Māyā Sītā Vadha (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa)
In the Laṅkā Kāṇḍa of Tulasīdāsa’s Rāmacaritamānas, Meghānāda (Indrajit) uses one of his cruellest tricks of māyā (illusion) in the war. He conjures a false Sītā, brings her to the battlefield, and cuts off her head in front of Hanumān and the vānara army. Hanumān is broken with grief. Vibhīshaṇa explains why this cannot be the real Sītā, and Hanumān then flies to Laṅkā in a hidden form and finds Sītā alive and safe in the Aśoka grove.
Indrajit’s trick
The direct attacks of Laṅkā had failed and the war was turning against it. Meghānāda, a rākshasa skilled in the arts of illusion, planned a desperate deceit. He conjured a complete and convincing image of Sītā. This māyā-Sītā had the look, the form and the features of the true Mahāsatī (the great faithful wife).
Meghānāda brought this false Sītā to the battlefield and showed her to Hanumān. He spoke to the vānara directly: “Hanumān! It is for this Sītā that you are fighting this war. Now watch. I am killing her before your eyes.” With these words the wicked rākshasa seized the māyā-Sītā, cut off her head with his sword, and threw her body from his chariot to the ground.
The vānaras who saw this were struck motionless. They were hataceshṭulu (without strength to move), unable to act or speak.
Hanumān’s grief and anger
Hanumān had crossed oceans and burned Laṅkā for Sītā’s sake. He felt his world break. His grief turned to anger. He shouted to the vānara army: “Why are you standing and watching? Attack! Destroy the enemy!” With a battle-cry that shook the earth, and lashing his tail, he threw himself on the rākshasa forces. Roused by his cry, and gripped by the desperate courage of those who feel they have nothing left to lose, the vānaras charged into battle with fierce strength.
Meghānāda had reached his aim, and he withdrew from the battlefield. He had caused what he wanted: confusion, grief, and a short break in Rāma’s forces.
Hanumān’s report to Rāma
When the rush of battle had died down, Hanumān came before Bhagavān Rāma in deep sorrow. He fell at Rāma’s feet, weeping, and told what he had seen: Sītā seized, her neck cut, her body thrown down from the chariot of the rākshasa. He wept openly.
Hearing this, Rāma fell into a state of shock, called digbhrānti (confusion of the directions), and then fainted. His words were: “Saumitri (Lakshmaṇa, son of Sumitrā)! Sītā has died a helpless death. How can I bear this unbearable pain?” He fell to the ground unconscious. The vānara commanders gathered around their fallen master in anguish.
Vibhīshaṇa’s explanation
Then Vibhīshaṇa came and spoke to Rāma with calm reason. He explained that Meghānāda was a master of māyā. What had been shown was certainly not the true Sītā. Conjuring a false Sītā by great illusion was within Meghānāda’s power. If there was any doubt, Vibhīshaṇa said, Hanumān should fly to Laṅkā in a hidden form and learn the truth for himself.
Hanumān sees that Sītā is safe
Hanumān took a subtle form (pracchannarūpa) and flew to Laṅkā at once. He found Sītā, Janakī, sitting in the Aśoka grove, just as she had been. She was alive and unharmed. Hanumān came back and reported directly to Bhagavān Rāma:
Svāmī! Jagadaṃba kshēmagā nunnadi
“Master! The Mother of the worlds is safe.”
At this word, Rāma and all the commanders breathed freely again. Meghānāda’s trick had failed in its last aim.
The Chāyā Sītā
The Rāmacaritamānas had already said, in the Araṇya Kāṇḍa, that when Mārīca came in the form of the golden deer, Śrī Rāma took the true Sītā into the sacred fire. He sent a Chāyā-Sītā (a shadow form of Sītā) in her place, to stay in her stead through the whole time of captivity in Laṅkā. So the one whom Rāvaṇa carried away was this Chāyā-Sītā, and the true Sītā stayed within Agni.
This is made known to all at the end of the war, when Agni gives back the true Sītā at the Agni-praveśa (Sītā’s entry into the fire). In the present episode, what Hanumān checked in Laṅkā was the safety of the Chāyā-Sītā, not of the first Sītā. The true Sītā was always safe.
Sources
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa (Rāmacaritamānas), Laṅkā Kāṇḍa, the section on Meghānāda cutting down the māyā-Sītā (Mēghānāḍuḍu Māyā Sītanu Tegalārccuṭa)
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa (the Chāyā-Sītā)