Sita
In Hinduism, Sita (Devanagari: सीता) is the wife of Rama, the seventh avatāra of Vishnu, and is regarded as the most esteemed exemplar of womanly elegance and wifely virtue. She is one of the principal characters in the Ramayana, a Hindu epic which details not only the heroic exploits of her husband but also the sublime love story that develops between he and she. According to Hindu belief, Sita herself was an avatāra of Lakshmi, Vishnu's consort, who chose to reincarnate herself on Earth to provide humankind with a paradigmatic example of good virtue.
Origin
The Sanskrit word sita literally means "furrow" or "the line made by the plow", a term held by ancient Indians to be redolent of fecundity and the many blessings which accrue from settled agriculture. Accordingly, the goddess known as Sita appearing in early Vedic literature is closely connected to the earth and is thought to bless the land with good crops. In various texts, Sita is listed as the wife of gods who hold jurisdiction over the fertile rains, such as Parjanya and even Indra. In the Vajasaneyi-samhita, Sita is invoked when furrows are drawn during a sacrificial ritual. This Vedic goddess of the fertile earth, though she remains relatively insignificant in these early texts, may represent a prototype of the character Sita who appears in the Ramayana. The duty of kings in ancient India is often conceived of in terms of promoting fertility of the land over which they rule, and so the significance of pairing Rama the archetypal ruler with a wife connected to the earth's bounty is readily apparent.[1]
Mythology
Childhood
Sita was a foundling, discovered nestled in a furrow in a plowed field, and for that reason she has been regarded as a daughter of Bhudevi, the Hindu earth Goddess. Her discoverers were Janaka, king of Mithila (Modern day Janakpur, Nepal) and his wife Sunayana, who gave her the name Sita and raised her as their own. She also inherits the name Janaki as the daughter of king Janaka, and the name Mythili or Maithili as the princess of Mithila. One obscure version of the story, popular in parts of Kerala, even goes so far as to suggest that Sita was a child of Ravana, the demon king of Lanka who would later go on to kidnap her in lust. Upon giving birth to the infant who would grow to be Sita, Ravana's wife Mandodari placed her in Janaka's plow-path since she feared that the child could be the harbinger of her husband's doom.
When Sita reached adolescence, a swayamwara or "self-choice" ceremony was held for the purpose of selecting a suitable husband for her. In order to find the best match for his daughter Sita, King Janaka presented all would-be suitors with the challenge of lifting the bow of Lord Shiva and stringing it. Only the man who performed this heroic task would be able to have Sita's hand in marriage. Rama, prince of Ayodhya, along with his brother Lakshmana and the Sage Vishvamitra were in attendance at this ceremony, and they watched as numerous noblemen failed at stringing the bow. Disappointed, King Janaka poured out his dilemma and misery, sending Lakshmana into a rage at the fact that the monarch had not offered Rama the same test. Upon the invitation of King Janaka, Lord Rama proceeded to lift the bow of Shiva and strung it with ease. So strong and adept was Rama in performing the task that he actually broke the mighty bow in the process of performing the task. With that, not only was Rama's vigor evident to King Janaka, but he had also stolen the heart of Sita, and so the two were wed.
Exile, Abduction and Emancipation
Some time after the wedding, circumstances became such that Rama felt it his duty to leave Ayodhya and spend a period of exile in the forests of Dandakaranya. Considering it the duty of a wife to stand beside her husband no matter what, Sita also willingly renounced the comforts of the palace and joined her husband in the forest. The worst was yet to come, however. One day Rama had gone away from the forest in which they lived in order to fetch a magnificent golden deer to please Sita. With Rama gone, Ravana, the demonic king of Lanka and one of Sita's former suitors, crept into Rama's ashram in which Sita sat vulnerable[2]. Overwhelmed by her beauty and his own uncontrollable passion, Ravana kidnapped her. Upon discovering what had happened, Rama and Lakshmana set out on a hazardous search to find Sita.
