रामस्य दयिता भार्या नित्यं प्राणसमा हिता।
जनकस्य कुले जाता देवमायेव निर्मिता॥
rāmasya dayitā bhāryā nityaṁ prāṇa-samā hitā
janakasya kule jātā deva-māyeva nirmitā
rāmasya = Rāma’s; dayitā = dear; bhāryā = wife; nityam = was always; prāṇa-samā = equal to His [very] life; hitāḥ = engaged in doing good to all; janakasya = Janaka’s; kule = dynasty; jātā = She was born in; deva-māyā eva = as if by the Lord’s illusion; nirmitā= created.
Rāma’s dear wife was always equal to His [very] life and engaged in doing good to all. She was born in Janaka’s dynasty [and] was as if created by the Lord’s illusion.
1 This reveals that Sītā-devī’s beauty is the final limit of all beauty. But her supreme beauty was meant for Rāma’s enjoyment. This is where Rāvaṇa blundered: he wanted to enjoy Lord Rāma’s property and the rest is history.
Sītā is the mediator between the devotee aspiring to serve the Lord in the spiritual world and the object of service for the devotees in the spiritual world. Nārada Muni reveals that in this and the next verse.
Rāma is Himself very pleasing and His beloved Sītā was eternally bhāryā, maintained by Him, that is, kept by Him in His heart. This is because she is equal to His very life. She is always engaged in doing good to all. She will speak statements such as:
mitram aupayikaṁ kartuṁ rāmaḥ sthānaṁ parīpsatā
vadhaṁ cānicchatā ghoraṁ tvayāsau puruṣa-rṣabhaḥ
viditaḥ sa hi dharmajñaḥ śaraṇāgata-vatsalaḥ
[To Rāvaṇa:] “If you want safety and do not want a dreadful death, establish a useful friendship with the Supreme Person Rāma. He knows dharma and is affectionate to those who surrender unto Him.” (Rāmāyaṇa 5.21.19)
She is also always engaged in doing good to Rāma. She will state this to Lord Rāma:
agni-saṁyogavad hetuḥ śastra-saṁyoga ucyate
snehāc ca bahu-mānāc ca smāraye tvāṁ na śikṣaye
“Just as contact with fire is destructive, contact with weapons is also destructive. Because of my affection for You and because You take me seriously, I am reminding You [of what You already know]; I am not teaching You [anything You do not know].” (Rāmāyaṇa 3.9.24)
Janakasya kule jātā indicates that because Sītā was born in the dynasty of Janaka, she has a fine conduct of behavior.
Deva-māyeva nirmitā: Sītā was like the deluding form of a woman Lord Viṣṇu had assumed to bewilder the asuras after the churning of the milk ocean:
māyayā mohayitvā tān viṣṇuḥ strī-rūpam āsthitaḥ
“Having bewildered the [asuras], Lord Viṣṇu assumed the form of a woman.” (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.9.109)
Deva-māyeva nirmitā also indicates that she was like the very personification of Lord Viṣṇu’s astonishing potency. This reveals the final limit of all beauty.1 The expression deva-māyeva nirmitā can also indicate that she is the incarnation of the Lord Viṣṇu’s Lakṣmī [who is mentioned as the Lord’s own māyā] in Canto 7 (Uttara-kāṇḍa):
tvaṁ hi loka-gatir deva na tvāṁ kecit prajānate
ṛte māyāṁ viśālākṣīṁ tava pūrva-parigrahām
tvām acintyaṁ mahad bhūtam akṣayaṁ sarva-saṅgraham
[Lord Brahmā to Lord Rāmacandra:] “You are the shelter of the worlds, O Lord. No one except the wide-eyed Māyā, Your [eternal] wife from the past, knows You, the inconceivable, great, inexhaustible being who blesses all [who surrender unto You].” (Rāmāyaṇa 7.110.10)