Sītā
Sītā is the daughter of king Janaka of Mithilā and the consort of Bhagavān Rāma. The texts say she came from the earth, from the first furrow, when Janaka was ploughing a field. She is honoured as the highest example of pativratā dharma, the duty of a faithful wife. She shared Bhagavān Rāma’s life in the forest, lived through captivity in Laṅkā under Rāvaṇa, and was later left in the forest while she was expecting a child. There, in Vālmīki’s āśrama (hermitage), she gave birth to Kuśa and Lava.
The Purāṇas and the Rāmāyaṇas speak of her glory. Varuṇa says she is the mother of all worlds. He says she creates Brahmā, Śiva and the other devas, and that those who reflect on her feet at once attain perfection. In the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa she is an aṃśa (part) of Lakshmī. Brahmā calls her Mahālakshmī in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa.
Birth from the earth
The Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, says that king Janaka of Mithilā was ploughing a field. An extremely beautiful girl came out of the long first furrow (sītā). Janaka is also known as Sīradhvaja, “one whose flag is the plough”. He was very glad to see her and named her Sītā.
The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, gives Janaka’s own words to Bhagavān Rāma before the test of Śiva’s bow (the Śiva Dhanus). Janaka says he was ploughing a field during a yajña (fire ritual) for rain when a girl-child appeared from the first furrow. She was perfectly formed and radiant beyond description, an ayonijā (one not born from a womb). Janaka took her up, named her Sītā after the furrow, and raised her as his daughter. She is called Bhūmi-putrikā, the daughter of the earth.
The parrots’ words
In her childhood, Sītā met a charming pair of parrots in Janaka’s garden. They were singing about Rāma’s future greatness, which they had learned from Vālmīki’s disciples who sang of Rāma’s future deeds. The female parrot described Rāma’s form in detail: a lotus-like face, lotus eyes, a raised nose, lovely eyebrows, hands that reach to his knees, and lotus feet honoured by all devotees. She said even Lakshmī was drawn to such a form.
Sītā was charmed and kept the female parrot, who was expecting, so that she could hear more. The male parrot pleaded with her, but she would not let the female go. Overcome with grief at being parted from her husband, the female parrot spoke a śāpa (a curse): “As you are separating me from my husband, in the same way you will be separated from Rāma when you are pregnant.” The female parrot died of grief. The male parrot plunged into the Gaṅgā and vowed to be born as a śūdra washerman in Rāma’s city, so that he would cause Sītā’s separation. This began the chain of events that led to Sītā’s later abandonment. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapter 57)
The svayaṃvara and the marriage
The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, says Janaka set one condition for Sītā’s marriage: only the man who could string Śiva’s bow would receive her. Many great kings and warriors tried and failed. When Rāma lifted and broke the bow, Janaka gave Sītā to Rāma. The wedding was held at Mithilā with full Vedic rites, led by Vasishṭha. The devas showered flowers from the sky and the gandharvas sang. (Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapters 67, 73)
In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa: Bāla Kāṇḍa
Nārada’s earlier word
Long before Sītā met Rāma, Nārada had come to her and said: “O Jānakī, before your wedding, you will see Rāma in the flower garden.” When her companions in Janaka’s garden spoke of two extraordinary princes, Sītā remembered these words. Her heart filled with pure and holy love. She looked around anxiously, like a startled deer, so that her friends (sakhīs) would not read her thoughts.
The first meeting
On the morning after Rāma’s first night in Mithilā, Sītā’s mother sent her to offer pūjā to Gaurīdevī at the temple by the lake in Janaka’s flower garden. One of her friends came running back to say that she had seen two princes of matchless beauty in the garden. Sītā was led to a spot from where she could see them through the cover of a bower.
At that moment Rāma and Lakshmaṇa stepped into the open, like two moons coming out from behind a cloud. Sītā saw the dark (śyāmala) form of Rāma: a lotus face lightly touched with sweat, curling locks, eyebrows like drawn bows and wide lotus eyes. His beauty put ten million Kāmadevas to shame. She took the image of Rāmacandra into her eyes and closed her eyelids over it. She stood still for some moments, wholly absorbed. White lotus flowers rained wherever her glance fell.
