वाक्यमेतत्तु वैदेह्या व्याहृतं भर्तृभक्तया।
श्रुत्वा धर्मे स्थितो रामः प्रत्युवाचाथ मैथिलीम्॥
vākyam etat tu vaidehyā vyāhṛtaṁ bhartṛ-bhaktayā
śrutvā dharme sthito rāmaḥ pratyuvācātha maithilīm
vākyam = words; etat tu = these; vaidehyā = by Vaidehī; vyāhṛtam = spoken; bhartṛ-bhaktayā = who was a devotee of her husband; śrutvā = upon hearing; dharme = in dharma; sthitaḥ = who was situated; rāmaḥ = Rāma; pratyuvāca atha = replied; maithilīm = to Maithilī [as follows].
Upon hearing these words spoken by Vaidehī who was a devotee of her husband, Rāma who was situated in dharma replied to Maithilī [as follows].
1 The rākṣasas will certainly kidnap Sītā-devī because of her unimaginable beauty, and therefore Lord Rāma will be separated from His beloved wife. And then the Lord will certainly kill the rākṣasas.
[In the previous chapter,] Vaidehī, blinded by love for her husband, was overwhelmed in anxiety [while thinking], “Rāma, who is truthful to His promise, will not kill rākṣasas without hostility. But killing of the rākṣasas is bound to take place due to His being separated from me.1 And He cannot tolerate being without me. We have come across a crisis!” Therefore she had begun to dissuade Him from slaying the rākṣasas. On the other hand, Rāma conclusively decides that He would even go to the extent of tolerating separation from Sītā-devī and kill the rākṣasas, and thus fulfill His promises [to the sages]. This is described in this chapter.
Bhartṛ-bhaktayā (“who was a devotee of her husband”) indicates that Sītā-devī’s previous statement was made when she was overwhelmed in love for her husband.
Dharme sthitaḥ (“who was situated in dharma”) indicates that Rāma was fixed in fulfilling what He had promised even while accepting the sorrow of being separated from Sītā-devī. Though the residents of Daṇḍakāraṇya had only asked for Khara to be killed and Rāma had promised them to do so, killing of Khara will be the root cause of Rāvaṇa’s killing. By praying for Khara to be killed, the residents of Daṇḍakāraṇya had prayed to Him to kill Rāvaṇa too. Therefore Sītā’s statement was appropriate.