Vishnu-incarnate Ram had compulsions to act human; his divine consort, Sita, had none. Raja Janak of Mithila, who brought her up, had discovered her in a furrow while ploughing the land as the part of a ritual. And she remained Bhoomija – Earthborn – throughout her life – supportive, forbearing and steadfast in her devotion to Ram. Her name ‘Sita’ also comes from the Sanskrit word for the line that is formed on the land by the ploughshare.
It was a beauteous garden of Mithila in which Sita and Ram noticed each other for the first time. Sita was surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting, and Ram had his brother Lakshman with him. He did not see her at first; he only sensed her presence from the music made by the ornaments that she wore. Tulsidas evokes the sensuous moment with this sweet-sounding chaupayi:
Kankan kinkini noopur dhuni dhuni/Kehet Lakhan san Ramu hrideyan guni
Manhun Madan dundhubhi dinihi/Mansa biswa bijay kehn kinhi
Pondering on the sounds made by (her) bracelets, the ornamental belt made of gold links and anklets with bells, Shri Ram says to Lakshman – (this sound comes to me) as if Kaamdev had given a clarion call to win the universe.
-Ramcharitmanas, Balkand, 229-i
The occasion became the starting point of their long and eventful married life. The couple went through their nuptials like any other royal couple, except that Ram had to prove his strength with that old bow of Lord Shiv to win her hand. It was an ‘arranged’ marriage, the sort which all elders have been applauding whole-heartedly down the generations. For Sita, Ram was the one and only man in the universe, and Ram cherished no other woman than Sita. Even so, their union came to have its surprises, a separation and a tragic end.
Sita was a bride any family would love to have. By virtue of her sweet nature and docility, she won the hearts of Ram and her in-laws during the 12 years of her residence in Ayodhya preceding Ram’s exile. It was not in her nature though to keep quiet when she thought the things were going awry. One such occasion arose just before the day Ram was to be anointed the prince-regent of the kingdom. She was agog at the pomp and pageantry of the capital city in anticipation of the glorious event. Then came Ram to her with the shocking news. He had been banished to the jungle for fourteen years and in his place Kaikeyi’s son, Bharat, was to be the future king of Ayodhya. Ram told Sita of his intention of going alone to the jungle. She insisted on accompanying him. Ram advised her to stay home, abide by Bharat’s regime and keep serving his ageing parents like a dutiful daughter-in-law that she was. In an attempt to dissuade her, he also recounted to her the discomforts and risks of the life in the wilderness. Sita retorted to him with such stinging barbs that Ram had to give in. (Balmiki Ramayan, Ayodhya Kand, Canto 30-iii and viii).
Lakshman too had to put up with a severe tongue-lashing from Sita at another crucial moment. The story is well known. He had followed Sita and Ram to the Dandkaranya forest. The trio lived there in a thatched hut. Ravan had devised a cunning stratagem to lure the two brothers away so he could abduct Sita. Ram, while rushing after the golden deer, (which, in fact, was the rakshas Marich in disguise), had instructed Lakshman not to leave Sita alone till he returned from his pursuit. The dying Marich uttered piteous cries for help, prompting Sita to urge Lakshman to run to the spot as Ram could have cried out for support. When Lakshman expressed reluctance, she made grave insinuations against him. Poor Lakshman had to leave Sita to her fate, contravening the instructions not only of his elder brother, but his own better judgement too (Balmiki Ramayan, Aranya Kand, Canto 45).
Sita’s retorts had ended in reversing the well-meaning intentions both of Ram and Lakshman. But none of her reproaches and invectives (ibid, Canto 48 and Sunder Kand, Canto 21) could deter Ravan from carrying out his wicked intent. Too gullible to see through his garb of a Brahmin mendicant, she invited him to enter her cottage and partake of food that was available with her. On his asking, she told him all about her background. It was only when she asked the fake Brahmin who he was that Ravan disclosed his true identity and, with that, his ulterior purpose;asking her to become his chief queen. Sita was outraged at Ravan’s atrocious demand, but by that time it was too late for her. Her abduction became the turning point of her life. From then on, she had to face the fallout.
