Rāma and Sītā’s First Meeting (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa)
The first meeting of Rāma and Sītā took place in Janaka’s flower garden in Mithilā. Rāma and Lakshmaṇa had gone there at dawn to pick flowers for pūjā. Sītā came to the garden with her companions to offer pūjā to Gaurī Devī in the temple by the lake.
One of her companions saw the princes and ran to tell Sītā. Sītā was led to see them and stood still, struck by the beauty of Rāmacandra. She closed her eyes and held his form in her heart. Rāma saw her too, and spoke to Lakshmaṇa of the deep stirring in his heart. Sītā then prayed to Gaurī Devī, who told her she would have Rāma as her husband.
The morning in the flower garden
On the morning after their first night in Mithilā, Rāma and Lakshmaṇa rose at dawn. They finished their snāna (bath) and sandhyā (twilight prayers), bowed at Viśvāmitra’s feet, and went to Janaka’s flower garden to gather flowers for pūjā. The garden was the finest in all Janaka’s land. It was alive in the Vasanta season. The trees were heavy with flowers and fruit, and creepers formed natural bowers. Cuckoos called, and parrots, peacocks, chakoras and chātakas filled the air with sound. Bees hummed over the blossoms.
In the middle of the garden lay a beautiful lake with clear water, steps set with gems, and lotuses where bees hummed. Water birds called around its edges. The sight of the garden and the lake filled the princes with delight, and they picked flowers and leaves in all four corners of the garden.
Sītā’s arrival
At the same hour, Sītā arrived at the garden with her companions. Her mother had sent her to offer pūjā at the Gaurī temple by the lake. She bathed in the lake and then went into the Gaurī temple. Standing before the image of Gaurī Devī, she prayed with full devotion. She asked Devī to grant the wish of her heart. She had not yet spoken that wish aloud, but Devī, who knows every heart (sarvāntaryāminī), knew it.
One of the sakhis (companions) had left the group to look around the garden. She came back running, her body thrilling with excitement, and said to Sītā: “Friends! I have seen two princes in the garden. Their beauty is beyond words. My eyes have no tongue to tell it, and my tongue has no eyes to see it!”
Nārada’s earlier word
When the sakhi spoke of the princes, Sītā’s companions guessed that these might be the princes who had come with the muni, the same princes of whom all Mithilā was speaking. Their words reached Sītā’s ears like the sweetest music. She then remembered what Nārada had told her long before: “O Jānakī, before your wedding, you shall see Rāma in the flower garden.”
Her heart was filled with pure and holy love. She looked around in anxious excitement, like a startled deer checking all directions, afraid her companions would read her thoughts.
Her companion led her forward. The ringing of her anklets and bracelets sounded softly. Rāma had been speaking with Lakshmaṇa. At the sound he turned in that direction.
The first sight
As the chātaka bird looks at the moon, Rāma looked at Jānakī. He saw her, and his gaze became fixed. In the depth of his pure heart he wondered at her beauty, and he said quietly to Lakshmaṇa:
“Lakshmaṇa! Look there. That is Janaka’s daughter, for whose sake the dhanur-yajña (the bow ceremony) is being held. My heart stirs at the sight of her. How strange! Men of the Raghu line never look at another man’s woman, even in a dream. Yet my right limbs are thrilling with a good omen. Parameśvara alone knows the reason.”
Even as Rāma spoke to Lakshmaṇa, his mind hovered around Maithilī’s lotus face like a bee.
Sītā’s vision
The sakhis led Sītā to a place from which she could see Rāma and Lakshmaṇa through the cover of a bower. At that same moment the two brothers stepped out into the open, like two moons coming out from behind a cloud.
Sītā saw them: the dark one (śyāmala) and the fair one (gaura). Both had lotus faces lightly touched with sweat, curling locks, eyebrows like drawn bows, earrings at their temples, charming cheeks, fine noses and wide lotus eyes. Their beauty put ten million Kāmadevas to shame.
The divine beauty of Rāmacandra held Sītā’s sight completely. She took his form into her eyes and closed her eyelids over it. She stood still for some moments, wholly absorbed. One sakhi teased her: “Sītā! You can meditate on Gaurī later. Should you not look at Rāma now?” Sītā opened her eyes with a smile, glanced sideways once more, and was again overwhelmed.
Wherever Sītā’s glance fell, it brought a shower of white lotus flowers.
The sakhis knew that time was passing and said: “We must come back here tomorrow at this same hour!” With a gentle hint full of meaning, they led Sītā away. As they walked, Jānakī kept turning back, pretending to look at the birds and animals, to steal glances at Rāma again and again.
Sītā’s prayer to Gaurī
Sītā went once more into the Bhavānī temple and prayed to Gaurī Devī:
“O daughter of the king of mountains! O mother of the world, beloved of Śiva, helper of all, first among faithful wives (pativratās), knower of all hearts! You know my wish without my speaking. O Devī, fulfil my saṅkalpa (resolve).”
She bowed down at the feet of Devī.
The image of Gaurī Devī smiled gently, and the garland in her hand slipped down as a sign of grace.
Sītā took the prasāda flowers and pressed them to her head with respect. Then Gaurī Devī spoke: “Sītā, Nārada’s words are true. Śrī Rāma will be yours as your husband, as your heart desires.” At these words Sītā and all her companions were filled with great joy. They praised Devī at length and went away.
Sources
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Rāmuḍu Jānakini Cūcuṭa