Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 4: Daśaratha’s Anxiety About Coronating Rāma
Text 2.4.36
सीतयाप्युपवस्तव्या रजनीयं मया सह।
एवमृत्गिगुपाध्यायैः स हि मामुक्तवान्पिता॥
sītayāpy upavastavyā rajanīyaṁ mayā saha
evam ṛtvig-upādhyāyaiḥ sa hi mām uktavān pitā
sītayā = Sītā; api = also; upavastavyā = should fast; rajanī = night; iyam = this; mayā = Me; saha = with; evam = this instruction; ṛtvik-upādhyāyaiḥ = from the priests and teachers; saḥ1 hi mām = to Me; uktavān = conveyed; pitā = father.
1. Technical note: saḥ pitā.
Sītā should also fast with Me this night. Father conveyed this instruction from the priests and teachers to Me.
Sītā, as His equal, was also to fast that day [from that time onward] and night. But was this Rāma’s own idea? No. This instruction was given to Him by His father.