Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 40: Rāma Departs from Ayodhyā
Text 2.40.25

कृतकृत्या हि वैदेही छायेवानुगता पतिम्।
न जहाति रता धर्मे मेरुमर्कप्रभा यथा॥

kṛta-kṛtyā hi vaidehī chāyevānugatā patim
na jahāti ratā dharme merum arka-prabhā yathā

kṛta-kṛtyā hi = has accomplished all her objectives; vaidehī = Vaidehī; chāyā = a shadow; iva = like; anugatā = following; patim = her husband; na = not; jahāti = she does give up [her husband]; ratā = absorbed; dharme = in her dharma; merum = [does not give up] Mount Meru; arka-prabhā = the sun’s illumination; yathā = just as.

Following her husband like His shadow, Vaidehī has accomplished all her objectives. Absorbed in her dharma, she does not give up [her husband] just as the sun’s illumination [does not give up] Mount Meru.

Sūrya circumambulates Meru and so is always related to Meru. Similarly, [Sītā is always related to her husband].1

1 In other words, she was husband-centered. Sītā will herself clarify this later on.