Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 45: Sītā Chastises Lakṣmaṇa
Text 3.45.4
न जगाम तथोक्तस्तु भ्रातुराज्ञाय शासनम्।
तमुवाच ततस्तत्र कुपिता जनकात्मजा॥
na jagāma tathoktas tu bhrātur ājñāya śāsanam
tam uvāca tatas tatra kupitā janakātmajā
na = not; jagāma = Lakṣmaṇa did go; tathā-uktaḥ = [when] He was addressed thus; tu = but; bhrātuḥ = His brother’s; ājñāya = considering; śāsanam = command; tam = Him; uvāca = told [the following]; tataḥ = then; tatra = with Him; kupitā = angry; janaka-ātmajā = Janaka’s daughter.
But, considering His brother’s command, Lakṣmaṇa did not go [when] He was addressed thus. Angry with Him, Janaka’s daughter then told Him [the following].
Śrī Rāma had commanded Śrī Lakṣmaṇa:
apramattena te bhāvyam āśramasthena sītayā
yāvat pṛṣatam ekena sāyakena nihanmy aham
hatvaitac carma cādāya śīghram eṣyāmi lakṣmaṇa
“Lakṣmaṇa, You should be attentive in the āśrama on account of Sītā until I kill the deer with a single arrow. After killing [it] I will take its skin and quickly come!” (Rāmāyaṇa 3.43.48-49)
NOTE. It must be remembered that Jānakī only appeared to be angry with Lakṣmaṇa. From the next verse onwards, she begins to assail Lakṣmaṇa with irrational and cruel words, thus demonstrating what happens when a woman becomes angry.
Just as Lord Rāma teaches men of this world the distress caused by strī-saṅga through role play, His better half teaches the women of this world the distress caused by being angry, impulsive and so on, again through role play.
Bhagavad-gītā 2.63 talks about the effect of anger:
krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ
sammohāt smṛti-vibhramaḥ
smṛti-bhraṁśād buddhi-nāśo
buddhi-nāśāt praṇaśyati
“From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.”
In another verse, Lord Kṛṣṇa notes that a sage steady in his consciousness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is devoid of anger and similar impulses:
duḥkheṣv anudvigna-manāḥ sukheṣu vigata-spṛhaḥ
vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ sthita-dhīr munir ucyate
“One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.” (Bhagavad-gītā 2.56)
Sītā-devī’s lamentation for having distrusted Śrī Lakṣmaṇa will be well documented later on in the Rāmāyaṇa.