As her friends gently led her away, Jānakī kept turning back, pretending to look at the birds and animals, to steal glances at Rāmacandra.
Gaurī’s assurance
Sītā entered the Bhavānī temple once more and prayed to Gaurīdevī: “O daughter of the mountain king! O Jagajjananī (mother of the world), beloved of Śiva, who knows every heart! You know my wish without my speaking. Fulfil my saṃkalpa (resolve).” She bowed at the devī’s feet. The image of Gaurīdevī smiled gently and the garland in her hand slipped down, a sign of grace and acceptance. Then the devī spoke: “Sītā, Nārada’s words are true. Śrī Rāma will be your husband, as your heart desires.” Sītā and all her companions were filled with joy. They praised the devī at length and left. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Rāmuḍu Jānakini Cūcuṭa)
In the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa: Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa
Going with Rāma into the forest
When Kaikeyī’s demands sent Rāma to the forest, Sītā said plainly that she would go with him. Rāma tried earnestly to change her mind. He described the hardships of forest life in detail: cold nights, dangerous ground, wild animals, uncertain food and no comfortable beds. Sītā answered from the full understanding of pativratā dharma. She said the husband is the wife’s deva and her highest dharma, that where the husband goes the wife must go, and that the forest with Rāma would be more beautiful than Ayodhyā without him. Rāma accepted her decision. (Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 24–27)
Prayers at the sacred rivers
Sītā took an active part in the devotions of the journey. While crossing the Gaṅgā at Śṛṅgaverapura, she prayed to the river with folded hands. She vowed to offer ten thousand cows and to honour brāhmaṇas when she returned to Ayodhyā with Rāma after fourteen years. When crossing the Yamunā at Prayāga, she prayed to that river too. She also prayed to the great Śyāma banyan tree on the southern bank of the Yamunā. (Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 52–55)
At Citrakūṭa
At Citrakūṭa, on the bank of the Mandākinī, Sītā settled into forest life with Rāma and Lakshmaṇa. The Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa describes her joy in the flowering trees, the birds and the river. Bharata came to Citrakūṭa with the news of Daśaratha’s death. Sītā then performed the piṇḍa-dāna (the offering of rice-balls for the dead) on the Mandākinī’s bank. She took sand from the river with her own hands to make a piṇḍa for Daśaratha, her father-in-law, and offered it with prayer. (Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 56–96)
Meeting Anasūyā
In the last episode of the Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Sītā met Anasūyā, the wife of Atri Maharshi and the highest example of a pativratā. Anasūyā taught Sītā about pativratā dharma and gave her divine garlands, garments, jewellery and an undying aṅgarāga (body ointment). At Anasūyā’s request, Sītā told the story of her svayaṃvara and her marriage to Rāma. With this meeting the Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa ends. (Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 117–119)
In the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa: Āraṇya Kāṇḍa
In the forest
Sītā went with Rāma and Lakshmaṇa on all their wanderings in Daṇḍakāraṇya. The rākshasa Virādha attacked and seized Sītā in his first assault. After Virādha was destroyed, she went on southward with the two brothers, passing many āśramas of ṛshis and sharing their life of tapas (austerity) and simplicity. (Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 2–4)
Sītā’s counsel on the three kāma-vyasanas
Sītā spoke to Rāma about the nature of kshatriya dharma (the duty of a warrior) in the forest. She named three great kāma-vyasanas (faults born of desire) that a dharmic person must give up:
- Mithyā-vacana: speaking falsehood.
- Para-strī-vyāmoha: infatuation with another man’s wife.
- Kāraṇa-hīna-prāṇi-hiṃsā: killing living beings without just cause.
