यत्सृष्टासि मया सार्धं वनवासाय मैथिलि।
न विहातुं मया शक्या कीर्तिरात्मवता यथा॥
yat sṛṣṭāsi mayā sārdhaṁ vana-vāsāya maithili
na vihātuṁ mayā śakyā kīrtir ātmavatā yathā
yat = because; sṛṣṭā asi = you have been created by providence; mayā = me; sārdham = with; vana-vāsāya = for residing in the forest; maithili = Maithilī; na vihātum mayā śakyā = I cannot give [you] up; kīrtiḥ = [cannot give up] fame; ātmavatā = a person of good conduct; yathā = just as.
Maithilī, because you have been created by providence for residing in the forest with me, I cannot give [you] up just as a person of good conduct [cannot give up] fame.1
1 “Created by providence” is an expression in imitation of human beings; we will notice more of such expressions later. In reality, Sītā, Rāma and their associates are neither created nor destroyed as we understand from the statements indicating their eternality from the Rāma-tāpanī Upaniṣad and other scriptures. The Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa and His expansions are all eternal. They are neither created nor destroyed. They exist in eternal spiritual variety beyond material existence, as is clear from the Brahma-saṁhitā and other scriptures.
Ātmavatā indicates that a person whose mind is unagitated even in extreme crisis [cannot give up fame].