Canto 2: Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa ()Chapter 29: Sītā Persists in Requesting Him to Take Her to the ForestText 2.29.6
Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 29: Sītā Persists in Requesting Him to Take Her to the Forest
Text 2.29.6
न च मां त्वत्समीपस्थामपि शक्नोति राघव।
सुराणामीश्वरः शक्रः प्रधर्षयितुमोजसा॥
na ca māṁ tvat-samīpasthām api śaknoti rāghava
surāṇām īśvaraḥ śakraḥ pradharṣayitum ojasā
na ca = not; mām = me; tvat-samīpasthām = when I am near You; api = even; śaknoti = is capable; rāghava = Rāghava; surāṇām = of the demigods; īśvaraḥ = the lord; śakraḥ = Śakra; pradharṣayitum = of attacking; ojasā = with [all his] power.
Rāghava, even Śakra, the lord of the demigods, is not capable of attacking me with [all his] power when I am near You.
NOTE. Mother Sītā, being Lord Rāma’s internal potency, here demonstrates her natural fearlessness. This quality is a requirement for sannyāsīs:
A brāhmaṇa is considered to be the spiritual master of the three other sections of a society, namely, the kṣatriyas, the vaiśyas and the śūdras, but a sannyāsī, who is on the top of the institution, is considered to be the spiritual master of the brāhmaṇas also. For a sannyāsī, the first qualification should be fearlessness. Because a sannyāsī has to be alone without any support or guarantee of support, he has simply to depend on the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one thinks, “After I leave my connections, who will protect me?” he should not accept the renounced order of life. One must be fully convinced that Kṛṣṇa or the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His localized aspect as Paramātmā is always within, that He is seeing everything, and He always knows what one intends to do. One must thus have firm conviction that Kṛṣṇa as Paramātmā will take care of a soul surrendered to Him. “I shall never be alone,” one should think. “Even if I live in the darkest regions of a forest I shall be accompanied by Kṛṣṇa, and He will give me all protection.” That conviction is called abhayam, fearlessness. This state of mind is necessary for a person in the renounced order of life. (Bhagavad-gītā 16.1-3 purport)