Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 20: Kausalyā’s Lamentation
Text 2.20.25
दत्तमासनमालभ्य भोजनेन निमत्रितः।
मातरं राघवः किञ्चिव्रीडात्प्राञ्जलिरब्रवीत्॥
dattam āsanam ālabhya bhojanena nimantritaḥ
mātaraṁ rāghavaḥ kiñcid-vrīḍāt prāñjalir abravīt
dattam = and given; āsanam = a seat; ālabhya = He [merely] touched the seat; bhojanena = to eat; nimantritaḥ = when He was invited; mātaram = to His mother; rāghavaḥ = Rāghava; kiñcit-vrīḍāt = with some embarrassment; prāñjaliḥ = then joined His palms in supplication and; abravīt = spoke [as follows].
When He was invited to eat and given a seat to sit on, He [merely] touched the seat. Then Rāghava, with some embarassment, joined His palms in supplication and spoke to His mother [as follows].
Rāmacandra merely touched the seat. He did not want to sit on it because of a scriptural injunction that when a seat is offered and it is not [circumstantially] possible to sit on it, at least it must be touched [by one’s hand]. He was somewhat embarassed because He wondered how He could inform her of His departure when she had spoken thus.