Sulocanā Vṛttānta

Sulocanā was the devoted wife of Indrajit, who is also called Meghanāda. This account in the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa tells what happened after Lakshmaṇa killed Indrajit in battle. Indrajit’s severed arm, still holding his bow, fell into her room and wrote a message to her in blood. Sulocanā then went to Rāma’s camp, asked for her husband’s head, and entered the fire. Her act is held up as the finest example of pātivratya, a wife’s devotion to her husband.

The death of Indrajit

Lakshmaṇa went with Vibhīshaṇa as his guide, together with Hanumān and the vānara army. They broke up Indrajit’s secret abhichāra-homa, the fire rite that would have made him unbeatable by devas and asuras alike. When the homa was broken, Indrajit came out in fury and fought Lakshmaṇa in deadly combat. Lakshmaṇa cut off Indrajit’s right arm together with its bow. After a fierce exchange he cut off the left arm too. At last he struck off Indrajit’s head with a divine arrow marked with the name of Rāma. The head fell outside Laṅkā, and the severed arms fell in different directions.

The message of the arm

One of Indrajit’s severed arms, still wearing golden keyūra (armlets) and still holding his bow, fell straight into Sulocanā’s room. She had been waiting in fear and devotion for news of her husband. When she saw the arm fall before her, she was struck with grief. Then a wonder took place. The arm dipped its fingers in the blood flowing from its wound and wrote a message to her on the floor in letters of blood.

The message said: “My beloved Sulocanā! Do not grieve. I have been killed by the arrow of Śesha himself. Lakshmaṇa is the great Śesha in human form, and to be killed by him is to gain liberation. Go to Śrī Rāma, bow before Him, and ask for my head. Rāma will give it. Take the head and enter the sacred fire, agni-praveśa, with my severed head in your hands. You will be joined with me, and together we will reach Vaikuṇṭha.”

Sulocanā goes to Rāma

Sulocanā read the message and grew calm. She asked Rāvaṇa for leave to go to Rāma’s camp, and he gave it. He was moved by her plight. Mandodarī dressed Sulocanā in fitting ornaments. Sulocanā sat in a palanquin (śibikā) and set out towards the vānara camp.

The vānaras saw the palanquin coming and at first thought Sītā might be inside. They thought that Rāvaṇa had at last given way and was sending her back. When they looked in and saw Sulocanā and not Sītā, they led her and the palanquin bearers to Rāma.

Before Rāma

Sulocanā stepped down from the palanquin and bowed to Rāma, touching her forehead to the ground. Then she made her request. She asked for the head of her husband Indrajit, so that she could do his last rites and enter the fire.

Rāma was moved by her dignity and devotion. He offered her more. He said, “Sulocanā, I see your purity. Out of compassion for you, I will bring your husband back to life if you wish.”

Sulocanā refused. She said, “How could my husband meet another such death at the hands of Lakshmaṇa? Only by being killed by Śesha does one gain such liberation. I will not take that liberation from him by having him brought back to life.” She asked only for the head.

Rāma was greatly pleased by her wisdom and devotion. He told the vānaras to give her Indrajit’s head, and they brought it to her.

Agni-praveśa

Sulocanā took Indrajit’s head in her hands and went back to Laṅkā. She gathered the two severed arms as well. She went to Nikuṃbhilā, the holy grove where Indrajit did his worship, which she knew from her married life. There she joined the arms and the head to Indrajit’s body and did the proper last rites (antima kriyā). Then she entered the funeral fire, holding her husband’s remains.

By the power of her complete pātivratya and by the grace of Rāma, Sulocanā’s subtle body, her divine form, rose from the fire. It was joined with Indrajit in the celestial realm. Together they went to Vaikuṇṭha.

Sources

• Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Sāra Khaṇḍa, Sarga 11