When Seeta heard this unexpected speech, her love for Raama manifested itself as
anger that he should for a moment conceive that she could consent to part from him and
live in comfort in the palace while he was a homeless wanderer in pathless forests.
"A fine speech you have made, Knower of dharma. It is to me a strange doctrine that a
wife is diverse from her husband and that his duty is not hers, and that she has no right
to share in it. I can never accept it.
I hold that your fortunes are mine, and if
Raama has to go to the forest, the command includes Seeta also, who is a part of him. I
shall walk in front of you in the forest ways and tread the thorns and the hard ground to
make them smooth for your feet. Do not think me obstinate. My father and mother have
instructed me in dharma. What you tell me is totally opposed to what they have taught me. |