Sītā was concerned that Rāma, constantly armed in the forest among ṛshis and with no enemy who had actually wronged them, might be drawn toward the third fault, killing for its own sake. She did not argue against protecting the ṛshis. She spoke for purity of intention behind every act. (Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 9–10)
At Pañcavaṭī
After they settled at Pañcavaṭī on the Godāvarī, Sītā lived in the leaf-hut āśrama that Lakshmaṇa built. Śūrpaṇakhā, the rākshasī, flew at Sītā in fury after Rāma turned her away, and Sītā was in direct danger. Rāma told Lakshmaṇa to punish Śūrpaṇakhā, and she lost her nose and ears. After this came the destruction of Khara’s whole army at Janasthāna. (Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 27–33)
The golden deer and Lakshmaṇa’s departure
In the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, the rākshasa Mārīca, forced by Rāvaṇa, appeared near the āśrama as a shimmering golden deer with jewelled spots and a body that seemed made of light. Sītā was charmed. She begged Rāma to catch it, either alive as a wonderful pet or, if it was a rākshasa in disguise, as a trophy. The other ṛshi women also marvelled at its beauty.
Rāma went after the deer and told Lakshmaṇa to guard Sītā. Mārīca was dying under Rāma’s Brahmāstra, and he called out in Rāma’s voice, “Hā Sītā! Hā Lakshmaṇa!” Sītā was filled with dread. She begged Lakshmaṇa to go to Rāma’s aid at once. Lakshmaṇa first refused, sure that no being in the three worlds could harm Rāma. In her anguish Sītā spoke harsh words to him and questioned his reasons for staying behind. Lakshmaṇa was deeply hurt, but he could not leave her unprotected against her tearful command. He drew a protective line, the Lakshmaṇa Rekhā, at the threshold and left. This was exactly what Rāvaṇa had planned. (Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 38–43)
The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, tells it in a different setting, and its events are given below.
In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa: Āraṇya Kāṇḍa
Sītā-Chāyā, the entry into Agni
The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa tells of the Chāyā-Sītā (shadow Sītā). Before the events of Śūrpaṇakhā’s mutilation and the march of Khara’s army, Bhagavān Rāma knew what was coming. He gave Sītā a private and secret instruction: to enter the fire. The real Sītā, the true Jānakī, entered Agni at Rāma’s word, trusting herself wholly to his command. What remained outwardly, and moved through the events of the Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, was a chāyā, a shadow with Sītā’s form and presence, called Chāyā-Sītā. This was hidden from everyone: from Rāvaṇa who took her away, from the forest beings who saw the abduction, and from the world. Because the true Sītā entered the fire before the abduction, the whole captivity in Laṅkā was lived through not by Sītā herself but by her shining shadow.
The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa gives this as the inner truth of the most painful episode of the Rāmāyaṇa: the supreme Śakti cannot be touched or held by adharma, and what Rāvaṇa seized was only an appearance. Śiva tells this secret to Pārvatī and says that those who know this truth are freed from all bondage.
The request for the golden deer
At the āśrama of Pañcavaṭī on the bank of the Godāvarī, Sītā lived happily and simply with Rāma and Lakshmaṇa. Here came the episode of the golden deer. Mārīca took the form of an exquisite golden deer with gem-like markings and appeared before the āśrama. Sītā was charmed and asked Rāma to catch it for her, alive as a companion or, if that was not possible, for its skin. She spoke sweetly and with longing. Rāma knew what the deer was, yet he chose to act on Sītā’s wish, for events had to unfold as the divine will had set them. He told Lakshmaṇa to guard Sītā and went after the deer.
Lakshmaṇa leaves
The cry “Hā Sīte! Hā Lakshmaṇa!” reached the āśrama. It was Mārīca’s last imitation of Rāma’s voice. Sītā was seized by terror and urged Lakshmaṇa to go to Rāma’s aid at once. Lakshmaṇa had Rāma’s instruction and was sure nothing could harm Rāma, so he hesitated and tried to comfort her. Then Sītā, in her panic, spoke harshly and hinted that his delay was deliberate and dishonourable. These words pierced Lakshmaṇa deeply. He could not bear that Sītā thought ill of him, and he could not stay while she was in such anguish. With the power of his arrow he drew the Lakshmaṇa Rekhā around the āśrama, told her firmly not to cross it for any reason, and left most unwillingly.
