The generations after generations
yet to come would remember the virtuous life of Lord Rama and me, Sita, the
wife of Lord Rama. As long as the Sun and Moon shine on this earth, our story
will be heard on this planet. Everybody is aware that my brother in law, Lakshman
had left me in the forest on the instructions of my beloved husband and sage
Valmiki helped me in raising my twin sons, Lavs and Kusha. Sage Valmiki taught
my sons the story of Ramayana through his epic work; I knew very well that sage
Valmiki would give enough justice to me in his Ramayana for the sacrifice I had
made as a wife of Lord Rama and mother of Lava and Kusha. I also knew that with
the passage of time, the Ramayan would become a greatest epic and would be revered
by everyone all across the length and breadth of India and the world.
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| Rama & Sita PIC: dollsofindia.com |
Though the central character of
Ramayana is Lord Rama who is none other than the avatar of Lord Vishnu, his
virtues would be incomplete without my devotion and unconditional dedication. As the world knows, Lord Rama was the son of
King Dashratha and his wife Kaushalya. He was sent into exile for fourteen
years as a result of scheming of Dashrath’s second wife Kaikeyi, my mother in
law who wanted her son, Bharata to succeed as the King of Ayodhya. My husband, Rama
obediently followed his father’s wish and went into exile. I have no option but
to follow my husband though he was reluctant to take me thinking that I would
face lot of hardship in the forests. I was not going to oblige his wish and
knew that without me he would not be able to achieve his greatness which
destiny was waiting for. My brother in
law Lakshman also joined us and we all left Ayodhya for the fourteen years exile
in forests. This was a big test for Lord Rama, me and Lakshman to survive on
forest without any roof over our heads and without the luxury of palace. My
husband regarded duty above everything and without a second thought he accepted
the exile. During later part of our exile, as the destiny had planned, I was
kidnapped by the Lankan king Ravana who came in disguise as a beggar asking for
food and taken me to Lanka, leaving my husband crying for me. In spite of the unfortunate,
turn of events, I knew within that my husband would find a way to release me
and punish my captor Ravana. My husband, Shri Rama built an army with the help
of forest people, brother Laxman and the great devotee and the mighty monkey
Hanumana. They all built a bridge “Ram Setu” over the sea connecting the South Indian
tip of land to Lanka and crossed the sea to attack the kingdom of Lanka. After taking
the revenge and killing the demon king, Ravana, I am reunited with Rama and we
all returned to Ayodhya. My bother in law, Bharata was waiting to hand over the
kingdom of Ayodhya back to my husband and once we were back, Lord Rama was crowned
as the King of Ayodhya. He established his famous Rama Rajya, the ideal
governance system where the king and the commoners were to face the same uniform
laws.
Here I would also like to say few
things about the king Ravana. He was a great devotee of Lord Mahadev. He was a
powerful king and his kingdom was called the Golden Lanka. He was well versed
with the Shastras (holy books) and all the fields of knowledge. However, he
possessed a big ego and an ill mindset which led to his own destruction through
the hands of my husband Rama. Because of his mindset only he is regarded as a
demon king and his effigy is burnt every year by people on the Dussehra day to
mark the victory of good over evil.
While all the celebrations of
coronation of my husband Rama as the king of Ayodhya was going on, very few
people knew the pain I was undergoing. I had lived in the Ashoka Vatika in Lanka
after my kidnapping and day and night I was praying for the safety of my
husband in the forest and waiting for his arrival to take me back. Ravana kept
on pleading with me to marry him but he did not dare even to touch me. I
maintained my purity and chastity with utmost sincerity and honesty. After the
killing of Ravana, the event to unite with my long lost husband came but before
Rama could accept me, someone raised an objection that I have to undergo a fire
test, an Agni Pariksha to prove my purity suspecting that I could have been
unfaithful to my husband under the captivity of Lankan king Ravana. Nobody, except
my husband and brother in law Lakshman, would know my pain I was undergoing
through the accusation and not the fire test to prove my purity. My brother in law Lakshman was so upset with
the Agni Pariksha that for the first time in his life he got bitterly angry
with my husband Rama. And through all these turmoil, as the destiny desired, I
maintained my calm, patience with immense courage to face all the adversities and
challenges in life. The generations and generation will cite me as an example
of purity, virtues, sacrifice, courage, devotion and dedication. Still I could
bear all the pain I went through due to unconditional love and support given by
my husband Lord Rama. I knew whatever he was doing was just to set an example
of a great king who was truly governed by his own laws made for everybody and the
public.
