Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 28: Rāma Refuses to Accept Her Request
Text 2.28.4
सीते यथा त्वां वक्ष्यामि तथा कार्यं त्वयाबले।
वने दोषा हि बहवो वदतस्तान्निबोध मे॥
sīte yathā tvāṁ vakṣyāmi tathā kāryaṁ tvayābale
vane doṣā hi bahavo vadatas tān nibodha me
sīte = Sītā; yathā tvām vakṣyāmi = what I tell you; tathā = just; kāryam tvayā = do; abale = you are weak; vane = in the forest; doṣāḥ = difficulties; hi = because; bahavaḥ = there are many; vadataḥ = as I describe; tān = them; nibodha = listen; me = to Me.
Sītā, you are weak. Just do what I tell you because there are many difficulties in the forest.1 Listen to Me as I describe them.
1 “There are difficulties in the forest” means “There are difficulties in living in the forest.”
GLOSS. [The glossator reads vasataḥ instead of vadataḥ indicating that] there were many difficulties for a man residing in the forest. If even a man had to deal with too much of distressing situations, how much more would it be for a woman?