Sita Says Her Life Will Not Remain in Ayodhya
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 66
Doha 66 · Movement 2 of 2
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Sita calls upon the friend of the helpless, beautiful giver of joy and treasury of grace. Her plea rests in Ram's compassion rather than in a claim of personal strength.
If he leaves her in Ayodhya for fourteen years, her life breath will not remain. The statement is certainty, not threat.
Body and beloved cannot be separated in Sita's understanding of marriage. Ram asks her to survive safely within the palace, but safety without the principle of life is impossible. She does not choose forest over home; she chooses the condition in which life can continue at all.
Sita cannot promise to live where Ram is absent, for her breath already follows the forest road beside him.
Read the passage from the Manas
राखिअ अवध जो अवधि लगि रहत न जनिअहिं प्रान। दीनबंधु संदर सुखद सील सनेह निधान।।66।।
O friend of the helpless! O beautiful one! O giver of joy! O treasure of grace and love! If you keep me in Ayodhya for fourteen years, know this for certain: my life-breath will not remain.