Devi Sita is the
consort of Lord Rama, the seventh avatar of Sri Maha Vishnu, in Hindu
mythology. Sita Devi is one of the main characters in the Ramayana, a
major Hindu epic. Born in Sitamarhi (Punaura) in Bihar (India), Sita
was taken to Janakpur (in the present day Nepal) soon after her birth
by her father, Maharaja Janak. Sita is considered to be one of the
Sreshta Naris (most chaste women) and is respected as the epitome of
all womanly virtues for Hindu women. Devi Sita is also considered an
avatar of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and the consort of Sri Vishnu
during the Treta Yuga.
Devi Sita is indeed the ideal example of a woman and possesses all the
good qualities that a traditional Indian woman is expected to possess.
She was the ideal daughter to her parents, ideal wife to her husband,
Rama, and the ideal mother to her twins, Luv and Kush.
Devi Sita had to undergo a lot of trials and tribulations in her
marital life and it was her courage, chastity and adherence to Dharma
(righteousness) that finally made her emerge the ultimate winner.
Through her life story, Sita showed how a strong woman should be and
that she need never let go of her principles in life. Probably, the
whole mission of Sita's birth on Earth in human form was to destroy the
arrogant Ravana, the demon King of Lanka.
Sita was found as an abandoned child, discovered in a furrow while ploughing in a field. Due to this legend, she is often referred to as the daughter of Bhoomidevi or Mother Earth. As she was adopted by King Janaka, she is also called Janaki. King Janaka was the ruler of Mithila in present day Nepal. Hence, Sita is also referred to by the name of Mythili. Sita's father, Janaka, was known for his ability to transcend body consciousness. He was therefore popularly referred to as "Videha". Hence, Sita came to be known as "Vaidehi" (the daughter of Videha). As Rama's wife, she is also called "Ramaa".
One day, Princess Sita walks on the terrace of her quarters, when she sees Rama standing just below. Their eyes meet and it is love at first sight for both of them, almost as if Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi realize they have met again in their human avatar. Sita shyly runs back inside and silently prays that Rama should end up becoming her husband in her forthcoming Swayamvara.
When King Janaka
realizes that Sita has come of marriageable age, he arranges her
swayamvar (a ceremony where the bride is allowed to choose her groom
from among the group of men assembled at that place). Many named kings
attend the grand event from all over India. The swayamvar mandap is
decorated beautifully and shines with the sheer splendour of the
princes and kings assembled there.
Rama and his brother, Lakshmana, arrive at the venue too, along with
sage Vishwamitra. So does Ravana, the mighty, ten-headed demon King of
Lanka.
Kept in the center
of the mandap is a gigantic bow, gifted to Janaka by Lord Shiva. There
is an associated legend, which relates that Lord Parashurama had once
been witness to Sita playing with this mighty bow as a child. The Lord
had been stunned by the little girl and had then advised Janaka that
when the right time arrived, he should marry off his daughter only to
the man who could lift the bow.
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The swayamvar ceremony commences and King Janaka welcomes everyone
assembled at the venue. He declares that he would give his daughter's
hand in marriage to the person who would be able to lift the bow of
Shiva and string it. Many princes and kings try their hand at it in
vain. Each one comes forward to the mandap with great pomp, but is
forced to retreat in defeat.
The egoistic Ravana then decides to take up the challenge, saying that
he was so strong that he would be able to lift it with the little
finger of his left hand. Having failed in many attempts though, he
decides to put all his strength on the bow and tries to lift it with
both his hands. But the bow does not budge and Ravana is finally forced
to admit defeat.
Rama then comes forward to lift the bow at Vishwamitra's command. He
first offers his obeisance to Shiva and the bow and then proceeds to
lift it. To the utter surprise of all present there, he lifts the bow
with remarkable ease and strings it with a resonant twang. Sita is very
pleased that her prayers are answered and coyly garlands Rama with the
varamala.
