Sītā and Lopāmudrā

During a solar eclipse, Sītā met Lopāmudrā, the learned wife of Agastya Muni, at Kurukshetra. After hearing Sītā tell the Rāmāyaṇa from the wedding to that day, Lopāmudrā asked one question. Why did Rāma work to build the Setu (the bridge over the ocean), when Agastya could have drunk the ocean dry in a moment? Sītā answered with five reasons. Lopāmudrā was silent, and Sītā then asked her forgiveness with great warmth. The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa tells this in its Vilāsa Khaṇḍa, Chapter 9.

The journey to Kurukshetra

Rāma, Sītā, and the whole royal household travelled to Kurukshetra in the divine Pushpaka vimāna (flying chariot) to see a solar eclipse. The eclipse drew thousands of beings from the three worlds. There came devas, gandharvas, kinnaras, pannagas, dwellers of āśramas of every tradition, kings, and their queens. All gathered on the holy field for the eclipse bath.

Rāma took the puṇyakāla snāna (the bath at the holy hour of the eclipse) with Sītā. Then he gave mahādāna (great gifts) in a way that suited the day. Elephants, horses, camels, and chariots were given away in thousands to worthy receivers.

Kings of all lands brought gifts and came to bow to Rāma. The queens and the wives of the kings came to meet Sītā. She embraced them warmly and sat with the wives of the munis and the wives of the kings. Among those beside her was Lopāmudrā, the deeply learned wife of Agastya Muni, who had also come for the eclipse bath. She saw Sītā radiant and at ease, and spoke to her with great affection.

Lopāmudrā’s request

Lopāmudrā said: “Sītā, you are truly blessed. Tell me of Rāma’s heroism. Tell it so that it is sweet and pleasant to my ears. Begin from your pāṇi-grahaṇa (wedding) and bring it all the way to this very journey to Kurukshetra.”

Sītā agreed. She told the whole account. She began with their svayaṃvara at Mithilā. She went on through Daṇḍakāraṇya, the taking of Sītā, Rāma’s search, the Setu, the war in Laṅkā, and the return to Ayodhyā. She gave every detail of the life they had lived together. Lopāmudrā listened closely.

Lopāmudrā’s question

When Sītā finished, Lopāmudrā smiled and said: “Sītā, Rāma has done everything with great skill and dharma. He is without doubt the greatest of heroes. But in one matter it seems to me that he worked without need. He troubled himself and all the vānaras greatly for no cause. That matter is the Setu.

“Why did Rāma not ask Agastya, my husband, to do what Agastya does as easily as breathing? Agastya once drank the whole ocean in a single gulp, and he can surely do so again. If Rāma had asked him, Agastya would have drunk the ocean dry in one moment. The whole salt sea would have been empty, and the vānaras could have walked over the dry bed with no trouble. Instead, all those monkeys spent many days straining to pile rocks and mountains into the sea. They bore enormous toil, when one word to Agastya would have solved everything.”

Sītā’s five reasons

Sītā heard Lopāmudrā calmly. Then she answered with clear confidence and loving authority.

“Lopāmudrā Devī, Rāma did what he did on purpose, knowing every other way. He knows all things. The Setu was not a mistake. It was a deliberate choice, and there are five reasons for it. I will tell them to you.”

First, the life of the ocean. If Rāma had shot the ocean dry with his bow, every creature in that great sea would have died. Fish, serpents, whales, and beings of every kind would have been lost. Rāma did not want to destroy innocent lives by the million as a side result of his war. To harm the life of the ocean without cause would have been adharma.

Second, the right understanding of his power. Suppose Rāma had flown across the ocean without building anything. Rāvaṇa could have brushed him aside and said, “He is only a man who has learned to fly. He is no great hero.” The building of the Setu showed something that could not be denied and would last. Rāma needed Rāvaṇa and the world to know that here was a king who could command nature, build a bridge of stone over the ocean, and march an army across it. Only the Setu could say this.

Third, riding on Hanumān was not fitting. Rāma could have crossed on the shoulders of Hanumān. But that would not be the crossing of a ruler. The glory of crossing the ocean, and the glory to be told in Laṅkā, depended on Rāma crossing as a king at the head of an army. It did not depend on his being a passenger on another’s back.

Fourth, the holiness of the ocean itself. The ocean is like the domain of a great brāhmaṇa. To swim across it would be like crossing the sacred boundary of a brāhmaṇa. Rāma kept even this fine point of dharma in mind.

Fifth, the ocean of Agastya. Sītā called this the most important reason. She said: “Long ago, your husband Agastya Muni drank the whole ocean in one gulp, in a moment of great anger, and held it inside himself. Later, by natural means, that ocean left his body by the urinary passage. This is how the ocean became salty. It passed through the body of a ṛshi in anger and came out as mūtra (urine). Suppose Rāma had asked Agastya to drink and give out that same ocean a second time. The world would say, ‘Rāma made a great ṛshi drink his own old mūtra and give it out again for Rāma’s gain.’ That would be an apayaśa (disgrace) for Rāma. He would be known for ever as the king who used a brāhmaṇa’s body as a tool in this way. Rāma could not let such a charge attach to his name. He chose the path of labour and lasting glory.”

Sītā ended: “The Setu that Rāma built can never be undone by time. It stands as an everlasting monument. As long as the earth lasts, people will say, ‘Daśaratha’s Rāma, who built the stone bridge across the great ocean.’ No other act could have given Rāma that fame. So, Lopāmudrā, the Setu was not needless toil. It was Rāma’s greatest act as a ruler.”

Lopāmudrā’s silence and Sītā’s apology

Lopāmudrā had no answer. She sat for a moment in silence, with her head a little bowed and a hint of shyness. Sītā saw this and at once grew gentle. She said with great warmth: “Lopāmudrā Devī, please forgive me. I spoke as I did because you asked, and because the love of speaking of Rāma’s glory carried me away. Do not think I wish to lessen the greatness of your husband. Agastya Maharshi is among the greatest of the Saptarshis. I know well his boundless power and tapas. It was you who asked me to defend Rāma’s honour, and in that I spoke truly. I honour your husband deeply.”

Lopāmudrā smiled, accepted this graciously, and embraced Sītā. Sītā then honoured all the wives of the munis and the wives of the kings and took leave of them. She returned to Rāma.

The gathered kings gave Rāma many gifts, chariots, horses, and elephants, in honour of his presence. Rāma mounted Garuḍa and returned to Ayodhyā with Sītā. At the city gate, the women of the capital met them with kumbha-dīpas (pots and lamps) and performed āratī (the waving of lamps) in joy.

Sources

• Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Vilāsa Khaṇḍa, Chapter 9