaṃsam adharmiṣṭhaṃ tava śauṇḍīryamāninaḥ Men throughout the worlds will tell of the contemptible deed—most cruel, most unrighteous—of you who fancy yourself valiant. **3.51.8** dhik te śauryaṃ ca sattvaṃ ca yat tvayā kathitaṃ tadā kulākrośakaraṃ loke dhik te cāritram īdṛśam Shame on your heroism and courage of which you boasted then! Shame on such conduct of yours, that brings reproach upon your line in the world. **3.51.9** kiṃ śakyaṃ kartum evaṃ hi yaj javenaiva dhāvasi muhūrtam api tiṣṭhasva na jīvan pratiyāsyasi What can be done, since you flee at such speed? Stand still even for a moment—you will not go back alive! **3.51.10** na hi cakṣuḥpathaṃ prāpya tayoḥ pārthivaputrayoḥ sasainyo 'pi samartaḥs tvaṃ muhūrtam api jīvitum For once you come within the sight of those two princes, you, even with an army, would not be able to live even a moment. **3.51.11** na tvaṃ tayoḥ śarasparśaṃ soḍhuṃ śaktaḥ kathaṃ cana vane prajvalitasyeva sparśam agner vihaṃgamaḥ You will in no way be able to endure the touch of their arrows, as a bird cannot endure the touch of blazing fire in the forest. **3.51.12** sādhu kṛtvātmanaḥ pathyaṃ sādhu māṃ muñca rāvaṇa matpradharṣaṇaruṣṭo hi bhrātrā saha patir mama vidhāsyati vināśāya tvaṃ māṃ yadi na muñcasi Do rightly by your own welfare; kindly release me, Rāvaṇa. For my husband, enraged at my molestation, together with his brother will contrive your destruction if you do not let me go. **3.51.13** yena tvaṃ vyavasāyena balān māṃ hartum icchasi vyavasāyaḥ sa te nīca bhaviṣyati nirarthakaḥ The resolve with which you seek to carry me off by force—that resolve of yours, base one, will come to nothing. **3.51.14** na hy ahaṃ tam apaśyantī bhartāraṃ vibudhopamam utsahe śatruvaśagā prāṇān dhārayituṃ ciram For not seeing that husband of mine, who is like a god, and fallen into the enemy's power, I cannot bear to keep hold of my life for long. **3.51.15** na nūnaṃ cātmanaḥ śreyaḥ pathyaṃ vā samavekṣase mṛtyukāle yathā martyo viparītāni sevate Surely you regard neither your own good nor your welfare—just as a mortal at the hour of death takes to perverse things. **3.51.16** mumūrṣūṇāṃ hi sarveṣāṃ yat pathyaṃ tan na rocate paśyāmīva hi kaṇṭhe tvāṃ kālapāśāvapāśitam For to all who are about to die, what is wholesome gives no pleasure; and I seem to see you with the noose of Death fastened round your throat. **3.51.17** yathā cāsmin bhayasthāne na bibheṣe daśānana vyaktaṃ hiraṇmayān hi tvaṃ saṃpaśyasi mahīruhān And since in this place of peril you feel no fear, ten-faced one, plainly you are seeing the trees as if made of gold. **3.51.18** nadīṃ vairataṇīṃ ghorāṃ rudhiraughanivāhinīm khaḍgapatravanaṃ caiva bhīmaṃ paśyasi rāvaṇa You behold the dread river Vaitaraṇī flowing with a flood of blood, and the fearsome forest of sword-leaves, Rāvaṇa. **3.51.19** taptakāñcanapuṣpāṃ ca vaidūryapravaracchadām drakṣyase śālmalīṃ tīkṣṇām āyasaiḥ kaṇṭakaiś citām And you shall behold the cruel śālmalī tree, its flowers of molten gold and its leaves of choice beryl, thickly set with iron thorns. **3.51.20** na hi tvam īdṛśaṃ kṛtvā tasyālīkaṃ mahātmanaḥ dhārituṃ śakṣyasi ciraṃ viṣaṃ pītveva nirghṛṇaḥ For having done such a wrong to that great-souled one, you will not be able to survive long, pitiless one, as though you had drunk poison. **3.51.21** baddhas tvaṃ kālapāśena durnivāreṇa rāvaṇa kva gato lapsyase śarma bhartur mama mahātmanaḥ Bound by the inescapable noose of Death, Rāvaṇa, where can you go to find refuge from my great-souled husband? **3.51.22** nimeṣāntaramātreṇa vinā bhrātaram āhave rākṣasā nihatā yena sahasrāṇi caturdaśa By whom, in but the space of a wink, without his brother, fourteen thousand rākṣasas were slain in battle— **3.51.23** sa kathaṃ rāghavo vīraḥ sarvāstrakuśalo balī na tvāṃ hanyāc charais tīkṣṇair iṣṭabhāryāpahāriṇam how should that heroic Rāghava, skilled in all weapons and mighty, not slay you with his sharp arrows—you who abduct his beloved wife? **3.51.24** etac cānyac ca paruṣaṃ vaidehī rāvaṇāṅkagā bhayaśokasamāviṣṭā karuṇaṃ vilalāpa ha This and much else harsh Vaidehī, upon Rāvaṇa's lap, filled with fear and grief, piteously lamented. **3.51.25** tathā bhṛśārtāṃ bahu caiva bhāṣiṇīṃ vilalāpa pūrvaṃ karuṇaṃ ca bhāminīm jahāra pāpas taruṇīṃ viveṣṭatīṃ nṛpātmajām āgatagātravepathum So the sinful one bore off that beautiful young woman—sorely afflicted, speaking much, who had lamented piteously before, the king's daughter, writhing and twisting, her limbs seized with trembling.