इत्युक्त्वा मैथिलीं वाक्यं प्रियार्हां प्रियवादिनीम्।
अभिगम्य सुदुष्टात्मा राक्षसः काममोहितः।
जग्राह रावणः सीतां बुधः खे रोहिणीमिव॥
ity uktvā maithilīṁ vākyaṁ priyārhāṁ priya-vādinīm
abhigamya suduṣṭātmā rākṣasaḥ kāma-mohitaḥ
jagrāha rāvaṇaḥ sītāṁ budhaḥ khe rohiṇīm iva
iti = these harsh; uktvā = spoke; maithilīm = to Maithilī; vākyam = words; priya-arhām = she deserved to be dealt with pleasantly; priya-vādinīm = because she had spoken to him pleasantly; abhigamya = approached; suduṣṭa-ātmā = since his mind was extremely evil; rākṣasaḥ = Rāvaṇa; kāma-mohitaḥ = Bewildered by lust; jagrāha = and grabbed [her]; rāvaṇaḥ = Rāvaṇa; sītām = Sītā; budhaḥ = Budha; khe = in the sky; rohiṇīm = might approach Rohiṇī; iva = the way.
Since his mind was extremely evil, Rāvaṇa spoke these harsh words to Maithilī. She deserved to be dealt with pleasantly because she had spoken to him pleasantly. Bewildered by lust, Rāvaṇa approached Sītā and grabbed [her] the way Budha might approach Rohiṇī in the sky.
1 Sītā-devī is the mother of the entire universe. To try to enjoy her is certainly an extremely abominable sin.
Maithilī had spoken to Rāvaṇa in a pleasant manner, “Please wait for a while and I will again honor you.”
The comparison to Budha [approaching] Rohiṇī in the sky suggests something that had never ever taken place. If Budha were to grab Rohiṇī, a wife of his father and hence a mother of his, happily wandering about in the sky, that would be equal to this sin [of Rāvaṇa kidnapping Sītā-devī].1
GLOSS. Priyārhām indicates that Sītā-devī deserved [to be with] her beloved husband. Therefore she is referred to as priya-vādinīm, indicating that she only talks about her beloved husband.
NOTE. As the eternally ever-greatest devotee of Lord Rāmacandra, Sītā-devī’s very nature is to only talk about her beloved Lord or services concerning Him. This is a general symptom of a Vaiṣṇava: He or she only talks about the Supreme Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu and of matters relating to Him.
In Chapter 18 of The Nectar of Devotion, a summary study of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Prabhupāda notes the nine characteristics of a person who has actually developed his ecstatic devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead thus:
(1) He is always anxious to utilize his time in the devotional service of the Lord. He does not like to be idle. He wants service always, twenty-four hours a day, without deviation.
(2) He is always reserved and perseverant.
(3) He is always detached from all material attraction.
(4) He does not long for any material respect in return for his activities.
(5) He is always certain that Kṛṣṇa will bestow His mercy upon him.
(6) He is always very eager to serve the Lord faithfully.
(7) He is very much attached to the chanting of the holy names of the Lord.
(8) He is always eager to describe the transcendental qualities of the Lord.
(9) He is very pleased to live in a place where the Lord’s pastimes are performed, e.g., Mathurā, Vṛndāvana or Dvārakā.
The eighth quality in the above list confirms that all perfect pure devotees of the Lord from Sītā-devī only talk about their most beloved Lord. The ninth quality above explains why Mother Sītā was eager to always be with Lord Rāma—even in the forest—not for her selfish enjoyment, but to uninterruptedly serve Him in pure devotion, which is the first quality noted above.
Prabhupāda has also remarked:
As there are symptoms for each and every man, in terms of his particular situation, similarly one who is Kṛṣṇa conscious has his particular nature—talking, walking, thinking, feeling, etc. As a rich man has his symptoms by which he is known as a rich man, as a diseased man has his symptoms by which he is known as diseased, or as a learned man has his symptoms, so a man in transcendental consciousness of Kṛṣṇa has specific symptoms in various dealings. One can know his specific symptoms from the Bhagavad-gītā. Most important is how the man in Kṛṣṇa consciousness speaks; for speech is the most important quality of any man. It is said that a fool is undiscovered as long as he does not speak, and certainly a well-dressed fool cannot be identified unless he speaks, but as soon as he speaks, he reveals himself at once. The immediate symptom of a Kṛṣṇa conscious man is that he speaks only of Kṛṣṇa and of matters relating to Him. (Bhagavad-gītā 2.54 purport)