Sītā Kavaca

The Sītā Kavaca is a protective hymn (kavaca, armour) that speaks of the divine nature and names of Devī Sītā. Agastya Maharshi taught it to his disciple Sutīkshṇa. It is found in the fourteenth sarga of the Manohara Khaṇḍa of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa.

It begins by telling who Devī Sītā is: the daughter of the earth, the beloved of lotus-eyed Bhagavān Rāma, and an apsaras who rose from the cosmic ocean of milk. It then calls on her to guard the one who recites it. The same sarga holds the Sītā Ashṭottara-Śata-Nāma, the 108 names of Sītā.

The setting

The great ṛshi Agastya of the south taught this kavaca to his devoted disciple Sutīkshṇa. This was at Agastya’s āśrama in the Daṇḍaka forest.

Sutīkshṇa had earlier made the Sutīkshṇa Rāma Stotra from his own devotion. Now he received from Agastya the teaching on the motherly protection of Devī Sītā. Beside his devotion to Bhagavān Rāma, he learned of Devī Sītā’s own power to protect.

This kavaca comes after the Hanumān Kavaca, which is in Chapter 13.

How the kavaca describes Sītā

The kavaca opens by naming who Devī Sītā is, through these words.

• Bhūmiputrī: daughter of the earth devī Bhūmi (Bhūdevī). Janaka found Sītā in the furrow of a field while he was ploughing for a rite. She rose from the earth itself, so she is the true daughter of Bhūmi.
• Raised by Janaka: King Janaka of Mithilā, a king of great wisdom and puṇya (merit), brought her up and protected her.
• Given to Padmāksha: she was given to Rāma, called Padmāksha (lotus-eyed), at the svayaṃvara, when Rāma lifted and broke the bow of Bhagavān Śiva.
• An apsaras from the ocean of milk: the kavaca names Sītā as an apsaras (heavenly being) who came from the kshīra-sāgara, the cosmic ocean of milk, the home of Bhagavān Vishṇu and Mahālakshmī. This agrees with the tradition that Sītā is an avatāra (descent) of Mahālakshmī, the first consort of Vishṇu in his form as Rāma.

What the kavaca covers

The Sītā Kavaca asks for Sītā’s protection in a fixed order. It covers the limbs of the one who recites, the directions, the times of the day, and the states of waking, dreaming and sleep. In each part it calls on Sītā by one or more of her names or aspects to guard that place of weakness.

Sources

• Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Manohara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 14 (the fourteenth sarga); the Hanumān Kavaca is in Chapter 13