Another jolt came to me in a
bitter way at the peak of my joy and happiness at the hands of destiny. While
my husband was ruling the kingdom with true devotion and dedication with me by
his side and I was pregnant, some people in Ayodhya raised doubts again about
my purity as Ravana kept me in long captivity. A washer man was abusing his
stray wife that he was not Rama who would keep his wife who lived in the kingdom
of another man, Ravana in Lanka. The washer man’s statement had reached to the ears
of my husband, Lord Rama who fully knew the reality about my purity and the
accusations of the washer man as purely baseless. However, to demonstrate the
utmost justice in his kingdom, even at the cost of his own life or wife, I was
again sent away to exile by my beloved husband. I was
given refuge at the Ashram (hermitage) of sage Valmiki where later I delivered my
twin babies, Lava and Kusha. I have gone through the pain of raising my
children as a single mother with the help of sage Valmiki. They turned into handsome
boys studying and singing the story of a king, Rama and wife Sita, through the
Ramayana written by the sage Valmiki. My boys didn’t know that the king Rama
was their own father and their mother was the Rama’s wife Sita. One day my sons
wandered into Ayodhya singing the Ramayana and were presented in the court of the
king Rama by his courtiers. Rama patiently listens in the story of Ramayana,
the story of his own life from the lips of my handsome boys without knowing
that the boys were his own sons. The sage Valmiki arrives there later and the
boys and their father Rama were united by him. On learning this, I also arrive
on the scene and after understanding that my sons are united with my husband
and their father, I was left with no further desire to live in the cruel world.
I sought refuge in the arms of my mother, the mother Earth. My other accepted
me with open arms by splitting wide open and with this my worldly life came to
an end.
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| Sita with Lava-Kusha PIC: goddessearth.blogspot.in |
While my husband, Rama is
regarded as a legend and is called Maryada Purushottam, the epitome of virtues
and a greatest person, my life may appears shadowed by Lord Rama. However, I
can categorically say that this is not the entire truth. Can anyone cite an
example who can symbolize the personification of dedication, love,
patience and virtues like me? Can anyone cite a single temple of Lord Rama anywhere
in the world where I am not accompanying my husband? In fact, my name is uttered first before the name
of Rama. People name their children usually as Sita Rama. The story of my
husband Shri Rama is incomplete without me and in fact, Rama would not have
been called the Maryada Purushottam without me in his life. The world knows that to make a Rama, a Sita
is necessary.
People may ask who was I? Who was
Sita? Everybody knew that I was an abandoned tiny baby, an orphan lying in a
field crying. King Janaka of Mithila discovered
me while ploughing the field to please the rain gods for plentiful rains in his
kingdom. He takes me to his palace and raised me as his own daughter with
greatest love, care and comfort. Thus I, an adopted daughter was turned to a lovely
princess by the noble kind who arranged for my good education in all the fields
of knowledge and also turned me into an able warrior. While growing in his
palace, I knew I was destined for big things in life as I was none other than
the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth and opulence. Destiny
led me to become the wife of Lord Rama to help him in his own journey to make
him the greatest person, the Maryada Purushottam. I also knew that in my life I
will have to appear in many tests side by side with my husband to establish the
model code of conduct and laws for governance. I also had inklings that my real
mother was the mother Earth and one day I would vanish into the lap of mother
Earth ending my story at the peak of the golden period of Rama Rajya.
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