Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 9: Sītā Requests Rāma to Give up His Weapons
Text 3.9.11
एतन्निमित्तं च वनं दण्डका इति विश्रुतम्।
प्रस्थितस्त्वं सह भ्रात्रा धृतबाणशरासनः॥
etan-nimittaṁ ca vanaṁ daṇḍakā iti viśrutam
prasthitas tvaṁ saha bhrātrā dhṛta-bāṇa-śarāsanaḥ
etat-nimittam ca = therefore; vanam = to the forest; daṇḍakā iti1 = as Daṇḍakāraṇya; viśrutam = well known; prasthitaḥ = departed; tvam = You; saha = with; bhrātrā = Your brother; dhṛta-bāṇa-śara-āsanaḥ = took up Your bow and arrows and.
Therefore, You took up Your bow and arrows and departed with Your brother to the forest well known as Daṇḍakāraṇya.
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhāva-dīpa: daṇḍakā ity asya vivakṣābhāvān na sandhiḥ. This is a reference to the famous grammatical rule regarding sandhi: saṁhitaika-pade nityā nityā dhātūpasargayoḥ / nityā samāse vākye tu sā vivakṣām apekṣate.
Sītā-devī tells Lord Rāma here that He didn’t promise the sages [that He would kill the rākṣasas] just because the sages had asked Him; He had resolved to do so right from the beginning, [even before the sages asked Him].
She implies that this is so because He had stated:
kevalenātma-kāryeṇa praveṣṭavyaṁ mayā vanam
viprakāram apākraṣṭuṁ rākṣasair bhavatām imam
“I have entered this forest just for My own purpose, to avert the tortures inflicted by the rākṣasas.” (Rāmāyaṇa 3.6.22)
Sītā-devī anticipates that Lord Rāma might ask, “So what?” and states the following.