Sītā Haraṇa

The Sītā Haraṇa (the taking of Sītā) is told in the Āraṇya Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. Rāma and Lakshmaṇa were both drawn away from their āśrama at Pañchavaṭī by the trick of the golden deer. Rāvaṇa then came in the form of a bhikshu (a wandering beggar-ascetic). He tried to win Sītā with words, showed his true form when she refused, seized her, and carried her south to Laṅkā in the pushpaka vimāna (his flying chariot). Only the eagle Jaṭāyu tried to stop him. As she was carried off, Sītā dropped her jewels as signs for Rāma to follow.

The unguarded āśrama

Rāma had been drawn far off by the golden deer, which was Mārīca. Lakshmaṇa had at last been made to go after him by Sītā’s anguished words. The āśrama at Pañchavaṭī now stood empty of its guards. Rāvaṇa had been waiting nearby, hidden, and moved at once. He came to the āśrama in the form of a wandering bhikshu, with saffron robes, a staff and a begging bowl. The disguise was perfect. Sītā saw what looked like a wandering ascetic, and she came forward to offer him hospitality. This is told in chapter 43.

Rāvaṇa’s approach

Still in the bhikshu form, Rāvaṇa first spent a long time praising Sītā’s beauty: her golden colour, her perfect form and her divine grace. He said she was the most beautiful being he had ever seen. Then he put aside the role of the ascetic, though he kept the disguise, and declared his love and his aim. He wanted her as his chief queen in Laṅkā, with a life of unmatched comfort and honour. He described the golden city of Laṅkā, his own unequalled power and the life she would have there. This is told in chapter 44.

Sītā’s refusal

Sītā refused him in plain and firm words. She spoke of Rāma: his virtues, his strength, his nature and his love for her. She spoke of her own complete and unshaken devotion to him. She said it was foolish of Rāvaṇa to suggest that she, who had Rāma, would choose another. She spoke of dharma and what it asks of a woman who has been given in marriage. She did not waver, showed no fear and did not try to calm him. Her words were those of one who knew who she was and what she stood for. This is told in chapter 44.

The true form and the seizure

When words failed, Rāvaṇa dropped all pretence. He showed his true form: ten terrible heads, twenty arms, a body like a great dark mountain, gold ornaments flashing in the light, and the face of a conqueror. He told Sītā who he was: Rāvaṇa, king of Laṅkā, whom the devas and the asuras feared. Since she would not come willingly, he would take her.

He seized Sītā, gripping her hair with his left hand and holding her feet with his right. He rose into the sky with her in his pushpaka vimāna, the great flying chariot, and turned south toward Laṅkā. This is told in chapter 45.

Sītā’s cries and the scattered jewels

As Rāvaṇa carried her through the sky, Sītā cried out with all her strength. She called Rāma’s name and Lakshmaṇa’s name. She called to the trees and to the river Godāvarī and begged them to tell Rāma what they had seen. She called to all the creatures of the forest.

Then, with great presence of mind in the midst of her fear and grief, she took off her ornaments, the jewels she wore, and dropped them on purpose. She let them fall on the forest slopes below, where she saw a group of monkeys, the vānaras on Rishyamūka. Those monkeys would later find the jewels and bring them to Rāma. It was her own deliberate act of wisdom in the worst moment of her life. This is told in chapters 45 to 48.

Jaṭāyu’s battle

The great eagle Jaṭāyu was an old friend of Daśaratha and had promised to protect Sītā. He heard her cries and rose to stop Rāvaṇa in the air. He fought with great fury. He destroyed Rāvaṇa’s horses, chariot, charioteer, bow and umbrella, and he cut off Rāvaṇa’s ten left arms. But Rāvaṇa recovered, drew his sword and cut off Jaṭāyu’s wings and legs. Jaṭāyu fell, badly wounded, and Rāvaṇa went on south. This is told in chapters 45 to 47.

Sītā in Laṅkā

Rāvaṇa brought Sītā to Laṅkā and put her in the Aśoka Vana, the great garden of aśoka trees, under the close guard of rākshasīs. He came again and again to win her over. He offered her every comfort and threatened her with every punishment, but Sītā stayed wholly unmoved. Whenever he spoke to her, she placed a blade of grass between herself and Rāvaṇa and would not look at him directly. She sat under an aśoka tree and thought of Rāma without a break. This is told in chapters 49 to 51.

What followed

The Sītā Haraṇa changed Rāma from an exiled prince in the forest into a warrior seeking to win back what had been taken wrongly.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, chapters 43–51