Ravana Abducts Sita After Lakshmana Departs
With Lakshmana gone, Ravana appears at the hermitage disguised as a gentle ascetic. When Sita refuses his advances, he reveals his true form, grasps her by the hair, and rises into the sky — carrying her away as she cries out for Rama.
The moment Lakshmana left, Ravana made his appearance.
He was wicked, but he assumed a gentle form — like a fire hidden under ashes. He disguised himself as an ascetic, because he desired to abduct the unblemished one. When Sita saw him arrive, she did what her nature demanded: she offered him fruits, roots, a seat, and hospitality.
Ravana ignored all of it. He shed his disguise and assumed his own form.
"O Sita! I am the king of the rakshasas, famous as Ravana. My beautiful city of Lanka is located on the other side of the great ocean. Among the beautiful women who are there, you will shine with me. Become my wife and abandon the ascetic Raghava."
Sita covered her ears. "Do not speak such words. The sky may fall with its stars. The earth may be shattered. The fire may become cold. But I will not desert the descendant of the Raghu lineage. Can a she-elephant, after serving a giant elephant that is in musth and ranges the forest, touch a hog? How can a lady who has drunk choice liquor and nectar made out of honey be attracted by the juice of the jujube tree?"
She retreated into the hermitage. Ravana followed her. He restrained her. Censured by his harsh words, she lost her senses. He grasped her by the hair on her head and rose up into the sky.
A vulture named Jatayu, who lived on a mountain, saw the ascetic lady being abducted, lamenting: "Rama! Rama!" Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 559