Brahmā’s Stotra to Sītā

This is a stotra (hymn of praise) of nine ślokas (verses) that Brahmā sang in praise of Devī Sītā. It is found in Chapter 6 of the Rājya Khaṇḍa of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa. It praises Sītā as Mahālakshmī and as the Devī-Śakti who destroys adharma (what is against dharma).

The setting

Chāyā-Sītā, the shadow form of Sītā, had destroyed the asura Mūlakāsura with the Caṇḍikāstra at Laṅkā. Bhagavān Rāma then went to Laṅkā to see that the deed was done.

Brahmā came down from Satyaloka to honour this great event. He saw what Sītā had done: she had defeated an asura who could not be destroyed by ordinary means. He then sang nine ślokas in her praise, showing who she truly is and how great her power is.

This stotra is not the Brahmā-kṛta Rāma stotra of the Yuddha Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. Here Brahmā praises only Sītā.

The stotra

The nine ślokas praise Sītā in these ways.

Sītā as Mahālakshmī

Brahmā hails Sītā as the eternal consort of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. She is not only the human daughter of Janaka. She is the first Śrī, who is never apart from Bhagavān Vishṇu, and who chose to come down in human form during the Rāma avatāra.

Sītā as Devī

In Sītā’s use of the Caṇḍikāstra, Brahmā sees the all-destroying Devī. She is the same Caṇḍikā who destroys the mightiest asuras. As Devī, Sītā is not only a gentle consort. She is the fierce protector of dharma when she chooses to act.

Sītā as Janakajā

Though she is the eternal Mahālakshmī, she chose to be born from the earth, from the furrow of Janaka’s plough. She chose to live through the whole of human life: love, exile, separation and return. She did this to teach and lift up the world.

Sītā as the support of Rāma’s work

Brahmā says that all of Rāma’s work, from the exile to the war with Rāvaṇa, was held up by Sītā’s tapas (austerity), her purity and her divine presence. Without Sītā, Rāma’s work could not have been done.

Sītā as pativratā and as Devī

The stotra praises Sītā as the perfect pativratā (a wife devoted to her husband), who follows her husband. It also praises her as the Devī who acts on her own. Brahmā declares that these are one and the same: the pativratā dharma, when it is made perfect, becomes the means of divine power.

The phalaśruti

Brahmā declares the fruit of this stotra. Those who recite the nine-śloka stotra will receive the grace of Mahālakshmī-Sītā. They will be freed from calamities, and their homes will be filled with prosperity and dharma.

Sources

• Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Rājya Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6