Sita: the female protagonist

Lisa Roy

Sita: the female protagonist

Sita, the female protagonist of the epic Ramayana is loved by all. Everyone praises her and Rama’s love story. But how many of you know that her life had barely been happy, even after devoting her whole life to her husband, he abandoned her twice. This is her story, the story of the heroine of Ramayana.

Ram-Sita during their exile; Image Source- Hindu God

Sita was discovered in a furrow while Janaka was ploughing a field for a yagna. Sita is considered a daughter of Bhumi Devi, the Earth Goddess. Sita was Rama's wife, the seventh Avatar of Vishnu in Hindu mythology. Sita was thought to be an avatar of Lakshmi, Lord Vishnu's consort. The festival of Vivaha Panchami commemorates her marriage to Rama, the prince of Ayodhya.

After stringing and breaking Shiva's bow, Rama married Sita. When Ram was going to be enthroned, Queen Kaikeyi asked King Dasharath to keep his pledge to her and appoint her son Bharat as king, putting Ram in exile for fourteen years. Sita willingly put up the luxuries of the palace to accompany her husband Ram into the forest. The woodlands of Dandaka and Panchavati were home to Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana.

Sita was thus sent into exile a second time, and this time she was not only alone but also pregnant. Valmiki, the sage, rescued her. He took her to his hermitage, where she gave birth to twin sons named Luv and Kush.

Sita reared her sons as single mother in the hermitage. They grew up to be brave and wise and were eventually reunited with their father. Instead of humbly submitting after witnessing Ram's acceptance of her children, she chooses her fate. She chooses to return to Earth rather than stay with a man who has abandoned her twice. Sita found ultimate solace in the arms of her mother, Bhumi. Hearing her desire for release from an unjust society and a life that had rarely been joyous, the earth violently split open, and Bhumi came and carried Sita away.

One day in the Panchavati jungles, Sita saw a golden deer and urged Ram to capture it, who was the demon Maricha disguised, for her. When Maricha was dying, he cried out for help in Ram's voice. Lakshman persuaded Sita that Rama was not in danger. She pleaded with Lakshmana, accused him, and finally threatened to commit suicide if he did not come to Ram's help. Sita was kidnapped by Ravana, King of Lanka, when she had to go outside the safety line to give charity to Ravan, who disguised himself as a Brahmin, while her husband was away fetching a magnificent golden deer to please her.

Ravana kidnapped Sita and carried her to his realm in Lanka, where she was held captive. Ravan declared his affection for Sita while she was imprisoned in Lanka for a year, but she rejected his efforts. Ram and Lakshman rescued Sita with the help of a monkey army, but Ram questioned Sita's purity after living with the demon for over a year. Sita went through a trial by fire and emerged unscathed by everyone except Ram.

According to the fifteenth-century Adhyatma Ramayana, the Sita who begged for the deer and was seized by Ravan was a shadow of Sita, which was produced by Sita produce on Ram's orders to keep her safe. This Sita was kidnapped, rescued, and eventually vanished into the fire, at which point the true woman rejoined her husband. Sita's purity is undeniable because the true Sita never visited Ravan's palace.

Following Ram's coronation, the couple returned to Ayodhya. During Rama's reign, an alcoholic washerman scolded his wife and said that he was "no pusillanimous Ram who would accept his wife back after she had stayed in another man's house." This statement was relayed to Rama, who was well aware that Sita's claim was without merit. Nonetheless, he would not let slander undermine his power, so he asked Lakshman to take Sita to the forest without an explanation.