मनश्च मे दीनमिहाप्रहृष्टं चक्षुश्च सव्यं कुरुते विकारम्।
असंशयं लक्ष्मण नास्ति सीता हृता मृता वा पथि वर्तते वा॥
manaś ca me dīnam ihāprahṛṣṭaṁ
cakṣuś ca savyaṁ kurute vikāram
asaṁśayaṁ lakṣmaṇa nāsti sītā
hṛtā mṛtā vā pathi vartate vā
manaḥ ca = mind; me = My; dīnam = and dejected; iha = about being separated from Sītā; aprahṛṣṭam = is unhappy; cakṣuḥ = eye; ca = and; savyam = My left; kurute vikāram = twitches; asaṁśayam = undoubtedly; lakṣmaṇa = Lakṣmaṇa; na = not in the āśrama; asti = is; sītā = Sītā; hṛtā = she has been kidnapped; mṛtā vā = or killed; pathi = the road; vartate = on; vā = or.
My mind is unhappy and dejected about being separated from Sītā, and My left eye twitches. Lakṣmaṇa, undoubtedly Sītā is not in the āśrama; she has been kidnapped or killed or on the road.
NOTE. Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī has clearly noted the reason for Lord Rāma’s apparent behavior like a strī-saṅgī thus:
rakṣo-’dhamena vṛkavad vipine ’samakṣaṁ
vaideha-rāja-duhitary apayāpitāyām
bhrātrā vane kṛpaṇavat priyayā viyuktaḥ
strī-saṅgināṁ gatim iti prathayaṁś cacāra
“When Rāmacandra entered the forest and Lakṣmaṇa was also absent, the worst of the Rākṣasas, Rāvaṇa, kidnapped Sītādevī, the daughter of the king of Videha, just as a tiger seizes unprotected sheep when the shepherd is absent. Then Lord Rāmacandra wandered in the forest with His brother Lakṣmaṇa as if very much distressed due to separation from His wife. Thus He showed by His personal example the condition of a person attached to women.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.10.11)
In other words, the Lord presented Himself like a man in material perplexities. Prabhupāda explains the condition of such a man in the following words:
Who is the man in material perplexities? It is he who does not understand the problems of life. In the Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad (3.8.10) the perplexed man is described as follows: yo vā etad akṣaraṁ gārgy aviditvāsmānl lokāt praiti sa kṛpaṇaḥ. “He is a miserly man who does not solve the problems of life as a human and who thus quits this world like the cats and dogs, without understanding the science of self-realization.” This human form of life is a most valuable asset for the living entity who can utilize it for solving the problems of life; therefore, one who does not utilize this opportunity properly is a miser. On the other hand, there is the brāhmaṇa, or he who is intelligent enough to utilize this body to solve all the problems of life. Ya etad akṣaraṁ gārgi viditvāsmānl lokāt praiti sa brāhmaṇaḥ.
The kṛpaṇas, or miserly persons, waste their time in being overly affectionate for family, society, country, etc., in the material conception of life. One is often attached to family life, namely to wife, children and other members, on the basis of “skin disease.” The kṛpaṇa thinks that he is able to protect his family members from death; or the kṛpaṇa thinks that his family or society can save him from the verge of death. Such family attachment can be found even in the lower animals, who take care of children also. (Bhagavad-gītā 2.7 purport)