Sītā Agni Praveśa

After Rāvaṇa died and the war at Laṅkā was over, Rāma asked Sītā to show her purity before the gathered armies. Hurt by his words, Sītā called on Agni as the witness of the world and entered the blazing fire. Agni came out of the fire and gave her back to Rāma, unharmed and shining, and declared her perfect purity before all. Three texts tell this: the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, the Kūrma Purāṇa and the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa. The Kūrma Purāṇa says that the true Sītā, Mahālakshmī herself, had entered the sacred fire at the moment Rāvaṇa first came to take her. The Sītā whom Rāvaṇa carried to Laṅkā was a māyā-Sītā (an illusion-form) made by Agni, and the true Sītā stayed safe in the fire for the whole time. The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa also tells of a shadow-form of Sītā in Laṅkā.

The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa

Rāma’s harsh words

Rāvaṇa’s antyeshṭi (funeral rite) had been done. Vibhīshaṇa brought Sītā forward from the Aśoka grove, at last dressed and adorned. Then Śrī Rāma spoke words that shook the whole assembly. In front of all the vānaras, the rākshasas and the wives of Rāvaṇa, he said he could not take her back without open proof (pramāṇa) of her purity, because she had lived for long months in Rāvaṇa’s inner palace (antaḥpura). These words came from the same Rāma who had done so much to win her back, and they pierced Sītā like arrows. This is in Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 118–119.

The Govindarājīya commentary says that Śrī Rāma’s purpose was this: through Agni’s own witness, the world would see Sītā’s perfect purity, so that no one in any loka could ever question it again. The harsh words served the greatest open vindication.

Sītā’s answer and her entry into the fire

Sītā answered with dignity, grief and a firm mind. She said: “My heart has never for one moment moved from you. Even when Rāvaṇa carried me off helpless, my heart stayed in your keeping. My body was in the power of others, but my ātmā was always yours. O you who honour all people! You doubt me by looking only at the conduct of low-born women and judging all women by it. You forget who I am. I am earth-born, not born from a womb (ayonijā), a divine woman (divya-vanitā). I was placed in your hands as a child, in front of everyone. You have forgotten this.”

She then asked Lakshmaṇa to build her a funeral pyre. If the fire did not protect her, she said, her life was not worth living. This is in Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 119.

Lakshmaṇa looked at Rāma’s lowered face, read his unspoken wish, and built the pyre (citī). Sītā walked round Rāma in pradakshiṇa (a circle keeping him on her right), bowed to the fire and made her solemn prayer:

“As my heart has not moved from Śrī Rāma for even one moment, by this truth, O Agni, witness of the world, protect me! As my conduct has been blameless in thought, word and deed, protect me! Sūrya, Vāyu, Soma, Bhūdevī and the devatās of the directions all know my purity. Let Agni, the witness of the world, also know my sacred conduct (śīla) and guard me.”

Then, calm, she entered the blazing fire. This is in Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 119.

The crowd of children, elders, vānaras and rākshasas cried out in horror. The devas, gandharvas and dānavas watching from above were struck as if a divine woman had fallen from svarga (heaven) into naraka (hell).

Brahmā’s stotra and Agni’s return

When they saw Sītā enter the fire, the chief devas came down in their vimānas: Kubera, Yama, Indra, Varuṇa, Śiva and Brahmā. They asked Śrī Rāma: “How can you, who are Śrī Mahāvishṇu, allow this?” Brahmā then gave his full declaration that Śrī Rāma is Śrī Mahānārāyaṇa. In it he said that Sītā Sādhvī is Lakshmī Devī and that Rāma is Śrī Mahāvishṇu. This is in Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 120.

As soon as Brahmā’s stotra was finished, Agni came out of the fire. He carried Sītā in his lap, as a father carries his child. She shone. Her golden ornaments were whole, her crimson silk was unburnt, the flowers in her hair were fresh, and her divine form blazed with the light of the rising sun. Agni spoke straight to Śrī Rāma:

“O Prabhu Rāmacandra! Your wife Vaidehī, who keeps your dharma, has no fault at all. Her speech is pure, her mind is clear, her understanding is spotless, her gaze is divine. This pure-souled one thought only of you. Even when Rāvaṇa carried her off, helpless and alone, she thought of no one but you. The rākshasa kept her in secret in the Aśoka grove, guarded by fearful rākshasa women. She was tempted and threatened, yet she fixed her mind (citta) on you alone and held you as her only refuge. She knows no other. O Rāmacandra! Do not refuse her. This is my command.”

Hearing Agni’s words, Śrī Rāma’s heart melted. He thought: “How could I have spoken harshly to this best of women, who is purity itself?” He took Sītā back with great joy. He said that Sītā’s pativratā dharma (her duty as a devoted wife) was her armour (kavaca), which Rāvaṇa’s thought could not break through, let alone his hand. He said: “As the sun cannot be parted from his light, our bond cannot be cut.” He embraced her with deepest love. This is in Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 121.

