¹ Notice the iva here and in text 4. In this context, iva has the sense of “He appeared to be like this.” He appeared to be agitated and mad. This is to teach us, the conditioned souls of this world, the dangers of becoming attached to a wife. After all, even when the Lord was separated from His mother or father, He didn’t exhibit such distress. Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī explicitly points out in Bhāgavatam 9.10.11 that this was the actual reason behind the Lord’s exhibition of extreme agony when Mother Sītā was kidnapped. In this regard, one of the commentators quotes the following statement of Lord Viṣṇu to the devas from the Umā-saṁhitā of Skanda Purāṇa—ahaṁ dāśarathir bhūtvā hanmi rāvaṇam āhave, śrīmad-rāmāvatāre ’sminn ajñavat kriyate mayā; tatra śaṅkā na kartavyā sarvajñenāpi māyayā, man-māyā-mohitaṁ rakṣo manuṣyaṁ mām avekṣyati; anyathā tasya sā nūnaṁ na bhaved yatra kutracit: “I will become the son of Daśaratha and kill Rāvaṇa in battle. In this incarnation of Śrī Rāma, though I am omniscient, by the power of My māyā, I will behave like an ignorant man. Don’t become apprehensive about it. Bewildered by My māyā, the rākṣasa [Rāvaṇa] will consider Me a human being. Otherwise, such a consideration cannot come about [in him] under any circumstances.” We should remember that Lord Rāma had promised to descend as a human—therefore, it is natural that He chose to display the natural frailties of a human. One might ask, “But how can we expect Rāvaṇa in distant Laṅkā to consider Rāmacandra a human being if He cries like an ignorant human in Daṇḍakāraṇya?” In response, it can be pointed out that Rāvaṇa has already sent eight spies to Daṇḍakāraṇya to keep watch on Rāma. In the above quotation, the line anyathā tasya sā nūnaṁ na bhaved yatra kutracit very significantly points out that it is quite natural for the Supreme Personality of Godhead to exhibit those features that uniquely belong to Him; when He has to behave like a human in this world, however, He needs to consciously and convincingly act like one.