This is the sixteenth of a series of short articles on various deities. As I am not a Hindu myself, I would appreciate any feedback from Hindus.
The holy furrow
King Janaka was ploughing a field in preparation for a sacrifice. Sita emerged from a furrow, underneath the plough, and the king adopted her as his daughter, realising that she had arisen from holy ground. In fact, Sita was none other than Lakshmi‘s avatar, just as Rama was the earthly incarnation of her divine husband, Vishnu.
Shiva’s bow
Rama and Laksmana journeyed to Mithila where king Janaka was in possession of Shiva’s bow but had not the strength to lift it. He promised the hand of his daughter, Sita, to anyone who could perform the feat, believing it to be impossible. Rama not only succeeded in raising the bow, he broke it, winning not only Sita’s hand for himself but also wives for his three brothers.
Sita’s loyalty
Sita was not only beautiful, she was also loyal and vowed to love Rama absolutely. When her husband was thrown into exile for 14 years by the devious queen Kaikeyi, Sita refused to accept her right to remain in the royal palace. Instead she accompanied Rama to the forest and lived the ascetic lifestyle with more dignity than the prince himself.
The abduction of Sita
The demoness Surpanakha, seeking revenge for her rejection by Rama and subsequent mutilation, sought her brother Ravana and described to him the many charms of Sita. Ravana visited Pancavati and roused the passions of a stag, attracting Sita’s gaze. When Rama pursued the stag Ravana kidnapped Sita, grabbing her hair and taking her away to Lanka (below left). Ravana refused to rape her, preferring the challenge of seduction. However, Sita’s virtuous nature enabled her to resist the demon. During her captivity, Sita and Rama wrote love songs to one another.
With Hanuman’s assistance, Rama tracked down Sita and destroyed Lanka. Ravana’s brother, Vibhisana, took the throne and freed Sita…but there was no happy ending to this tale.
Doubting her fidelity, Rama subjected his wife to the test of fire. Sita said,’If, o proud prince, despite the proofs of my love for you during the time we lived together, I am still a stranger in your eyes, my loss is irremediable’ (Ramayana, cited in Comte, 1991, p. 191). She mounted the pyre but, to Rama’s joy,the fire refused to burn her. Nevertheless, the suspicious prince eventually exiled Sita to the forest, where she gave birth to Kusa and Lava. The two sons pleaded Sita’s innocence and Rama decided to take her back. But he was too late. Sita had already returned and asked the ground to swallow her up.
Do you have any personal experience of, or interest in, Sita or Hinduism that you would like to share? If so, please leave a comment below.
References/Sources used (please use my bookstore if you want to order the books):
Comte, F. (1991) ‘The Wordsworth Dictionary of Mythology’, Wordsworth, Kent
Kamadeva [online], link, Wikipedia, last accessed 16th Jul 2010
Image attributions
All images in the public domain
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