The wedding of Rama and Sita takes place with great pomp and show and
soon thereafter, Sita leaves for her new marital home at Ayodhya.
King Dasaratha
announces his plans to crown Rama, his eldest son, as Yuvaraja or heir
to the throne. This news upsets queen Kaikeyi, whose mind is poisoned
by her wicked maid-servant and confidante, Manthara. Kaikeyi, who is
initially very happy for Rama, is made to fear for the safety and
future of her son Bharata. Kaikeyi had once been granted two boons by
Dasaratha, when she had saved his life in battle. She had then said
that she would avail the boons when she needed them.
Kaikeyi now lays claim on the boons and demands that Dasaratha banish
Rama to a forest exile for fourteen years, and that Bharata be crowned
in Rama's place. The king is heartbroken, but realizes how helpless he
really is. He is forced to grant the boons to his wife and with a
pained heart, bids goodbye to his beloved son, Rama. Rama's brother,
Lakshmana, decides to permanently escort Rama during his Vanavasa
(tenure in the forest).
Rama tries to
discourage Sita from joining him in exile, but she is
adamant and says that she would be with him, no matter what, as it was
the duty of the wife to be at his side at all times. The people of
Ayodhya are angered and saddened at Dasaratha's decision. Dasaratha, in
utter grief and guilt, collapses and dies by the next day. Though
Rama is horrified at his father's demise, he does not want to break his
dead father's word and so, continues with the Vanavasa.
Sita, who has been used to living in the lap of luxury, willingly
sacrifices everything for the sake of her husband and happily joins her
husband on his Vanavasa. This is only the first of the sacrifices she
makes for her husband. Rama, in turn, is assiduously protective of his
wife, takes good care of her and fulfils her every wish during the time
of the Vanavasa. They go on to share many happy and peaceful moments in
the wonderful locales of the Dandaka and Panchavati forests.
Rama and Sita spend
some wonderful days while at Panchavati. But that happiness does
not last long. Trouble starts brewing when Sita lays her eyes on the
Golden Deer, Mareecha. Mareecha was in actuality, Ravana's uncle, who
was leading an ascetic life in the forest.
While Sita waits all
alone in the ashram, Ravana takes the disguise of
a sadhu (mendicant) and stands in front of the hut, calling for alms.
Sita tries to give the sadhu the alms from inside the line drawn by
Lakshmana, but he insists that he would accept the bhiksha (alms) only
if she stepped forward and handed it to him. As soon as Sita crosses
the Lakshmana Rekha, the terrible Ravana takes his original form, lifts
the entire piece of earth with Sita standing on it and whisks her away
on his aerial chariot. Ravana realizes that he cannot lay his hands on
Sita directly and that is why he is forced to lift the entire land she
stands on. He then races in the southward direction.
When Rama and Lakshmana come back to the hermitage, they are appalled to find Sita missing. Rama at once suspects foul play and starts in search for her, crying out her name. As they proceed to search deep into the forest, they see Jatayu, their beloved eagle, who is critically wounded, lying there helplessly bleeding, his wings cut away cruelly. He reveals to a dishevelled Rama that while fighting Ravana to rescue Sita from his clutches, Ravana had cut off each of his wings, thereby making it impossible for Jatayu to retaliate any further. Then pointing in the direction which Ravana took, the elderly Jatayu places his head on Rama's lap and breathes his last. A shocked and tearful Rama bids his feathered friend a fond goodbye and grants him Moksha.
Ravana takes Sita to
Lanka and holds her captive there, in the Ashokvan or garden of Ashoka
trees. He deligates many demonesses to guard the area and prevent Sita
from escaping. Before leaving, he also instructs Trijata and other
demonesses to threaten Sita into marrying him. Throughout her one year
of captivity in Lanka, Ravana keeps expressing his desire for her, but
Sita refuses to heed his advances and maintains her chastity.
