हितमुक्तं त्वया देवि स्निग्धया सदृशं वचः।
कुलं व्यपदिशन्त्या च धर्मज्ञे जनकात्मजे॥
hitam uktaṁ tvayā devi snigdhayā sadṛśaṁ vacaḥ
kulaṁ vyapadiśantyā ca dharmajñe janakātmaje
hitam = of beneficial advice; uktam tvayā = you have spoken; devi = O goddess; snigdhayā = while affectionately; sadṛśam = similar; vacaḥ = words; kulam = the nature of your noble family; vyapadiśantyā ca = revealing; dharmajñe = who knows dharma; janaka-ātmaje = O daughter of King Janaka.
O goddess who knows dharma, O daughter of King Janaka, while affectionately revealing the nature of your noble family you have spoken similar words of beneficial advice.
1 Because she was the daughter of King Janaka, her words naturally revealed the nature of her noble ancestry. A minor subtext in the Rāmāyaṇa is that no one is born accidentally anywhere. We get what we deserve materially. But full surrender unto the lotus feet of Lord Rāma is capable of delivering one and all, despite one’s spiritually disadvantaged birth.
Sītā-devī had spoken [words of] beneficial advice that was in line with her affectionate nature and her noble descent. She spoke such beneficial words because she knew dharma. Her words revealed the nature of her noble ancestry because she was the daughter of King Janaka.1
Lord Rāma then anticipated that she might think, “If I have spoken words of beneficial advice, then You should follow my advice.” And so He spoke the following verse.