Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 118: Conversation Between Sītā and Anasūyā
Text 2.118.28
तस्य लाङ्गलहस्तस्य कर्षतः क्षेत्रमण्डलम्।
अहं किलोत्थिता भित्त्वा जगतीं नृपतेः सुता॥
tasya lāṅgala-hastasya karṣataḥ kṣetra-maṇḍalam
ahaṁ kilotthitā bhittvā jagatīṁ nṛpateḥ sutā
tasya = when he was; lāṅgala-hastasya = with a plough in hand; karṣataḥ = ploughing; kṣetra-maṇḍalam = a plot of land; aham kila = I; utthitā = emerged; bhittvā = piercing; jagatīm = the earth; nṛpateḥ sutā = as that king’s daughter.
When he was ploughing a plot of land with a plough in hand, I emerged, piercing the earth, as that king’s daughter.
The king was ploughing, that is, purifying a plot of land in accordance with the injunctions of the Śruti 1.
The plot of land referred to here was useful for performing fire sacrifices, that is, it was the place [for performing] the agni-cayana ritual [as one of the preliminaries for fire sacrifices].