Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 64: Rāma Discovers Some Clues About Sītā’s Whereabouts
Text 3.64.55
भक्षितायां हि वैदेह्यां हृतायामपि लक्ष्मण।
के हि लोकेऽप्रियं कर्तुं शक्ताः सौम्य ममेश्वराः॥
bhakṣitāyāṁ hi vaidehyāṁ hṛtāyām api lakṣmaṇa
ke hi loke ’priyaṁ kartuṁ śaktāḥ saumya mameśvarāḥ
bhakṣitāyām = has been abducted; hi = now that; vaidehyām = Vaidehī; hṛtāyām = or eaten up; api = even; lakṣmaṇa = Lakṣmaṇa; ke hi = which; loke = of this world; apriyam = displeasure; kartum = of incurring; śaktāḥ = [consider themselves] capable; saumya = gentle one; mama = My; īśvarāḥ = controllers.
Gentle Lakṣmaṇa, now that Vaidehī has been abducted or even eaten up, which controllers of this world [consider themselves] capable of incurring My displeasure?1
1 This is a rhetorical question. The answer is “none.”
Then, how is it that the [universal controllers] have displeased Śrī Rāma? He states the answer to this question in the next verse.