Meanwhile, Rama meets Hanuman and the rest of the Vanara Sena (army of
monkeys) and they hatch a plan to rescue Sita Devi from Lanka. The
mighty Hanuman jumps over the sea and manages to locate Sita being held
prisoner in Ashokvan. Sita is delighted to meet Hanuman and gives her
Chudamani (an item of her personal jewellery) and asks him to give it
to her husband. While Hanuman tries to head back to Rama, he is
captured by Ravana's forces. Hanuman is almost executed and burnt, but
he cleverly escapes out of there and burns the capital city of Lanka
while leaving instead.
Rama builds the Rama
Sethu (a bridge) with the help of the Vanara Sena, connecting South
India to Lanka. Interestingly, this bridge is supposedly in existence
under the water even today and there are supposedly satellite images to
prove the same.
Rama then wages a terribly long and violent war against Ravana and
eventually victors and slays the demon King Ravana. Rama then rescues
Sita from her long period of captivity. But Sita's troubles do not end
there either.
Since Sita was kept
in captivity by Ravana, she has to go through the 'Agni-Pariksha', the
test of fire, in order to prove her chastity to the world. Some
versions of the story claim that the Sita who entered the fire was a
duplicate, who had been there in place of the actual Sita, in order to
protect her from the harassment inflicted by Ravana while in Ashokvan.
Some others relate that Sita voluntarily entered the fire, in order to
cleanse herself from her ordeal. This story also says that the coals in
the fire turned to soft lotuses when she stepped on them. Yet others
say that Rama ordered that Sita take the trial by fire as a punishment
for her questioning Lakshmana's integrity, just before forcing him to
go in search of Rama, in the Mareecha episode.
The couple comes back to Ayodhya, where Rama is coronated as King of Ayodhya, at a grand Pattabhishekham ceremony. Rama happily rules the kingdom with Sita at his side for a while, but it soon comes to light that some residents of Ayodhya could not accept Sita's captivity in Lanka under Ravana and also questioned her chastity.
Though Rama knows
that Sita is innocent, he is forced to heed the words of his praja
(citizens he ruled over) and sends Sita off into an exile all over
again. This he does without even informing her or safely leaving her in
some sage's ashram. Instead, Rama sends Lakshmana to accompany her into
the forest and leave her there.
Rama, who is still
grief-stricken at the loss of his family, decides to perform the major
Ashwamedha Yagya on a grand scale. The Yagya or sacrificial ritual
requires that the one who conducts it, lets a horse roam around the
surrounding provinces. The regions where the horse roams free without
being captured, automatically goes into the ruler's control.
When Sita realizes
that her sons have been united with their father, Rama, Sita considers
her life's mission complete. Rama approaches her and requests her to
come back to him. But Sita is no longer willing to return to Rama or
Ayodhya and instead, chooses to seek final refuge in the arms of her
loving mother, Bhoomidevi, or Mother Earth.
Sita requests Bhoomidevi to have mercy on her and give her release from
this unjust world and a sadness-filled life. The earth suddenly and
dramatically splits open and Bhoomidevi appears from inside. She takes
Sita by the hand and lovingly ushers her away to a better world. This
incident marks the end of Sita Devi's avatar on Earth.
Not for nothing is
Mata Sita regarded as the epitome of womanhood. Sita's life was filled
with trouble and turmoil and yet, she stoically maintained her calm and
dignity throughout. Her story has been narrated in entirety in the
book, Sitayanam. The values that She adhered to and represented at
every point in the course her arduous life have now translated into
becoming the values of womanly virtue, held sacred by all generations
of Indians, past, present and future.
Interestingly, the name, "Sita", was in existence much before Valmiki's
Ramayana. She was considered a female deity of agricultural fertility,
but was overshadowed by more popular goddesses associated with
fertility.
As mentioned earlier on in this article, Sita was discovered in a
furrow when Janaka was ploughing. The term, "Seet" in Sanskrit means
"furrow". Janaka was the head of the royal family. From this we can
probably understand that ploughing was part of regular royal duties and
was undertaken so as to ensure fertility of the land.
