Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 46: Rāvaṇa Disguises Himself and Approaches Sītā
Text 3.46.11
शुभां रुचिरदन्तोष्ठीं पूर्णचन्द्रनिभाननाम्।
आसीनां पर्णशालायां बाष्पशोकाभिपीडिताम्॥
śubhāṁ rucira-dantoṣṭhīṁ pūrṇa-candra-nibhānanām
āsīnāṁ parṇa-śālāyāṁ bāṣpa-śokābhipīḍitām
śubhām = she was auspicious; rucira-danta-oṣṭhīm = her teeth and lips were clean; pūrṇa-candra-nibha-ānanām = her face resembled the full moon; āsīnām = she was sitting; parṇa-śālāyām = in the leaf hut; bāṣpa-śoka-abhipīḍitām = with tears in her eyes, she was afflicted by sorrow.
She was auspicious. Her teeth and lips were clean. Her face resembled the full moon. She was sitting in the leaf hut. With tears in her eyes, she was afflicted by sorrow.
Bāṣpa-śokābhipīḍitām indicates that she was unhealthy [both] internally and externally after hearing [what sounded like] Rāma’s plaintive voice.
NOTE. The Sītā that Rāvaṇa saw was not the real Sītā who had already departed with Agnideva, but Māyā Sītā, a duplicate of the real Sītā. We have already noticed evidence for this from Kūrma Purāṇa.
Another point to note is that the Supreme Lord is more capable of deceiving those who desire to deceive Him, as Prabhupāda has so tellingly noted in his purport to Bhagavad-gītā 10.36:
As the Supreme, Kṛṣṇa can be more deceitful than any mere man. [...] If Kṛṣṇa chooses to deceive a person, no one can surpass Him in His deceit. His greatness is not simply one-sided—it is all-sided.