Episode 11 - Sita’s condemnation of Ravana and her advice to him

Sita was, all the while, crying and thinking of her husband. She threw a blade of grass between her and Ravana to serve as a barrier and responded to the Demon King thus:

“As a sinner cannot hope to reach Heaven, you cannot hope to seek me. Therefore, turn your mind away from me and focus it on your wives. I am the devoted wife of my husband, Rama. I have a high birth and entered by marriage a noble family; I cannot be impure.”

So saying, Sita turned her back on Ravana and continued: “Just as your wives are to be protected along with their character, so is the case with others' wives. Your mind is crooked and perverted. Are there no holy men in this land who can teach you morals? If there are any, do you not care to listen to them? The prosperous Lanka, by having a sinner like you as King, will soon meet with destruction. The whole world, especially those that have been injured by you, will rejoice at your fall brought about by your own misdeeds. Just as light cannot be separated from the sun, I cannot be separated from Rama. Just as the Vedas belong to a pious well-disciplined Brahmin initiated into them, I belong to Rama, the King of the Earth. Therefore, O Ravana, unite me with my husband and he will pardon you. His nature, his vow, is such that he will protect any one who seeks his refuge.”

Sita continued: “You wretched fellow! Knowing that Rama had killed thousands of Rakshasas at Janasthan and not able to face him, you entered my place like a thief, by diverting Rama and Lakshmana away from me, and kidnapped me. When you scent their presence in the battle-field, you cannot stand before them any more than a dog can stand before tigers. Even if you flee to some other world, Rama's arrows will follow you and pierce you.”