A great deal has been said by critics and feminists about Sita’s agnipariksha – trial by fire. We have the authority of Sant Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas to say that ‘Sita’ whom Ram made to go through the fiery ordeal was only ‘maya’ – an illusion created by him, and not the real Sita, his divine spouse. Vishnu-incarnate Rama had to fulfil his mission of ridding the earth of rakshasas. With His divine powers He created a scenario in which Ravan, the chief of rakshasas, was motivated to abduct Sita and then face the consequences. Yet, the Deity would not subject His divine spouse to undergo such humiliation. Instead, He created a subterfuge, persuading real Sita to dwell with the fire-god, Agni, for the time being:
Sunhu priya vrat ruchir Sushila/Men kachhu karbi lalit narlila
Tumh pavak mahun karhu nivasa/Jau lagi karaun nisachar nasa
O, my loved one, listen to me! You are a woman of noble character who happily follows the code of husband-devotion. I am going now to engage myself in an engrossing human play. For the period I am destroying rakashas, you may dwell with Agni.
– Aranya-Kaand, Chaupai 23.1
Ram did kill Ravan and destroyed his army of rakshasas. Fake Sita, which Ravan had kept in custody, was brought before the victorious Rama. Playacting as an ordinary man, he ordered this chimera to enter a blazing fire to prove her virtue, which she did. Everybody standing around – Lakshman, Sugriv, Vibhishan and other stalwarts of Ram’s army – looked on helplessly at the shocking spectacle; till real Sita came out of the fire triumphantly:
Dhari rup pavak pani gahi Shri satya shruti jag bidit jo
Jimi chhirsagar Indira Ramhi samarpi ani so
So Ram bam bibhag rajti ruchir ati sobha bhali
Nav nil niraj nikat manhun kanak pankaj ki kali
(Then), God Agni took a form and holding by hand Shri (that is, Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Vishnu’s spouse) – the one who is sung in the Vedas and is renowned the world over – he entrusted her to Ram in the same manner as the Ksheersagar had handed Lakshmi to Vishnu. She ensconced herself on Rama’s left. They shone together with exquisite glory; as if a new golden blossom of lotus were gracing a full-blown blue lotus.
Ibid, Lanka-kaand, 108, Chhand 2,
Ramcharitmanas does not dwell much on Sita’s life after this incident. For that we have to go back to Balmiki Ramayan. Ram became the king of Ayodhya, with Sita as his queen. The utopian Ramrajya brought happiness to everyone. Yet, there was an undercurrent of dissatisfaction among the people because Raja Ram had accepted Queen Sita even though she had lived in Ravan’s captivity for a long time. This led to her banishment. The malicious hearsay prevented her to be with Ram ever again. Rishi Balmiki movingly describes Sita’s final parting with Ram:
“Clad in the saffron of ascetics, she, with downcast eyes, folded her hands in supplication to all the present and said:
‘I, (far from touching), do not in mind think of any other man except Shri Raghunath. If that be true, so may the venerable Goddess Earth find me a place in her lap.
‘If I worship Shri Ram in my mind, speech and action, then may the venerable Goddess Earth find me a place in her lap.
“Except for the venerable Shri Ram I do not know any other man. If that be true, so may the venerable Goddess Earth find me a place in her lap.'”
Balmiki Ramayan, Uttar Kand, Canto 97, xxiv-xxvi
After Sita had taken the solemn avowal, a wonderous throne rose from the surface of the Earth, borne by the divine nagas on their heads. Along with that bejewelled throne appeared in her divine form the presiding goddess of Earth. She took the Princess of Mithila in both her arms and seated her on the throne. When, installed on her throne, Sita began to descend into the abyss, the gods looked at her. Then a rain of divine flowers began to shower on her incessantly (ibid, xvii-xx).
Yet, the question remains. Why Sita – so virtuous, so chaste and so devoted to her husband – had to suffer such a lot? Was it an edict etched by her destiny that even her union with the all-powerful Vishnu could not alter or erase?
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