Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 52: Rāma Crosses the Gaṅgā on Guha’s Boat
Text 2.52.75
आरोह त्वं नरव्याघ्र स्थितां नावमिमां शनैः।
सीतां चारोपयान्वक्षं परिगृह्य मनस्विनीम्॥
āroha tvaṁ nara-vyāghra sthitāṁ nāvam imāṁ śanaiḥ
sītāṁ cāropayānvakṣaṁ parigṛhya manasvinīm
āroha tvam = get on the boat; nara-vyāghra = O tiger among men; sthitām nāvam imām = the boat here; śanaiḥ = slowly; sītām = Sītā; ca = and; āropaya = help get on it; anvakṣam = then; parigṛhya = holding; manasvinīm = the virtuous.
O tiger among men, get on the boat and then, holding the boat here, help the virtuous Sītā slowly get on it.
Manasvinīm implies that if Sītā-devī were to climb on the boat first, she would become frightened. [Therefore] Rāma instructs Lakṣmaṇa to serve her [by getting on the boat first].
But the sage Vālmīki says in the next verse that Lakṣmaṇa expertly got Sītā-devī on the boat first and then got on the boat.