The abduction by Rāvaṇa
In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Rāvaṇa came to the āśrama dressed as a sannyāsī, with a staff in his hand and a kamaṇḍalu (water pot) at his side, looking like a wandering ascetic. The Chāyā-Sītā did not know who stood before her. She greeted him with the respect due to a brāhmaṇa and offered him hospitality. When he showed who he was and said he meant to carry her away, Chāyā-Sītā answered with dignity and courage and declared that she belonged wholly to Rāmacandra. Rāvaṇa seized her. Jaṭāyu, the great eagle king, saw the abduction and flew to stop the Pushpaka vimāna. He fought Rāvaṇa with great courage until his wings were cut off and he fell, mortally wounded, to the forest floor. Rāvaṇa carried Chāyā-Sītā south to Laṅkā.
The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa tells it this way. Rāvaṇa came to the unguarded āśrama dressed as a wandering bhikshu (ascetic who begs), with a begging bowl and a staff. Sītā, doing her duty as the wife of the house, came forward to offer him hospitality. Rāvaṇa praised her beauty at length and declared his love. He urged her to come with him to Laṅkā as his chief queen. Sītā refused with complete firmness. She described Rāma’s matchless qualities and her own unshakeable loyalty.
Seeing that words would not win her, Rāvaṇa threw off his disguise and showed his fearful ten-headed form. He seized Sītā, gripping her hair with his left hand and her feet with his right, and rose into the sky in his Pushpaka vimāna. Sītā screamed the names of Rāma and Lakshmaṇa, cried out to the trees and to the Godāvarī, and dropped her ornaments as she was carried away, hoping they would be signs for Rāma to follow. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 43–48)
Captivity in Laṅkā
In the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Sītā neither gave in nor lost hope in the Aśoka Vana, though she was surrounded by rākshasīs and Rāvaṇa kept pressing her. The monkeys on Ṛshyamūka mountain saw the jewels she had dropped during the abduction. This was an act of both courage and intelligence, and it later helped to guide Rāma’s search.
In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, the Chāyā-Sītā stayed in the Aśoka Vāṭikā of Laṅkā under the guard of the rākshasīs. She was not moved by Rāvaṇa’s threats or by his pleading. Her vigil had one aim: to contemplate the form of Rāma. She held a blade of grass in front of her as a boundary between Rāvaṇa and herself. She would not speak to him directly and spoke all her words past him, as if into empty space. In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, her state in captivity is one of absorbed bhakti. Even the shadow Sītā, formed from Sītā’s own shining being, kept Rāmacandra’s image always in mind. Her grief was not despair. It was the viraha (pain of separation) of a devotee who longs without pause for the presence of Bhagavān Rāma.
The fire test, Agni-praveśa
After Rāvaṇa was killed and the war was over, Śrī Rāma sent Vibhīshaṇa to bring Sītā from the Aśoka Vana and had her brought before the gathered armies. Then, in front of all the vānaras, rākshasas, the vānara commanders and Vibhīshaṇa, Rāma spoke words that pierced every heart. He said the war had been fought for his own honour and for the honour of the Ikshvāku line, not for Sītā herself, and that a woman who had lived in another man’s house could not be taken back into his own. He spoke these words within the bounds of maryādā (proper conduct) of a human king’s dharma.