Ravana carried Sita back to the distant island realm where he ruled. At one point along the way, Jatayu, the vulture-king who was a good friend of Rama, attempted to swoop down to rescue Sita from Ravana, but was stymied in his attempt by the powerful demon who chopped off his wings. Jatayu survived long enough to inform Rama of what had happened and the direction in which Sita was being dragged. Upon their arrival in Lanka, Sita was held in captivity for a year. During this time, Sita assiduously protected her chastity at all costs, completely unwavering in her resolve despite Ravana's repeated advances upon her, as well as torture at the hands of female rakshasas. Sita also maintained a chaste mind, never once wavering in her adherence to her husband. Her faith is maintained when Hanuman, the anthropomorphic monkey who lives in service of Rama, locates where she has been held captive and provides her with Rama's ring, a gesture of her husband's undying love. Although Hanuman offers to free Sita and carry her home on his back, she refuses the offer, knowing that is the sole destiny of Rama to overcome Ravana and rescue her.
Eventually, Rama slays Ravana in a tremedous battle which marks the climax of a battle between Rama's allies and Ravana's army of rakshasas. Hanuman brings this news to Sita, and asks for permission to kill the female Rakshasas who have tortured her. Sita tells Hanuman an ancient story known as Na parah paap ma adate (Do not follow the sins committed by others) - one should behave according to one's dharma (righteousness) even if another has done you wrong. Eventually, Sita is liberated from her shackles by Rama.
Agni pariksha
As could be expected, Sita is overjoyed to embrace Rama once again after he rescues her. Rama, however, will not look at her, staring fixedly at the ground instead. In his inexplicable despondency, Rama informs Sita that he had fought the war solely for the purpose of avenging the dishonour that Ravana had done him, and that she was now free to do as she pleased with herself in the future. This sudden turn of events rendered the onlooking Sugriva, Hanuman, and Lakshmana, as well as the surviving vanaras and rakshasas shocked and mystfied. Sita was absolutely devastated by Rama's actions, and, shaking with grief and humiliation, begged Lakshmana to build her a pyre upon which she could burn herself alive, as the thought of life without Rama filled her with insurmountable despair. At this point, Lakshmana grew angered with Rama for the first time in his life, but, following Rama's order, he builds a pyre for Sita nonetheless. While the onlookers stood paralyzed with the sheer pathos of the display, Sita walked slowly into the fire. But to their greater shock and wonder, she was completely unharmed by the flames. Instead, she glowed radiantly from the centre of the pyre. Rama interpreted this as confirmation of her purity, since Agni, the fire god, would surely have destroyed the impure and sinful, and Rama immediately ran to Sita and embraced her. He had never doubted her purity for a second, but, as he would explain to Sita, the people of the world would not have accepted or honoured her as a queen or a woman if she had not passed this test, commonly referred to as the Agni pariksha.
Later life
Upon returning to Ayodhya, Rama is crowned King and Sita is to be his queen. In spite of her survival of the Agni pariksha, it soon became evident that a significant percentage of the citizenry of Ayodhya still doubted her chastity, considering the persuasive power of Ravana and the sheer length of time she had been away. These, these unconvinced citizens were of the opinion that Sita was unfit to be queen. Although Rama knew in his heart that these aspersions cast on Sita were entirely baseless, he nevertheless felt that his responsibilities to his citizens as a ruler superceded his responsibilites to his wife as a husband. This unwavering sense of duty led Rama to order the banishment of Sita from his household, and, ever the faithful wife, Sita complied with his command.
And so, once again Sita was in exile, this time all by herself and also pregnant. She sought refuge in the hermitage of the sage Valmiki, where she was delivered twin sons, Lava and Kusha. Sita raised her sons single-handedly in the hermitage. They grew up to be valiant and intelligent and were eventually united with their father. Once she had witnessed the acceptance of her children by Rama, Sita sought final refuge in the arms of her mother Bhumidevi, the Earth Goddess. Hearing her plea for release from an unjust world and from a life that had rarely been happy, the earth dramatically split open; Bhumidevi manifested herself and took Sita away to a better world. Although Rama demanded Sita's return, the earth remains closed, and Rama lives out the remainder of his life in sorrow, never remmarying again. Instead, he orders the construction of a golden idol of Sita which he uses at rituals requiring the presence of a wife. Some believe that this part of the story, Luv-Kushkanda, was written later than the rest of the text and promoted primarily by the British. As such, many Hindu organizations today disown Luv-Kushkanda and state that after Rama is crowned king there is Ram rajya, an epoche in which all of humankind lives in happiness, and Rama and Sita live together.
