The Liberation of Sita

by Volga

In just two nights, Sita Devi became close enough to Sri Rama to be able to converse with him freely and playfully. Rama too grew out of his innocence about what he should do with Sita’s beauty. Though well past midnight, neither of them had any thought of going to bed. Casual conversation, banter, jokes, witty exchanges, needless laughter, silly tantrums and elaborate appeasements! That spacious room was abounding with the excitement of love.

‘Never agree to a trial, Sita. Don’t bow down to authority.’

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

‘I agreed to the trial only for the sake of Rama, not for my own.’ ‘Don’t I know that.’ ‘But again … will my decision haunt me forever?’ ‘Till you take decisions for Rama’s sake and not yours, it will continue to pursue you, Sita. Look at yourself. You are enduring great pain. You think you are enduring it for the sake of someone else. You think that you have performed your duty for the sake of someone else. Your courage, your self-confidence … you have surrendered everything to others. What have you saved for yourself?’

You means you, nothing else. You are not just the wife of Rama. There is something more in you, something that is your own.

Most often, women don’t realize that they are part of the wider world. They limit themselves to an individual, to a household, to a family’s honour. 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. Sita, try to understand who you are, what the goal of your life is. It is not easy at all. But don’t give up. You will discover the truth in the end. You have that ability. You have saved Sri Ramachandra, can’t you save yourself? 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. The forest doesn’t comprise ashrams alone. There are also people of many races in it. Observe their lives. You belong to this whole world, not just to Rama.’

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

Are such bonds, with a husband and sons, necessary for women? I thought they were not, so I moved away from them. I am living with my art. I

‘But women don’t fight wars, do they?’ ‘When necessary, they’ll do anything.

‘When what you have to teach us is completed, will Father come and teach us the rest?’ Sita laughed. ‘When I’ve taught you all that I can, there’ll be nothing left for your father to teach.’

‘We are going to see each other after fourteen years. I have changed a lot. Change is the sign of life. The course of our future depends on the value he attaches to that change.

Whatever happens, my peace will not be disturbed.

Power is the root cause of all sorrow, Akka. Do you know another strange thing? We must acquire this power. And then give it up. I shall not submit to anyone’s power. Nor will I bind anyone with my power. Then I will feel I have liberated myself. I will feel only joy within myself! Great peace! Much love! Compassion for all!

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. You will be yourself.

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

‘Each of those trials is meant to liberate you from Rama. To secure you for yourself. Fight, meditate, look within until you find the truth that is you.’

What was more enjoyable—loving Rama or being angry with him? Her mind oscillated endlessly in this dilemma.

It is not easy to ignite self-consuming anger or to stoke it. It is equally difficult to grasp the pleasure that passes off as sorrow. It was also not easy to bear the sorrow that came out of the joy of loving Rama. Surmounting these dualities and liberating herself from Rama was proving to be arduous for Sita. Yet Sita made the effort. She continued to churn the stormy sea till it turned into an ocean of peace. Gradually peace pervaded Sita.

Then—after that—like a gift from Creation, the daughter of Earth, Sita, became his spouse. A rare and precious friend, a companion who dispelled his loneliness.

could live in freedom with Sita for thirteen years in the forest. That’s all. ‘The time that I spent happily with Sita was indeed Kaikeyi’s blessing to me. You don’t know how indebted I am to her. She freed me from this throne and from authority. I was happy when I had to leave everything and go to the forest. Do you remember, Lakshmana?’

‘Sita and I are inseparable, Lakshmana. None of you understand that. I am grieving for both of us. Nothing untoward will happen to her. She is the daughter of Earth. She is a strong and able woman. She will give birth to a good son and fully enjoy the pleasures of bringing him up. I am the one who is weak and incapable. My exalted nobleness is my handicap. With this political power, I have lost power over myself. I have lost my Sita. I have lost my son.’

Ravana thought Rama would not be able to cross the seas and win a war in a foreign land where he had no foothold. But Rama had the strength to cross not one but seven seas for Sita’s sake.

He had not fought an entire war just to show off the prowess of the Aryan Empire. It was for Sita.