Sītā heard the words without breaking down. Her answer was calm, dignified and complete. She turned to Lakshmaṇa and asked him to build the fire. Lakshmaṇa looked to Rāma, who nodded. Sītā walked around Rāma with folded hands and prayed to the fire: “If I have been faithful to Rāma in thought, word and deed all my life, let Agni be my witness and let him protect me.” She entered the blazing fire. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 118–119)
Agni-deva rose from the flames carrying Sītā unharmed. She was radiant and unscorched, not a hair out of place, and she wore the same garlands and garments she had worn when she entered. He gave her to Rāma and said: “Here is Sītā. She is without pāpa (sin). Not in thought, not in speech, not in deed has she turned away from you during her captivity. Take her back.” (Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 121)
At once all the great devas came down: Brahmā, Indra, Varuṇa, Yama, Kubera and Śiva. Brahmā offered a great stotra (hymn of praise) that declares Śrī Rāma to be Mahāvishṇu and Sītā to be Mahālakshmī, the eternal consort of Bhagavān Mahāvishṇu, who took human form to fulfil the purpose of the Tretā-yuga. (Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 120)
The return to Ayodhyā
After Rāvaṇa’s defeat, Sītā came back with Rāma in the Pushpaka vimāna. Bharata received her with respect as his brother’s wife and said: “O mother, forgive the pāpa (sin) that I, the ignorant one, committed. Ladies like you, devoted to their husbands, do good to all.” Sītā blessed him and asked after his health. At Kauśalyā’s house the queen mother blessed her daughter-in-law: “O Sītā, enjoy a long life with your husband. Give birth to two sons. By following the lotus feet of Rāma to the great forest, you have purified your family.” (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapters 2–4)
The abandonment
After Rāma had ruled with dharma for over a thousand years, a washerman, who was the male parrot reborn, spoke words of blame about Sītā. Rāma placed his spotless fame above every personal bond. He told Lakshmaṇa to take Sītā to the forest on the excuse of visiting women ascetics. Sītā went gladly, carrying gifts of garments and ornaments for the ascetic women. She did not know she was being abandoned.
In the fearful forest, Lakshmaṇa told her the truth in a choking voice and with tears of regret. Sītā fell like a creeper with its roots cut. She fainted again and again. Her last message for Rāma, given to Lakshmaṇa, was: “Even though you knew me to be without pāpa (sin), you left me. Does this suit your family? O lord of the earth, you alone should be my husband in every birth. Now, keeping Rāma’s seed safe in my womb, I will live in the forest.” (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapter 59)
The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa, gives it as follows. After the happy years of Rāma-rājya, a spy named Bhadra told Rāma what the citizens were saying: a washerman had made a cutting remark comparing his own wife to Sītā. Rāma spent a sleepless night in grief. As a king he could not ignore loka-apavāda (public blame), even though he knew that Sītā was perfectly pure. His inner decision was made in sorrow. He called Lakshmaṇa and ordered him to take Sītā to the forest near Vālmīki’s āśrama on the Tamasā, on the excuse of visiting women ascetics, and to leave her there.
Lakshmaṇa, in anguish, carried out the order. In the forest he told Sītā the truth with a choked voice and tears, and she fell as though the roots of her world had been cut. She wept. She sent a message back through Lakshmaṇa for Rāma: “Even though you knew me to be without pāpa (sin), you have left me. O lord of the earth, you alone shall be my husband in every birth. Now, keeping Rāma’s seed safe in my womb, I will live in the forest.”
An āśarīra-vāṇī (a voice from the sky with no visible speaker) then spoke. It declared Sītā’s purity to Lakshmaṇa and told him that what was happening was the will of Bhagavān Rāma unfolding for a divine purpose. Lakshmaṇa, with tears flowing, bowed in the direction of the āśrama and left. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa, Chapters 5–6)
Life in Vālmīki’s āśrama
In the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Vālmīki sheltered Sītā with great kindness. He told her: “I am your father’s teacher. Think of this as your father’s house in another place.” The sons of the ṛshis built her a lovely leaf hut. She gave birth to the twin sons Kuśa and Lava. Vālmīki raised them and taught them all the Vedas, the use of weapons and the Rāmāyaṇa. They became extraordinary warriors and singers.
