After Rama and Sita had lived peacefully together for almost ten
thousand years, Sita came to be pregnant. She was overjoyed when she
discovered that she and Rama would finally have a child together. The
people, however, were a much different story. Though Sita had proven
her innocence to Rama after she was rescued from Ravana, the people did
not all believe that nothing had happened between her and Ravana during
her time in captivity. Being cruel, as people often are, they gossiped
about how Sita was not fit to be queen. "Rama," they said, "you deserve
a fair queen beside you. You should not ever have to question her
faithfulness or her intentions. Sita was a good wife for a time, but
she is tainted from her time with Ravana. You cannot trust her word."
Rama, though he knew she was innocent, started to listen to the
complaints being brought to him and whispered through the city. He
decided that he needed a queen that the people would respect, even
though he knew that Sita was a wonderful queen. Rather than reassuring
the people and informing them that Sita had more than proved herself as
his wife, Rama chose the easy path. He decided that they must be right;
Sita had to go. The poor queen had no idea of the fate that awaited
her as Rama plotted. He orders his brother Lakshmana to take the queen
to the Ganges River and leave her there. There was to be no explanation
or comforting of Sita as he left. She was to be left to the fates.
Reluctantly, Lakshmana requests that Sita goes with him on a short trip,
as he told her he desired to go to the river. Sita agreed, unknowing
of what lay in store for her. When the poor woman was left at the
shore, she collapsed to the ground sobbing. Sita could not understand
how the one man she gave everything for would betray her like that. In
that moment she vowed to herself to never give him the opportunity to
hurt her again. No matter how much she longed to be with the man she loved, Sita refused to beg him to take her back. It was clear to her at that moment that her life would never be the same.
I decided to retell the story of Sita being exiled from Ahalya, as Rama came to doubt her fidelity. I think that she suffered a great deal because he was too proud to stand up to his people. At the same time, I think that Sita had to come to the decision to look after herself, regardless of whether or not Rama still wanted her.
(Painting of a mosque overlooking the Ganges River; Photo source
Wikimedia)
I love the insight into Sita's internal thoughts/vow. When I read this portion of Ramayana, I hoped that Rama had some great and wise reason he was sending Sita away, but I doubted him as well. Clearly, you think he "chose the easy path," which shows his imperfections. I think this shows his humanity, and that you did a good job of illuminating this side of Rama.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad that you decided to retell the story of Sita being exiled from Ahalya, and I think you depicted Rama’s position really well. He struggled with the decision, but I didn’t understand the outcome really well. You helped me understand it better. I also like that you captured Sita’s evolution towards independence – such a strong theme! You did a really great job.
ReplyDeleteHey, Elizabeth! I really enjoyed this storytelling post- the picture you included was really, really beautiful and the story was emotionally packed- it was very impressive! I actually am doing my storybook about this (Sita is on trial on if she should be able to stay with Rama or not). I like how you made sure to include how tragic this was- I don’t think the book conveyed the sadness as easily. Great job!
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