Sita is also said to be the daughter of the Mother Earth, produced as a
result of the holy union between the king and the land. Hence, Devi
Sita is a personification of the Earth's fertility, abundance, peace
and prosperity.
Some believe that Devi Sita may have been named after a very ancient
Vedic Goddess, Sita. This deity has been mentioned in the Rigveda as
the Earth Goddess, who blesses the land with fertile soil and good
crops. During the Vedic era, hence, this Sita was one of the goddesses
associated with fertility.
The Ramayana mostly
centres around on Rama's actions, relegating all else to the
background. Here, Sita is sometimes even considered to be a quiet and
submissive figure, who keeps to herself most of the time. But this is
not quite the case. There are instances in the Ramayana when Sita
speaks out powerfully in favour of or against some principle.
In the first such instance, during their stay in Chitrakuta, Sita
enters a discussion with Rama, after which Rama solemnly vows that he
will never slay anyone without extreme provocation.
The second time, Sita strongly debates with Ravana when he comes to her
hermitage in the guise of a Brahmin. She flatly tells him that she
cannot easily trust him, since he does not look at all like a Brahmin.
Sita even subdues Hanuman with her powerful words. When Hanuman manages
to locate her in Ashokvan, he is intent of immediately taking her with
him, so that she can escape from there and be together with Rama.
Hanuman offers to take Sita on his back and transport her to his Lord.
Sita, however, declines and states that she would never want to run
away like a cowardly thief and that she would want her husband to
battle and victor against Ravana instead.
Certain versions of
the Ramayana relate that Sita was actually a reincarnation of Vedavati,
an avatar of Goddess Sri Mahalakshmi. The story goes thus:
Sage Kushadhwaja is pious man and a very learned scholar, living in a
hermitage deep into the forest. His daughter Vedavati, who lives with
her father, grows up into a beautiful young woman and an ardent devotee
of Lord Vishnu. Earlier on if life, she resolves never to wed anyone
other than her chosen Lord. Her father understands her feelings,
supports her ideals and even rejects marriage proposals from many
powerful kings and celestial beings who seek his daughter's hand in
marriage. One powerful individual among those rejected is Sambhu, a
powerful king of the Daityas. Treating this rejection as an outright
insult and swearing vengeance, Shambhu murders Vedavati's parents on a
moonless night.
Vedavati is alone and grief-stricken, but still continues to reside at
the same hermitage and meditates upon Vishnu. She radiates ethereal
beauty, dressed simply, in the hide of a black antelope, matted hair
tied above her head, her beauty and youth actually enhanced by her
severe austerities.
Ravana once spots Vedavati seated thus in meditation and is totally
enamoured by her beauty. He propositions her, but as usual, is
immediately rejected. Ravana mocks her austerities and her devotion to
Vishnu and gets even more upset while being firmly rejected each and
every time. At his wit's end, he tries to molest Vedavati, pulling her
hair. This greatly angers her, and she immediately cuts off her hair.
She also states that she would enter into the fire before his eyes and
adds that she would be born again just to become the cause of his
destruction. Saying thus, she prepares a pyre and fearlessly enters it.
Legend has it that it was Vedavati who was born again as Sita, and was
the root cause of Ravana's destruction, though Rama was the medium
here.
By being reborn as Sita, Vedavati also receives the boon she so
single-mindedly sought in her previous birth. Rama, the avatara of
Vishnu, becomes her husband. Some versions of the Ramayana talk of sage
Agastya relating the entire story of Vedavati to Rama.
Some legends consider Sita to be Ravana's daughter. Below is a list of some versions of this legend:
This article was written by:
Priya Viswanathan, a teacher/performer of Bharata Natyam, Classical Music and Classical Instrumental Veena. A recipient of several awards for both music and dance, Priya is also a freelance writer online. She currently writes for About.com, a subsidiary of IAC - the parent company of Ask.com. (http://mobiledevices.about.com)