The Kūrma Purāṇa: the māyā-Sītā

Rāvaṇa comes and Sītā prays to Agni

Rāvaṇa, the rākshasa king, came in disguise to the forest āśrama where Sītā lived. Bhagavān Rāma had been drawn away by the golden deer. Sītā saw the danger before her and turned to Agni. She offered a stotra to Vibhāvasu (Agni). She called him the witness of all living beings, the sacred fire that keeps the yajña (fire ritual) going and through which every offering reaches the devas. She prayed for protection. This is in Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 33.

Agni’s help: the māyā-Sītā

Agni answered Sītā’s prayer at once. He came down and appeared before her. With his śakti (power) he made the divine exchange. The true Sītā is Mahālakshmī herself, who took human form as the consort of Bhagavān Vishṇu born as Rāma. She entered the sacred fire, into Agni’s own protection. In her place Agni made a māyā-Sītā, an illusion-form that looked exactly like Sītā. Rāvaṇa saw this māyā-Sītā, approached her and in the end carried her off. He took away the fire’s illusion, while the true Sītā stayed safe in Agni’s keeping. This is in Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 33.

The war and the fire-ordeal

According to the Kūrma Purāṇa, Rāvaṇa carried the māyā-Sītā to Laṅkā. Bhagavān Rāma crossed to Laṅkā with Lakshmaṇa, Hanumān and the vānara army. The great war was fought and Rāvaṇa was killed. When the Sītā who seemed to be Sītā was brought before Rāma after the battle, questions rose about her purity during her long stay in Rāvaṇa’s court. The agni parīkshā (fire-ordeal) was called for. Sītā had to enter the sacred fire to show that she had remained untouched. This is in Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 33.

Agni gives Sītā back and declares who she is

When the māyā-Sītā entered the fire, Agni brought the true Sītā out of the flames. He had held her in his protection since the moment of Rāvaṇa’s coming. The true Sītā came out unharmed and shining, in the full glory of Mahālakshmī. Agni then declared before the whole court: this is the true Sītā. She is Mahālakshmī in human form, the eternal consort of Bhagavān Vishṇu. She entered the fire when Rāvaṇa came, and it was a māyā-form that was taken. Rāvaṇa never touched the true Sītā. This is in Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 33.

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa: Laṅkā Kāṇḍa

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa tells the fire entry with the māyā-Sītā from the start. It places the exchange not at the fire, as the Kūrma Purāṇa does, but at the very beginning, in the forest.

The earlier exchange

Tulasīdāsa says plainly that while Rāma was living in the forest, he had placed Sītā in the care of Agni. What stayed in Laṅkā during the captivity was her chāyā-rūpa, her shadow or illusion-form, and not the true Sītā. Now that the war was over, Śrī Rāma wished to receive his true Sītā back. This is in Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Laṅkā Kāṇḍa, Sītārāma-samāgama section.

The harsh words and Sītā’s answer

To bring this about before the eyes of all the worlds, Rāma spoke harsh words to Sītā in front of the gathered vānaras and rākshasas, asking her to show her purity openly. The vānaras and rākshasas were pained by the apparent hardness of Rāma’s heart. Sītā did not argue. She turned to Lakshmaṇa and spoke with great calm:

“Lakshmaṇa! I was married to Śrī Rāmacandra with Agni as the sacred witness. Now, made pure once more by Agni, I will go to my Prabhu Rāmacandra. Prepare the sacred fire without delay.”

Lakshmaṇa was full of sorrow, but he understood his elder brother’s purpose. He gathered the fuel and lit the fire. This is in Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Laṅkā Kāṇḍa, Sītārāma-samāgama section.

Agni’s act

Sītā went to the blazing fire, folded her hands (añjali) to Agni and prayed:

“O Hutāśana! I have served Śrī Rāma in thought, word and deed, with tri-karaṇa-śuddhi (purity of body, speech and mind). Give me your coolness, as you would give the coolness of sandalwood paste.”

She entered the flames. The roaring fire at once burned away the māyā-Sītā. Then Agni appeared in person. As the ocean of milk once gave Lakshmī Devī to Bhagavān Vishṇu, so Agni brought out the true Sītā and offered her to Śrī Rāma. The divine Jānakī took her place at Rāma’s left side, shining. The worlds were full of joy. Divine drums sounded and flowers rained from the sky. The vānaras, rākshasas and munis all cried out in joy:

Jānakī sameta prabhu / Śobhā amita apāra /
Dekhi bhālu kapi harshe / Jaya Raghupati sukha-sāra

The verse says that Prabhu Rāma sat with Jānakī, with beauty beyond measure; seeing it, the bears and the monkeys rejoiced and cried, “Victory to Raghupati, the essence of happiness!” This is in Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Laṅkā Kāṇḍa, Sītārāma-samāgama section.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 118–121
• Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 33
• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Laṅkā Kāṇḍa (Sītārāma-samāgama section)