Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 28: Rāma Refuses to Accept Her Request
Text 2.28.12
अहोरात्रं च सन्तोषः कर्तव्यो नियतात्मना।
फलैर्वृक्षावपतितैः सीते दुःखमतो वनम्॥
aho-rātraṁ ca santoṣaḥ kartavyo niyatātmanā
phalair vṛkṣāvapatitaiḥ sīte duḥkham ato vanam
ahaḥ-rātram ca = at dawn and dusk; santoṣaḥ = satisfied by eating; kartavyaḥ = a forest dweller should be; niyata-ātmanā = with a controlled mind; phalaiḥ = fruits; vṛkṣa-avapatitaiḥ = that have fallen from the tree by themselves; sīte = Sītā; duḥkham = is misery; ataḥ = therefore; vanam = a forest.
At dawn and dusk, with a controlled mind, a forest dweller should be satisfied by eating fruits that have fallen from the tree by themselves. Sītā, a forest is therefore misery.1
1 These are the scriptural regulations for genuine vānaprastha life—life in the forest.
One should not hanker to eat anything else.