Depiction
As the singular archetype of feminine beauty and grace in the Hindu tradition, Sita is fittingly depicted as a resplendent, shapely woman with pleasant facial features. She is fair-skinned with long, black hair, though her head is sometimes covered by an elaborate head-dress in order to communicate her queenly status. As could be expected of her role status, she is often bejeweled with bracelets and anklets of gold. She often wears a modest robe or sari, which, while doing no injustice to her figure, no doubt serves as an indication of her chaste and virtuous nature. Her physiognomy is almost always anthropomorphic, though she may be depicted with additional arms in images attempting to speak to her status as an incarnation of Lakshmi. In pictures, she is almost always seated or standing at the left side of her husband Rama, from whom she is inseparable, as well as a number of other important characters from the Ramayana including Hanuman, Lakshmana, her twin sons, and sometimes even Ravana. Such pictures often depict famous scenes from the epic poem.
Worship
With the composition of Tulsidas' devotional Ramcarit-manas came the increasing popularity of Rama in popular worship, and so to did the theological significance of Sita herself. Together, Rama and Sita came to be viewed as the supreme divine couple, male and female aspects of god, and were invoked as such in religious practice. In contemporary Hinduism, Sita is identified as a goddess and is worshipped as such, however, she has not attained the status of a powerful, independent diety in and of herself. As such, it is still rare to find a temple dedicated to Sita alone. Instead, her idol is most often found in temples dedicated to Rama or Hanuman, installed alongside her husband and other important characters from the Ramayana. [3] She is approached by worshippers not as deity who provides blessings, but rather as an intermediary figure who can petition her husband for the dispensation of grace. Like Hanuman, she is also considered by proponents of bhakti (or "devotional") yoga as a prototypical model of the sort of ardent, unfailing devotion that a human being must have for their chosen god.
Festivals
For her role in Ramayana as the wife of Rama, Sita is a central character in a number of popular Hindu festivals. Rama Navami, the final day of a larger nine day festival called Vasanthothsavam (the "Festival of Spring"), is considered the wedding anniversary of Rama and Sita, and worshippers perform marriage celebrations for small statues of Sita and Rama in their houses. In the evening, these idols are taken onto the streets in a grand procession. For the duration of Rama Navami, temples are festooned with elaborate decorations, and readings of the Ramayana take place. All the while, Hindus worldwide direct their prayers to Rama and Sita, as well as their close companions. Sita is also widely acknowledged alongside her husband during the 10-day Vijayadashami festival, appearing as a major character in a dramatic performance of the Ramayana called the Rama-lila which is performed all throughout India. Furthermore, in the North India variation of Diwali ("the Festival of Lights"), lamps and candles are customarily lit in order to recapitulate an element of legend which claims that oil lamps were lit along the path to Ayodhya to guide Rama and Sita back home after Ravana had been defeated.
Notes
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Kinsley, David. Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988. ISBN 978-0520063396
- Mitchell, A.G. Hindu Gods and Goddesses. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1982. ISBN 011290372X
- Pattanaik, Devadutt. Indian Mythology: Tales, Symbols and Rituals from the Heart of the Subcontinent. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions International, 2003. ISBN 0892818700
External links
- Sita - The Silent Power of Suffering and Sacrifice by Sri Nitin Kumar.
- Sita Sings the Blues (clips from a modern animated feature which portrays the Ramayana from Sita's perspective)
- Weekly podcast on Vedic Chanting, Mnatras, Vedic Mythology and stories from the Puranas
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