Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 48: The Ladies in Ayodhyā Lament
Text 2.48.18

वयं परिचरिष्यामः सीतां युयं तु राघवम्।
इति पौरस्त्रियो भर्तॄन्दुःखार्तास्तत्तदब्रुवन्॥

vayaṁ paricariṣyāmaḥ sītāṁ yūyaṁ tu rāghavam
iti paura-striyo bhartṝn duḥkhārtās tat tad abruvan

vayam = we; paricariṣyāmaḥ = will menially serve; sītām = Sītā; yūyam tu = all of you; rāghavam = [should menially serve] Rāghava; iti = thus; paura-striyaḥ = the ladies in the city; bhartṝn = to their husbands; duḥkha-ārtāḥ = distressed while lamenting; tat tat = these words; abruvan = spoke.

“We will menially serve Sītā. All of you [should menially serve] Rāghava.”1 Thus the ladies in the city, distressed while lamenting, spoke these words to their husbands.2

1 The ladies spoke up to this sentence. Notice the separation of genders in service to the divine couple. In civilized environments, male- and female-bodied Vaiṣṇavas keep away from each other while serving the Supreme Lord. This etiquette has been verifiably followed in communities of serious Vaiṣṇavas following pāñcarātrika-vidhi.

 

2 The talks of these ladies will continue from the next verse.