ततः सा राक्षसेन्द्रेण ह्रियमाणा विहायसा।
भृशं चुक्रोश मत्तेव भ्रान्तचित्ता यथातुरा॥
tataḥ sā rākṣasendreṇa hriyamāṇā vihāyasā
bhṛśaṁ cukrośa matteva bhrānta-cittā yathāturā
tataḥ sā = she; rākṣasa-indreṇa = when the lord of the rākṣasas; hriyamāṇā = took her; vihāyasā = to the skies; bhṛśam = loudly; cukrośa = she shrieked; mattā = an insane woman; iva = became like; bhrānta-cittā = her mind had become bewildered; yathā = as if; āturā = in her affliction.
When the lord of the rākṣasas took her to the skies, she became like an insane woman. In her affliction, she shrieked loudly as if her mind had become bewildered.1
1 Sage Vālmīki’s usage of iva (“as if”) and yathā (“like”) indicate that she was not what she appeared to be. Had she really been afflicted with a bewildered mind, the learned author would not have used these words, that too, twice in the same verse. This was a dramatic performance by Māyā Sītā. Technical note: atreva-yathābhyāṁ sarva-ceṣṭānāṁ nāṭyatvaṁ sūcitam.
हा लक्ष्मण महाबाहो गुरुचित्तप्रसादक।
ह्रियमाणां न जानीषे रक्षसा माममर्षिणा॥