Even if no one else believed it, he thought Sita would.

Trial by fire—for his Sita. For his sake, for his sake alone, did Sita, a woman of dignity, agree to it.

He had thought that he would have no option but to fall at Sita’s feet and beg forgiveness for subjecting her to the ignominy. But Sita understood his situation. She decided to protect him and his worldly and kingly duties. She wanted to assure him that she was there for him.

She hid the seas of humiliation and grief behind her eyelids, and came forth unperturbed like a pot ...

But a shadow of sadness had already gathered in Sita’s eyes. He knew Sita had sustained a wound for his sake. He thought he would be able to heal that wound with his love and with the miraculous power of time. Today, he cut open that wound again, left it incurable and abandoned her.

A wound that would never heal. A wound that would hurt every day. A wound caused by the throne to the love of Sita and Rama.

Had Rama changed into a machine in order to forget the pain of separation from Sita? Or had he sent Sita away to the forest knowing he would inevitably have to turn into a mechanical being once he took over the reins of power, and that Sita would not be able to bear the change in him? Lakshmana and Anjaneya often wondered about this.

The boys could perhaps sing of that episode. Rama

was now bound to the throne and could not even insist that he wanted Sita. Could they sing that story? They could sing beautifully of the wedding of Sita and Rama. But could they sing the story of Rama languishing in the agony of being permanently separated from Sita? They would sing about Rama, the slayer of the demon king Ravana. But could those young boys sing of the Rama who extinguished all traces of love within himself?

Giving him his sons, the joy of their embrace—she had saved him, as always.

She thawed the stone that Rama’s heart had turned into. She made the withered plant sprout again.

He too, as always, left Sita to more sorrow. Like a wild beast stamping on a tender creeper every time it tried to rise with the help of some prop or the other, he destroyed Sita’s desire to live every time she nurtured it. Sita was not coming back into his life. She would entrust the children to him and liberate herself. But he could not find liberation until he turned them into heirs to Raghu Vamsa. But by giving him his sons, Sita had cleared the way for his liberation. She had always stood by him....

Sita, who loved Rama so much and received so much love from him, was subjected to insults and scorn by the same man. Sita who would ensconce herself in the loving embrace of Rama, Sita who would walk in the footsteps of Rama—she rejected the same man, even deserted her children and followed her own path. Her experiences pushed her in that direction.

Sita did not leave in anger. She left with a matured mind.

She must have internalized the strength that she got from outside.

Ramadasu4 sang ‘Plead with the lord to save me, O Mother Sita’. I believe that the Sita of these stories does not need to plead with anyone—she herself can save us.

‘Who will save us?’ asked Tyagayya.5 I hope these stories will gives us the confidence to answer ‘We ourselves’. With these stories I have made five dear friends: Sita, Surpanakha, Ahalya, Renuka and Urmila. I am confident that these friends of mine will give my fellow women strength, courage

and

wi...

Surpanakha, having conquered her rage and revenge, realizes that beauty is not a physical attribute but the truth of nature. She finds fulfillment in growing a garden that reflects the beauty of nature. Having attained a state of non-dependent joy, she also finds a soulmate in Sudhira who respects her wisdom and discernment. Sita learns that her fulfillment, too, does not lie in bringing up her children but in discovering herself.

‘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 … You belong to this whole world, not just to Rama

her emotions and her relationships. She saw how love, hate, jealousy and respect are but shades of the same condition—dependence on others.

‘You must liberate yourself from Rama … Each of these trials is meant to liberate you from Rama. To secure you for yourself. Fight, meditate, look within until you find the truth that is you.’ Liberation from Rama marks the real emancipation for Sita.

Volga’s re-visionist myth-making thus opens new spaces within the old discourse, enabling women to view their life and experiences from gynocentric perspectives. They recreate a world of freedom in which they not only willingly bear the responsibility of their own survival, but also have a sense of joy and complete freedom. Women are no longer means to serve someone else’s ends, nor are they merely the prizes in men’s quests. On the contrary, they are questers seeking their own salvation.