Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana

by Devdutt Pattanaik

Finally Ram said, ‘Hear this, Manthara. You are acting out the will of Brahma. In your past life, you were a gandharvi and you were told by our common father to take birth as Manthara and ensure that the eldest son of Raghu-kula is exiled into the forest where he can put an end to the rakshasa way of life, expanding their minds so that they outgrow their animal instincts. In your next life, you will once again be born as an ugly, bent woman. You will be called Kubija or Trivakra. Then you will meet me again. I will be Krishna. I will embrace you passionately and straighten your back and make you feel beautiful again. This I promise you.’ Sita and Lakshman were astonished to hear this. Ram continued, ‘As Vishnu, in defence of Indra’s Swarga, I beheaded the wife of Bhrigu and the mother of Shukra who had been sheltering asuras. For that crime, I was cursed to be born on earth as Ram and live a life of great hardship, live as a hermit in the forest though entitled to live like a prince in a palace. And just as I denied Bhrigu the company of his wife, I was cursed that I would constantly be denied the pleasure of mine. So it is that Sita, though my wife, shall always be at arm’s length so that I keep my promise of living as a tapasvi. And I fear even the pleasure of her company will be denied me by the rakshasa hordes and maybe eventually Ayodhya too will be thus deprived. But we cannot blame anyone for our misfortunes, as all calamities are an outcome of our past deeds. We ha...

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