Chapter 53 - Sita censures Ravana

Finding herself borne through space, Maithili, the daughter of Janaka, greatly alarmed and filled with distress, in an access of fear, her eyes red with tears and indignation, her voice broken by sobs, addressed that ferocious King of the Titans who was bearing her away, in plaintive tones, saying:—,

“O Base Wretch, art you not ashamed of this act? Knowing me to be alone, you have laid hands on me and carried me away. O Sinful Being, you it was who, seeking to abduct me, didst in the form of a deer lure my lord away by the power of illusion.

“The King of the Vultures, that friend of my father-in-law, who sought to defend me, lies slain! Verily you have shown great courage, O Last of the Titans I To thine eternal shame, you didst not win me in fair fight but without disclosing your name! Dost you not blush to commit such an outrage? Wretch that you are, to bear away a woman who is defenceless and the wife of another! Your dishonourable exploit will be proclaimed throughout the worlds. Cursed be you, O Infamous Barbarian, who boasts of thine heroism! Cursed be such valour and prowess, O You, the Obloquy of your Race, cursed be you in the world, for your conduct! How should any restrain you who fleest so precipitately? Halt but for an instant and your life is forfeit! Should you come within the range of those two Kings of Men, you wouldst not survive for a single moment even were you supported by an army! As a bird is not able to bear the blazing forest fire, neither couldst you withstand the least of their shafts; therefore, for thine own good, release me instantly, O Ravana!

“Provoked by mine abduction, my lord with the aid of his brother will strive to destroy you if you dost not let me go. Thine evil intention, on account of which you dost seek to bear me away, that vile purpose, will never find fulfilment; for even were I never again to see my lord, who is endowed with supreme wisdom and should fall a victim to an enemy, I should not survive long.

“You dost disregard thine own good and resemblest one who, in his last hour, chooses what is fatal to him; none who desires his end courts that which will save him. I see the noose of death about your neck, since you dost not tremble in this exigency, O Titan. Without doubt, you shalt see those golden trees, with leaves like sharp swords and the dreadful river Vaitarani flowing with blood and the terrible forest and Shamali tree, with its flowers of refined gold and its leaves of emerald, bristling with iron thorns.

“Having offered this affront to the high-souled Rama, you shalt not survive the poison that you have swallowed, O Merciless One. You are caught fast in the noose of death; whither will you turn for refuge from my magnanimous lord? He who, in the twinkling of an eye, without his brother, destroyed fourteen thousand demons in combat, how should that hero, issue of the House of Raghu, skilled in the use of every weapon, full of valour, not pierce you with his pointed shafts, you who hast carried away his beloved spouse?”

With these defiant words and others uttered in plaintive tones, Vaidehi, borne away in Ravana’s arms, addressed him, though filled with grief and fear. Yet, despite her distress and lamentations, Ravana continued on his way, bearing that sweet and gentle princess, still struggling to break free.