When Kuśa and Lava were tested by their singing in Varuṇa’s realm, Varuṇa praised Sītā’s supreme glory: “Sītā is the greatest well-being of all well-beings. She is death and she is nectar. She gives heat and she sends down rain. Your Jānakī is svarga (heaven), moksha (liberation), tapas (austerity), deep dhyāna (meditation) and charity. None but your dear Sītā creates Brahmā, Śiva and the other devas. Those who reflect on Sītā’s feet at once attain perfection.” (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapters 59, 66)
In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Vālmīki Maharshi received Sītā as warmly as a father receives a daughter. He told her: “This is the home of your father’s teacher. Treat it as your own father’s house.” She was settled in the āśrama, and in that forest refuge she gave birth to the twin sons Lava and Kuśa, with the Sun as witness to their divine parentage. They grew up as muni-kumāras (sons of munis). Vālmīki taught them the Vedas, all the martial arts and the whole Rāmāyaṇa. They grew into extraordinary warriors and became the first singers of their own father’s sacred story. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa, Chapters 7–9)
Reunion
In the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Rāma knew Kuśa and Lava as his sons by their looks when he saw them on the battlefield. Vālmīki then urged him to take Sītā back. Rāma sent Lakshmaṇa, who went in fear and regret for having left her earlier, to Vālmīki’s āśrama to bring Sītā and the boys home. (Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapter 66)
The Bhūpraveśa, Sītā’s return to the earth
In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, the battles with Lava and Kuśa were over, the father and sons had met, and Vālmīki had given his formal testimony. Rāma then sent Lakshmaṇa to bring Sītā from the āśrama to the assembled court. Sītā stood before the whole gathering of devas, munis, kings and citizens. She joined her palms and declared, with tri-karaṇa-śuddhi (purity of thought, word and deed): “Śrī Rāma alone is my husband. Even in my dreams I have never thought of any other man, never spoken of any other man, never acted for any other man. This is my oath.”
After her public testimony she turned inward and spoke softly to Bhūdevī, the earth devī and her divine mother, from whose womb she was born to Janaka at the sacred ploughing: “Ammā Bhūdevī, receive me now. Take me back into yourself.”
At once the earth split open with a great sound. From the pātāla a golden throne rose on the hoods of serpents, blazing with divine light. Sītā sat on it, completely calm, and as the whole assembly watched she went down into the earth. The earth closed above her.
Rāma stood silent with his eyes full of tears. Then he said before all: “Sītā was paramā-sādhvī, the supremely chaste one. She lived and moved in accordance with my innermost being at every moment. She understood my purpose and moved with it. She has returned to where she truly belongs.”
The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa describes the bhūpraveśa as Sītā’s withdrawal from the earthly plane, the reverse of her origin. She had appeared from the earth when Janaka ploughed the sacred furrow in Mithilā, and she went back to the earth when her purpose in the avatāra (incarnation) was fulfilled. It is not a death but a return: Ādi Lakshmī going back to her own nature in Bhūdevī. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa, Chapter 12)
Sītā in the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa
The Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells of Sītā’s former life and her divine nature. It does so through Nārada’s words to Rāma, who was grieving at Kishkindhā after she was taken away.
The former life: the curse of the ṛshi’s daughter
In a former birth, Sītā was a ṛshi-kanyā (daughter of a ṛshi) who was performing intense tapas in the forest. Rāvaṇa met her as he wandered and wanted her as his wife. She refused him. Rāvaṇa was full of lust and would not accept her refusal. He seized her by the hair (keśa-pāśa) with force. The young ascetic felt that her body had been made impure by the touch of this wicked man, and she decided to give it up completely. In that moment of burning righteous anger she spoke a śāpa: “O wicked one! I will be born on the earth as an ayonijā (one not born from a womb) to bring about your destruction!” Having cursed him, she gave up her body. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapter 30)
The divine identity: an aṃśa of Lakshmī
Nārada tells Rāma that the present Sītā, born from the furrow in Janaka’s field, is the same being as that ṛshi-kanyā, born again to fulfil her own curse on Rāvaṇa. She is an aṃśa (part) of Lakshmī. In taking her away, Rāvaṇa was like a man who grasps a serpent thinking it is a flower garland. He seized the cause of his own destruction. Even while held in Laṅkā, she stayed in unbroken dhyāna on Rāma. Indra himself came down and sent her a vessel of milk from the kāmadhenu (the wish-fulfilling cow), as sweet as amṛta (the nectar of immortality). By drinking this divine milk she was kept free from hunger and thirst throughout her captivity. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapter 30)
In the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa: Yāga Khaṇḍa
The Tulābhāra, Sītā offered as dakshiṇā
The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa tells of the avabhṛtha snāna (the final bath) of the Aśvamedha Yāga, on Rāma Navamī at Rāma-tīrtha. Rāma got ready to give Kāmadhenu to his guru as dakshiṇā (the priest’s gift). Vasishṭha refused and made a strange request: “She will not satisfy me. Give me Sītā, adorned. She alone will satisfy me.” The crowd was stunned, and many thought Vasishṭha had lost his mind. Rāma, without hesitation or any sign of distress, smiled, signalled to Sītā, gently took her left hand and formally offered her to Vasishṭha. He spoke the strī-dāna mantra before the whole assembly of devas, munis and kings. The text says: “Such a deha-dāna (gift of a body) had never been done by anyone, at any time.”
