दर्शने मा कृथा बुद्धिं राघवस्य वरानने।
कास्य शक्तिरिहागन्तुमपि सीते मनोरथैः॥
darśane mā kṛthā buddhiṁ rāghavasya varānane
kāsya śaktir ihāgantum api sīte mano-rathaiḥ
darśane = of seeing; mā kṛthāḥ = don’t [even]; buddhim = think; rāghavasya = Rāghava; vara-ānane = O lady with a beautiful face; kā = what; asya = does He have; śaktiḥ = power; iha = this place; āgantum = to reach; api = even; sīte = Sītā; mano-rathaiḥ = in thought.
O lady with a beautiful face, don’t [even] think of seeing Rāghava. Sītā, what power does He have to reach this place even in thought?
1 None of Rāvaṇa’s narcissistic and bombastic words shook Sītā even a bit. This is a lesson for all of us who try to give up asat-saṅga to attain eternal loving service to Supreme Personality of Godhead. We should ensure that we are not even slightly influenced by the propaganda of those who are determined to never submit to His authority.
Rāvaṇa asserts that it would be impossible [for Sītā-devī] to see Rāghava [in Laṅkā]. He clarifies it in the second half of the verse in which he states, “If He cannot even mentally come to Laṅkā, where is the question of [Him coming to Laṅkā] physically?”1 He then illustrates this with examples in the next verse.