The Liberation of Sita

by Volga

there is no such thing called truth, that the truth keeps changing—she said all kinds of things.

Pollution, cleanliness, purity, impurity, honour, dishonour—Brahmin men have invested these words with such power that …

Each one to their own truth. Does anyone in this world have the power to decide between truth and untruth?

‘Whatever gives you peace of mind, that alone is the truth, Sita.’

‘There is no better path to wisdom than experience,

Conquering the ego becomes the goal of spirituality for men. For women, to nourish that ego and to burn themselves to ashes in it becomes the goal.

By refusing to bow down to external authority, Sita had fully experienced, for the first time, the inner power of self-authority.

The course of our future depends on the value he attaches to that change.

Power is the root cause of all sorrow, Akka. Do you know another strange thing? We must acquire this power.

Do not allow the situation to force you into mundaneness, into nastiness. Do not let it burn you up in anger, hatred. Save yourself. Assert your right over yourself. Give up your power over others. Then you will belong to yourself.

Assume authority. Give up power. Then you’ll belong to yourself. Then you’ll be yourself. We should remain ourselves.

More than love, anger and malice bind people to each other rather than liberate them.

Sita and Surpanakha strike a bond of sisterhood not as victims of patriarchy but as two mature women in pursuit of self-realization.

‘Don’t grieve over what has already happened. It is all for your own good, and is part of the process of self-realization. Be happy. Observe nature and the evolution of life. Notice the continual changes in them …

futile for a woman to anchor her identity in her marital status or in her motherhood.

Ideological movements encourage you to rise above the limitations of the self and see yourself as part of the larger group. Identity movements, on the other hand, are focused on the self. How can they come together?