Vasishṭha accepted and said to Sītā: “Stand behind me. Rāma has given you to me. I regard you as my daughter.” Sītā, in tears, bewildered and with a shaken heart, went and sat behind Vasishṭha. Vasishṭha then showed his purpose. This was not a real gift of Sītā but a show of Rāma’s supreme generosity. He asked Rāma to weigh Sītā against gold with eight sets of ornaments (ashṭavāra-alaṅkāra). The gold was taken and Sītā was given back.
At that moment the devas showered flowers. Divine women came down from their vimānas and gave Sītā their own ornaments, adorning her more splendidly than before. Sītā stood by Rāma with a gentle smile. Vasishṭha also declared that Rāma must never give away these seven things as dāna (a gift): Kāmadhenu, Cintāmaṇi, Sītā herself, Kaustubha, Pushpaka, the city of Ayodhyā and the kingdom of Ayodhyā. (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yāga Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8)
The Akshaya Māsa, Sītā’s proclamation for women
At the close of the yāga, after Rāma’s proclamations about Caitra and Ayodhyā, Pārvatī turned to Sītā and asked her to grant a vara (a boon) for the welfare of all women. Sītā proclaimed:
“From Caitra Śukla Tṛtīyā to Vaiśākha Śukla Tṛtīyā, this one month shall be called the Akshaya Māsa (the inexhaustible month). Women who perform the Sītā-Gaurī snāna (holy bath) at Rāma-tīrtha in this month will obtain saubhāgya (marital good fortune) and growth of sons and grandsons. My tīrtha (holy place) shall always be on the left side of Rāma-tīrtha, and it shall be called Sītā-tīrtha.” (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yāga Khaṇḍa, Chapter 9)
In the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa: Vilāsa Khaṇḍa
The Jñāna-peṭikā, Sītā as the supreme student
The Vilāsa Khaṇḍa begins its deepest teaching with Sītā making a request of Rāma in the privacy of their bedchamber at Ayodhyā: “Rāma, O great-armed one! Give me some teaching through which supreme and shining jñāna (knowledge) can arise in me.” Rāma was delighted and gave the Deha Rāmāyaṇa. This is a teaching held in fifteen sacred ślokas called the jñāna-peṭikā (box of knowledge). It presents the whole Rāmāyaṇa as an allegory for the journey of the individual ātmā from Saccidānanda, through māyā and back to moksha.
Sītā received the sealed jñāna-peṭikā, opened it in her mind and wept tears of ānanda (joy). Then, laughing gently, she bowed at Rāma’s feet and showed her understanding by reciting the whole allegory in return. She matched every major event of the Rāmāyaṇa with a stage in the ātmā’s journey. Kauśalyā is buddhi (intellect). Daśaratha is the pure sattva antaḥkaraṇa (the pure inner instrument). Rāma himself is the turīya state (the fourth state of awareness). Ayodhyā is the hṛdayākāśa (the space of the heart). The marriage of Rāma and Sītā is the union of the ātmā with māyā. Rāvaṇa’s abduction of Sītā is tāmasa māyā separating the ātmā from its sāttvika nature. The final return is the ātmā’s entry into the ocean of Saccidānanda. Sītā ended: “In this way all your actions are for the teaching of the world (loka-śikshaṇa) and for the welfare of all. Having meditated on your jñāna-peṭikā, I have become a jīvanmukta (one liberated while living). Of this there is no doubt.”
