Rāmāyana | Āraṇya Kaṇḍa | Chapter 9
9. Sītā Advises Rāma
[Sītā feels that Rāma should not get in to killing spree of Rākṣasas without any enmity with them. She illustrates this with an instance of a great sage getting a sword from Indra and using it to kill others and then he goes to hell.]
Addressing the son of the Raghu clan who was going forth after taking permission from Sutīkṣṇa, Vaidehī told these friendly words from her heart. 9.1
"Your great self will not attain Dharma if we are examining it minutely in this world by acting based on your desires." 9.2
"By taking recourse to one's desires three things are attained and these are telling untrue words which is very bad, desiring someone else's wife and getting angry without enmity." 9.3
"Since in the past you never told untrue words, it cannot be there in future and Oh Rāghava, how can desiring some else's wife which destroys dharma be in you?" 9.4
"Oh king among men, that never was within your heart and never it will be there, Oh Rāma, Oh prince as you are always interested in your wife." 9.5-9.6
"You are a follower of Dharma, a teller of truth, follower of your father's words and in you Dharma, truth and everything good is established." 9.7
"And oh great man, for the one who has won over his senses, it is possible for you to shoulder all this and oh graceful one, I know well, about how you control your senses." 9.8
"The third one is torturing others only due to your anger which is done without your realizing it and I think that you are having it now." 9.9
"Oh valorous one, you have given your word to those sages who live in Daṇḍakāraṇya, that you would kill Rākṣasas for protecting the sages." 9.10
"Because you have arrived here with your brother armed with bow and arrows, this forest has got the name punishing forest." 9.11
"Seeing that my well prepared mind is filled with anxiety, for thinking about bearing, I think that which is not good for you would happen." 9.12
"Oh valorous one, I do not like you’re going to the Daṇḍaka forest and I will tell you the reason, please hear it." 9.13
"When you enter the forest armed with bow and arrow, along with your brother, would you not use those against those who travel in the forest." 9.14
"For the Kshatriyas, bow within their reach is like a fuel within reach of fire, for both increase the strength." 9.15
"Oh very strong one, long time back, there was a saint who was pure and truthful and that forest was occupied by birds and animals." 9.16
"Indra, the husband of Sachi came in the form of a soldier to the hermitage holding a great sword to create disturbance to the penance." 9.17
"He then gave that great sword to the hermitage for safe keeping, when the saint was sitting in penance." 9.18
'He who received that weapon, to protect the trust that was placed on him, moved about in the forest always keeping the sword with him." 9.19
"Wherever he goes, whether it is to collect fruits or roots, the saint who was interested in guarding it, did not go without the sword." 9.20
"That Saint rich in penance, slowly got in to the habit of carrying the weapon and he slowly got in to the habit of becoming angry losing his determination to do penance." 9.21
"And then with the constant company of the weapon, that sage started getting associated with acts which are not according to Dharma and went to hell." 9.22
"This is the story that happened due to the constant association with weapon showing association with weapon is like the fuel getting associated with fire." 9.23
"I am telling all this with love and respect and not reminding you or teaching you and request you not at any time hold your bow and kill the Rākṣasas who are living in Daṇḍaka without any enmity, for a hero does not like to kill anyone without an offence being committed." 9.24-9.25
"Those Kshatriyas and heroes who are habituated to stay in the forest, use their bow only to protect those who suffer." 9.26
"Where it the weapon? Where is the forest? Where is the principle of Kshatriyas? Where is penance? All these are inconsistent and so let us follow the laws of the land." 9.27
"By doing service to weapons, the mind gets maligned and you may follow the habit of Kshatriyas and go back to Ayodhyā." 9.28
"The Love of my father in law and my mother in law will live forever, if without bothering about the kingdom, you live a life of a saint." 9.29
"Wealth shines because of Dharma, pleasure shines because of Dharma, due to Dharma we would get everything and the entire essence of earth is Dharma." 9.30
This is the end of Ninth Sarga of Āraṇya Kanda which occurs in Holy Rāmāyaṇa composed by Vālmīki as the First Epic.