Sita: A Tale of Ancient Love

by Bhanumathi Narasimhan

Nature was her respite and constant companion in her time away from her beloved.

Sita glanced at their lacklustre eyes and felt only compassion. Her mother, Sunayana, must have known this was how they were. She wouldn’t judge people.

In a remarkably uncomplicated way she would just accept that things and people were what they were, and move on.

The world is full of opposites. But it is not birth that makes one an asura. One’s thoughts, words and deeds are important.’

The acharya joined his palms and bowed down to the child.

‘Maharani! The child is the devi herself! She has made all the prasad sweeter by eating it. I have not seen God before. But when I see her, my heart tells me that she is the one! Please don’t scold her.’

‘Have you noticed, Maharani, the flowers on the idol are fresh even the next morning whenever Sita has touched them? Every day, when I take the container of water to clean it after the puja, I find that the water is sweet and fragrant. I have stopped throwing that water away. Instead, all of us share it among ourselves as prasad!’

The only break he took was to meditate.

said Rama and looked at Lakshmana and Sita with raised eyebrows, as if asking them to solve the puzzle. ‘This one is easy, Bhaiya! Desires,’ announced Lakshmana.

They are untouched by events, like droplets of water on a lotus leaf,’ said Rama. ‘Such minds are rare, Bhaiya.

‘For a devotee, knowledge flows in their life when they listen to their master. It grows when they share with others what they have learnt. And their life glows when that knowledge is integrated into their life as wisdom.

The field of all possibilities So infinite and deep Is contained in the present moment If your mind is elsewhere You might as well be asleep.

same time and all three burst out laughing. ‘That was a befitting ode to the breath, Lakshmana,’ said Rama. ‘The first act of life, the last act of life and the witness to life as well!’

These were not ordinary palace maids. These were the women he sported with. They were also merely objects for him. They stood on all sides but a few steps behind him.

They were utterly confused by the sight of Sita. A burning rage of jealousy rose from the pits of their stomachs. They looked at Sita as if she were nothing. But they craved the attention that she received from their lord. Ravana stood immobile between these two fires.

The heat of the fire that she now radiated became stronger and almost perceptible to the senses. Ravana felt it push him back while his arrogance egged him on. The flame of his desire, like a coiled serpent, raised its hood and its heat burnt him from within.

them for their king and hastily followed after him like a mindless herd.

Though he was carrying her, he felt like he was holding empty space in his hands.

It gave him great solace to know that his most significant responsibility as a father was now entirely shouldered by the divine.

Sita chose to trust the bow completely. She had faith that the bow knew her better than she perhaps remembered herself. After all, the bow had a memory that spanned lifetimes.

composed himself and offered a respectable seat to the demon king, who looked like darkness sculpted, ego consolidated.

‘Har Har Mahadev!’

wished that we could be together even after our marriages, Urmila. When you are with me, I never feel alone.’ Urmila rolled over and hugged her elder sister fondly, saying, ‘I wonder which star can make that happen! We should ask Guru Shatananda tomorrow in our astrology class.’

Janaka was very particular about the education of his daughters.

two sunrises were ever the same!

At that very instant, she realized that this space was connected and undivided: it was all just one.

paradigm shift took place in her consciousness. Her individual identity dissolved in the undivided space. When she heard the words of the rishi, she realized that while her attention was on the leaves, the experience of space was limited. You can ‘see’ space only when it is limited. When you connect with the undivided space,

‘you’ dissolve, and there is the experience of the unseen oneness. There is n...

Everything is run by the Brahman, but it cannot be explained.

‘Further, life is full of duality. Both success and failure will be part of it. And you accepted defeat in a manner that was graceful and dignified. You celebrated the victory of Rishi Yagnavalkya as if it were your own. I want to learn this from you.’

about 50 metres away from the majestic beast. He jumped out of his hiding place and landed about 2 metres in front of Sita. It

was stunningly beautiful, with gleaming orange and black stripes on its

body. It looked at Sita and gro...

The stream itself was hundreds of years old, yet its flowing water was ever-new.

‘I am Mandodari, Sita, wife of Ravana, the lord of Lanka,’

‘Everything has changed since you have come, Sita. The affairs of the three worlds and their dominion had occupied my husband’s mind till a few weeks back. Now he thinks only of you.’

She continued, ‘He has no interest in the affairs of the kingdom. He does not even enjoy eating, and has lost his sleep. Even the sight of his dearest son does not improve his spirits.’ There was an uneasy silence between them for a few seconds before Mandodari continued.

Kaushalya was a gunagrahi. She only saw the positive in every person or situation. This trait was essential to maintaining harmony in a family as large as theirs living in a huge palace like Ayodhya’s. Dasharatha was an ambitious king. He was a good ruler but also sought the comfort of worldly pleasures. Sita’s father Janaka was different. He did not seek to extend his borders and rule the entire land. He was a raja rishi. The only comfort he sought was that of the supreme self.

went into a kind of depression. He was not interested in any material comforts or achievements. He wondered about the purpose of life, the secret of creation, the nature of the divine—he did not relate to his father’s views on the world and its purpose. Dasharatha doted on Rama but did not recognize his deep spiritual thirst.

The conversation that followed between Rama and Vasishta was hailed as Yoga Vasishta.

She placed her attention on nature and remained positive.

Do you not want to maintain your health till your lord arrives?’ Sita

‘Nothing that I have heard. But from the strength and patient endurance I have seen in you, I am sure he is coming. Nobody refuses Ravana. These women try to scare you but, in fact, they fear you. They are jealous of you. They have never experienced the strength of the subtle and the pure. Just as rocks are hard, they are like this,’ said Trijata.

Sita smiled and said, ‘Not the end of rakshasas, Trijata, the end of adharma.’

Trijata and Kala brought immense relief to Sita.

The people of Lanka gradually gathered news of the radiant lady whom their king had kidnapped. The idea that she had magical healing powers also soon spread amongst the people. Those who were guarding Ashoka Vatika became popular among the commoners because they would share news of what was happening there. For the moment, they knew nothing of Rama, and so had no trace of fear of him.

It was the will of Rudra.

‘I feel like I have known her for many lifetimes, Trijata. I feel like

my purpose is to do her bidding. She is my queen. I can destroy the three worlds for her. Nobody has ever ruled over me like this. I cannot bear the love that she evokes. Yet I cannot touch her. There is no one to stop me, but my own mind fails me in her presence. She is delicate as a flower but has an impenetrable aura.’

The cooks, the gardeners, the palace maids, they would all just want to be around Sita for a few minutes, for all their troubles would fly away just by being with her.