Rāma said she had seen exactly and with nothing left out. He declared the Deha Rāmāyaṇa to be the essence of all Vedānta. He said it must be passed on only with strict limits: not to atheists, fools, those without bhakti, or the impure. “Among a thousand people, perhaps one will truly know this. I gave it to you for your joy alone.” (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Vilāsa Khaṇḍa, Chapter 3)
Sītā’s charity and care for brāhmaṇas
The Vilāsa Khaṇḍa shows Sītā, during Rāma-rājya, busy in the service and welfare of brāhmaṇas. She is shown serving great ṛshis in person while dressed in divine ornaments and garments, and the text presents the queen’s service to the learned as itself a form of dharma. She kept a daily routine of pūjā, service and giving that was part of the dharmic order of Ayodhyā. When a poor brāhmaṇī (brāhmaṇa woman) came to her in need, Sītā gave freely and without hesitation, treating it as a matter of course. (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Vilāsa Khaṇḍa, Chapters 4, 6)
The Piṅgalā episode, Sītā as the force of dharma
The Vilāsa Khaṇḍa shows Sītā as the fierce guardian of dharma in Rāma-rājya. Rāma woke her in the night and told her that the courtesan (veśyā) Piṅgalā had slipped past the sleeping guards, entered their bedchamber and clasped Rāma’s feet, and that he had refused her and sent her away. Sītā rose in anger. She would not accept what Rāma said and accused him of dishonesty. She said she would drown herself in the Sarayū. She said that “a king who keeps a veśyā cannot hold his kingdom for long.”
Rāma offered to take any oath she named. Sītā made a deep point. All creation, including fire, water, the sun, the moon, the earth, Śesha and all weapons, is under Rāma’s rule, so none of them could be a credible independent witness. She asked Rāma to swear on the feet of Vasishṭha, his guru. Vasishṭha was called at midnight. Rāma put the guru’s feet on his head and swore that he was completely innocent. When Sītā saw Rāma bow before his guru, her anger turned at once into remorse. She bowed before Rāma and begged his forgiveness.
The next morning she had Piṅgalā beaten and spoke a śāpa: Piṅgalā would be born as the hunchback Kubjā in Mathurā. Then, moved by her own fierce compassion, she added: “Kṛshṇa will set you free.” (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Vilāsa Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8)
The Setu dialogue, Sītā as philosopher and queen
At Kurukshetra, during a pilgrimage at a solar eclipse, Sītā sat among the queens and the wives of munis. The learned Lopāmudrā, wife of Agastya, asked Sītā to tell the Rāmāyaṇa from the svayaṃvara up to that day. After hearing the whole account, Lopāmudrā put a sharp question: why had Rāma toiled to build the Setu (the bridge) when Agastya could have drunk the ocean dry in a moment?
Sītā answered with calm confidence and gave five reasons. First, the life of the ocean had to be protected from mass destruction. Second, Rāma needed to show his sovereignty through the lasting Setu. Third, it was not fitting to cross on Hanumān’s back. Fourth, the ocean is sacred as the domain of a brāhmaṇa. The fifth reason was the strongest. The ocean is salty because of Agastya’s anger when he drank it and sent it out again. So it was impossible to ask Agastya to take in again his own old mūtra (urine) for Rāma’s sake without lasting disgrace (apayaśa) attaching to Rāma’s name. Sītā ended: “The Setu that Rāma built can never be undone by time. As long as the earth lasts, people will say: Daśaratha’s Rāma, the one who built the stone bridge across the great ocean. The Setu was not needless toil. It was Rāma’s greatest act of sovereignty.”
Lopāmudrā sat silent with her head bowed. Sītā at once softened and asked her forgiveness with gracious warmth. The two parted with mutual respect. (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Vilāsa Khaṇḍa, Chapter 9)
Sources
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, Chapters 1–4, 57–66
- Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapter 30
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapters 66–73
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapters 24–119
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 2–4, 9–10, 27–33, 38–43, 43–48
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 115–121
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Rāmuḍu Jānakini Cūcuṭa
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa, Chapters 5–9, 11–12
- Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yāga Khaṇḍa, Sargas 8–9
- Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Vilāsa Khaṇḍa, Chapters 3, 4, 6–9