Lesson 5: The Ramayana
Sita’s Tribulations
Rama and Sita were made for each other; after all they were the incarnation of Vishnu and Laxmi. Rama and Sita fell in love at first sight. According to Kamban Ramayana Sita had decided to commit suicide if anyone but Rama broke the bow. Though it was common and accepted for kings to have many wives Rama had informed Sita that he would eschew polygamy. In the light of this background two events apparently cast a blot on the relationship. After Ravana’s defeat Rama refuses to accept Sita stating that she had spent months in the custody of Ravana who lusted after her so she must have succumbed to his advances. Sita immediately enters a burning pyre but the Gods bring her out unscathed. Her purity now being established, Rama accepts her. Later during their rule in Ayodhya, a washer man turns his wife away stating that he is no Rama who will accept his woman even after she has spent time in another man’s house. When Rama hears of this he exiles Sita and they live estranged till Sita returns to the Earth.
These events had a specific purpose. Rama knew that in the ages to come there would be a loss of moral values and kings would be tempted to abuse their power. He wanted to create a benchmark for the conduct of kings. The subjects were paramount according to him even in a non-democratic set up. The royalty must not only lead a perfect life but be seen to lead a perfect life. Hence, though he did not doubt Sita’s purity, he had her undertake a trial by fire so that one and all would be satisfied. Similarly, he felt that every whim of his subjects needed to be addressed. That is the reason he banished his wife. These were extreme and grossly exaggerated reactions but Rama’s aim was to establish that king-subject relations take priority over husband-wife relations. In secret Sita was a willing accomplice and in public Rama’s sorrow was as great as Sita’s.
However in time a male chauvinistic society turned the episodes around. They began to cite these events as a justification to exploiting women. Even today in rural India it is not unheard of that some wife is asked to hold a red-hot iron rod as a proof of her fidelity. This led to a backlash from women support groups and unjustifiably cast a doubt on the character of Rama. Many later narrators of the Ramayana had to make adjustments to the narrative. The simplest way out was to omit the incidents. Sita’s exile has been omitted in many versions.
The following is an imaginative way of handling Sita’s trial by fire available in some sources. Rama and Sita were Gods incarnate and were living out their roles as Rama and Sita as actors do in a play – fully aware of what will happen next and how it will end. When Rama and Lakshmana had left Sita alone in their hut in Panchavati, Sita knew that Ravana would come and abduct her. She invoked Agni, the demi-God of Fire. Agni took her in his shelter and left behind a ‘living image’ of Sita. It was this living image that was abducted by Ravana and it was this living image that suffered the tribulations. After the war a mechanism was required to replace the living image with the real Sita, without anyone coming to know about it. The trial by fire served this purpose. The living image entered the flames and was consumed. The real Sita emerged from the flames and the double switch was a secret between Rama and Sita.
Optional Exercises
5a. Read about the trial by fire incident from ‘Hindu Myths’ on page 197
5b. Read about Sita’s exile from ‘The Indian Epics Retold’ on page 509.
5c. How convincing do you find the rationalisations?
