Sunayā
Sunayā was the queen of Janaka Mahārāja of Mithilā. She was the mother of Sītā and Urmilā. When Janaka went to Citrākūṭa to see Rāma, Sītā and Lakshmaṇa during their forest exile, Sunayā went with him. This is told in the Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa of the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa.
At Citrākūṭa she met the Ayodhyā queens: Kauśalyā, Sumitrā and Kaikeyī. She shared their grief and their thoughtful words. Her meeting with Sītā, who was dressed in valkala (bark cloth), is one of the most touching scenes of the Citrākūṭa days. She is described as a woman of noble nature and pativratā wisdom (the wisdom of a wife devoted to her husband). She loved both her daughter and her son-in-law Rāma deeply.
Journey to Citrākūṭa
Janaka heard from his trusted messengers that Daśaratha had died and that Rāma, Sītā and Lakshmaṇa were living in the forest at Citrākūṭa. He decided at once to go to them. He set out with his ministers, army and retinue, and reached Prayāga the next morning. From there his messengers went ahead to tell the assembly at Citrākūṭa that he would soon arrive.
Sunayā travelled with Janaka. A mother could not stay behind while her daughter lived deep in the forest. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa)
Meeting the Ayodhyā queens
On Jyeshṭha Śukla Ekādaśī (the eleventh day of the bright half of the month of Jyeshṭha), one of the days of the great assembly at Citrākūṭa, Sunayā came to the quarters of the Ayodhyā queens. Kauśalyā welcomed her with great warmth and love.
The two senior queens, Sunayā of Mithilā and Kauśalyā of Ayodhyā, sat together and spoke openly of their grief. They told each other what had happened in their kingdoms since Rāma’s exile. They wept together as mothers whose children had been thrown by fate into suffering that they could not prevent.
Their meeting brought out deep thoughts. Sunayā said:
“How strange is the arrangement of Vidhātā! He used a thunderbolt to cleave foam. The same hand that created *amṛta also produced the hālāhala poison in the same ocean.”*
Sumitrā said:
“The *līlā (divine play) of the Jagadīśvara who creates, sustains, and destroys the worlds is most wondrous.”*
Kauśalyā answered with calm, in keeping with dharma:
“Karma*, which is the root cause of all joy and sorrow, gain and loss, is under the sovereignty of Īśvara. It is not proper for us to blame others for our auspicious and inauspicious results. The Mahārāja lived, and then died. We measure his living and dying by our own gain. We do not know what Bhagavat-saṅkalpa (the divine will) lies behind it.”*
(Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa)
The night with Sītā
Sunayā took Sītā with her for the night to Janaka’s quarters. There Janaka welcomed his dear daughter and embraced her with deep feeling. He saw Sītā dressed in the rough bark cloth of a forest ascetic, and he felt both pride and sorrow. He said:
“Child! Maithilī! By your pure conduct, both the family you were born into and the family you married into have been consecrated. May your shining fame, pure as the Gaṅgā, remain untarnished and undying through all time.”
Her parents embraced her many times. They could not see enough of her (darśana). But Sītā knew that a pativratā should not spend the night away from her husband. She gently showed that she wished to go back. Sunayā understood her daughter’s feeling without a word being said. She lovingly let her go and sent her back to the parṇaśālā (leaf hut) with full honour. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa)
The message from Kauśalyā
After Sītā left, Sunayā gave Janaka a private request that Kauśalyā had whispered to her. Janaka should advise the assembly so that Lakshmaṇa would stay near Rāma in the forest. If needed, Bharata should be allowed to go with Rāma for the rest of the exile. Kauśalyā feared that Bharata, in his great love for Rāma, might not be able to bear fourteen years apart from him.
Janaka answered with deep wisdom. He told Sunayā that no one in all the three worlds equals Bharata. Bharata’s character is as pure as the Gaṅgā and as sweet as amṛta. Janaka said that Rāma’s love and Bharata’s faith in Rāma are beyond what logic or imagination can grasp. He said that Bharata would never go against his elder brother’s command under any circumstances. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa)
Sources
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa