The Indian Dharma

In the last episode we had witnessed that Hanuman is trying to strike a conversation with Sita as quickly as possible, so as to stop her from committing a suicide. As Hanuman is about to start, different questions come to his mind, as to how to start, what language to employ, where to begin from in terms of location, etc. Finally he comes to a decision that he would give an introductory note, sitting from the same place where he is now – amidst the branches of the “Simshupa Vriksha” tree. It is at this exact moment when Sita is tying her saree to the branch of the tree, Hanuman starts talking! He decides to narrate the beauty and characteristics of Lord Rama in a jist.

Thus the introductory note begins! Hanuman talks, “A great and an invincible city called Ayodhya had an equally great and an invincible king by name Dasharata! He had three wives – Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumithra! Four invincible sons were born to the three wives of King Dasharata after the ‘Puthrakaameshti’ offering! The eldest of the four is Rama! He is as invincible as his father, King Dasharata. However after a few years, his father, at the interest of his wife Kaikeyi, ordered Rama an exile. Obeying his father’s words, Rama, along with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana set out to the forest! They lived in Dhandaka forest for almost 10 years wherein Rama single-handedly defeated the 14,000 demons who were dominating that place! Hearing this, Ravana, the king of Lanka got furious and decided to take revenge on Rama. While Rama and Lakshmana had gone away from their hamlet at Panchavati, Ravana stole Sita away. Upon discovering that Sita had been lost, Rama and Lakshmana were extremely sad and worried and started searching her in all directions. Eventually as they came down towards the southern direction to the ‘Rishyamukha Mountain’, they met Sugriva, leader of the ‘Vaanaras’. Rama and Sugriva made friendship with each other and according to Sugriva’s request, killed Vaali (Sugriva’s brother) who was torturing him a lot. In order to return the favor to Rama, Sugriva has sent all the Vaanaras under him to go on a massive search operation of finding Rama’s wife Sita! I’m Hanuman, one of Sugriva’s ministers who has crossed over the mighty ocean and come here to find out Sita, as per the instruction of the eagle-king Sampaathi (Brother of Jataayu Maharaj). As I was searching every nook and corner of Lanka city, I was able to spot this Sita, who is sitting right at the bottom of this tree! She is exactly looking the same way as Rama had explained to me before I commenced my journey! With Lord Rama’s infinite grace and with the blessings of Mother Sita, today I’m extremely honoured to meet Rama’s beloved wife, Sita!”

As Sita listens to these astounding and unusual words from “somewhere”, she now doesn’t know what to do! Should she go further to commit suicide? Or, should she wait? Thinking thus, tears roll from Sita’s beautiful eyes as she weeps further! But at the same time, she feels surprised and wants to know who is this person who has come at the right moment to save her life!

“Saa dhivyabhoodhvam cha yathasthaath!!”

This is a very beautiful and an emotional moment in the entire Ramayana – Sita doesn’t know from where is she listening to this voice! She looks down and checks if her mother (Bhoomaa Devi) is trying to console her. She couldn’t find any! Then she looks upwards towards the sky, to check if some celestial beings are trying to console her – She finds none! However, after closely observing through the branches of the tree, she is able to find a figure of a monkey sitting there, which had immense charisma (“Tejas”) in him! The charisma of this monkey was such that, she wasn’t able to see him continuously for a few seconds!

As Sita was looking here and there, Hanuman saw this as an opportunity to come closer and in front of her! He climbs down from the tree branch and stands in front of Sita with folded arms and head bowed downwards! Upon seeing this monkey in front of her, Sita couldn’t understand what was going on! How did Sita react to this? What did Sita reply? Did she get convinced with Hanuman’s words? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out!

In the previous episode we witnessed a sensational move wherein Sita suddenly has a thought that she should go ahead in committing a suicide. She is losing faith on Rama very quickly, owing to the repeated torturous words from Ravana and the demonesses sitting around her! Accordingly she even gets ready with her saree tied to the branch of the “Simshupa-Vriksha” tree.

It is at this time, Hanuman (who is hiding amidst one of the main branches of that tree and watching all this closely) realizes that something needs to be done quickly to stop Sita from proceeding further! What can be done now? It is at this point that Hanuman decides to strike a conversation with Sita. But how can he do that? Lot of questions come to Hanuman’s mind – How does he begin the conversation? How can he convince Sita that he has come from Rama? How would he able to convince Sita that he is not Ravana who is trying to tempt her in a different way? If she sees a monkey talking in front of her, won’t Sita get afraid and shout aloud crying for help? If she does, won’t I get caught? Or, should he change his form and go in a human form in front of her? Moreover, if Hanuman has to talk with Sita, in what language does he talk? If a monkey talks in its own language, perhaps she might believe! But, she cannot understand what Hanuman will talk. Else, Hanuman can talk in Sanskrit, but Sita would immediately doubt, how come a monkey can talk Sanskrit, which human beings talk!

As Hanuman thinks of all these questions, Hanuman is utterly confused how to proceed further! Hanuman further thinks, “If I go and talk with Sita in Sanskrit that human beings talk, she is going to think that I’m Ravana standing in front of her!” Thus Hanuman decides that he shouldn’t go in front of her at the moment, but he should talk in Sanskrit. Moreover, he decides that he should talk from the very place that he is sitting right now!

We might think that this is a fairly easy decision for Hanuman to make – But the point here is that, this decision came to his mind “On the spot”, which might be tough to arrive at! All Hanuman has now is just two more minutes – If he doesn’t start talking now, Sita is going to finish herself! Thus Hanuman decides that he is going to sit in the same place where he is sitting currently, and start taking from here only, in Sanskrit.

“Hanumaanapi vikraanthaha sarvam sushraava tathvathaa!

Yaan kapeenaam sahasraani subahoon yavithaanvisha!!

Aham athi manushchaiva vaanaraischa visheshathaha!

Vaacham cha udhaa harishyaami maanusheem miha samskruthaam!!”

Here Valmiki Maharishi places an interesting point – Hanuman is contemplating if he should talk Sanskrit that human beings talk! We might wonder if there is a version of Sanskrit that animals talk too! 🙂 Yes! There were other versions of Sanskrit too – Praakrutha Bhaasha, Dingili Bhaasha, amongst the others! Similarly, there is a separate version of Sanskrit, which is employed by women while talking – In this version we would be able to see that there would not be many words that are hard to pronounce and spell.

As Hanuman is thinking all this within his mind, he gets frustrated with himself a little bit – “Why am I getting so confused like this so often? What’s happening to me? Why can’t I take a quick decision?” Thinking thus, he gets ready to commence the conversation with Sita.

Hanuman plans the sequence of the content, which he is going to present as an introductory note to Sita. He now starts the talk from where he is hiding. What did he talk? Did Sita hear it? What was Sita’s reaction when she heard something about her beloved Rama, all of a sudden from nowhere? Let’s wait to answer all these questions in the next episode! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed that, as the demonesses keep threatening Sita, Trijadha (Vibheeshana’s daughter) wakes up from her deep sleep and shares a very strange dream amongst all those seated around Sita. She explains how she witnessed Rama and Lakshmana to be victorious and how Sita is being rescued by both of them, to take her northwards towards Ayodhya. Meanwhile, Ravana is seen going towards the southern direction towards the “Yama-Patna” wherein he along his brother Kumbakarna and others meet a tragic end to their lives! Saying thus, Trijadha gives a suggestion that if they had to escape from what is anticipated to happen in the future, it is better that they surrender at Sita’s feet and ask for her forgiveness for all the tortures metted out to her.

Upon hearing this, the demonesses were afraid at one moment and on the other hand they were heavily instructed by Ravana to go about their job of convincing Sita to marry him. They were perplexed as to how to go about. Thus after a certain time period, they were too tired of convincing Sita anymore and they go to sleep.

It is at this time, Sita is uncontrollably sobbing. She is missing Rama like hell! She cries out aloud saying, “Oh Rama! What wrong did I do to you? Why are you making me suffer like this? It is only because of you I’m alive and I’m resisting all these insults thrown at me by Ravana and co.! Now that you are also not going to come any sooner to take me out from this horrible place. What will this poor girl do? Should I come to a conclusion that you are not coming to save me anymore? Should I put an end to my life because I’m never going to see you anymore in my life? Oh Rama! Oh Lakshmana! Oh Kaushalya! What a huge difficulty I’m going through in my life! Is there no end for all this torture that I’m undergoing?”

“Na maanushee raakshasasya bhaaryaa bhavithumarhasi!

Saadhashothasya vipulaam shaakaamaalampa pushpithaam!!

Chinthayaamaasa shokena bharthaaram bhagana maanasaa!

Haa! Haa raamethi sumukthaa Haa unar lakshmanesicha!!

Haa shashroor mama kaushalye haa sumeithre vibhaaninee!!”

From the above slokas, Vaalmiki Maharishi brings out Sita’s lamentation – She continues to lament out of extreme torture – “Haa Rama! Haa Lakshmana! Haa Kaushalya! Haa Sumithra! I’m like an orphan here, without anybody of you around me! How am I going to live any further in this world without seeing any of you? Haa Dasharata! If King Dasharata was alive by now, I would not have been pushed to this level of sorrow! I just have only one wish now. I just want to see only one thing in atleast my dream: I had sent Lakshmana to go in search of Rama, who had gone to capture that golden deer. I want to know if that Lakshmana has met Rama after I had sent him from the cottage!”

It is to be noted here that, Sita still doesn’t know if Rama and Lakshmana had met each other after they went after the golden deer (Maareecha). It is because, before Rama and Lakshmana came back, Ravana had carried away Sita by then. Hence Sita thinks to herself, “If Lakshmana would have met Rama on that fateful day, then I don’t have any problem, because, my Rama would be alive! But if Lakshmana is not with Rama by now, then Rama would be dead! Can’t I see atleast this in my dream? Oh!! Everybody else would have that opportunity to see Rama and enjoy his beauty, and it is only me who has lost that opportunity, although being his wife!”

Crying and lamenting thus, Sita comes to a conclusion that she cannot tolerate this torture from Ravana anymore. Day in and day out, Ravana is torturing her in different ways, so as to marry her! Sita is running out of patience. Ten months have gone by! She is still yet to see light at the end of the tunnel! Hence she decides that she would end her life by herself by committing suicide!

“Na hi me jeevithenaarthaha vaivaarthair na cha bhooshanaihi!

Svathanthyaa raakshasee madhye inaa raamam mahaaratham!!”

Thus Sita concludes that she cannot live amidst these demonesses and this wicked Ravana anymore and she finally decides to end her life! How is she going to do that? She decides that she would tie one portion of her saree to the branch of that “Simshupaa-Vriksha” tree under which she sits and hang herself with that branch and the tied portion of the saree!

Thus, the decision is made! Sita gets ready to commit a suicide! Now what is going to happen next? Will she go ahead to execute what she had just planned? The action continues in the next episode!

In the previous episode we had witnessed that the demonesses sitting around Sita were scaring and threatening her to death. They were completely focused on just that one point – Sita should marry Ravana immediately. As Sita refuses to budge to all their words, they were puzzled as to what to do next.

It is at this moment that Trijadha who is the daughter of Ravana’s brother, Vibhishana suddenly wakes up from her deep sleep. It is early morning by now she has had a “terrible” dream just minutes before she wakes up! She immediately gets scared by it and shouts at the demonesses who were threatening Sita. Trijadha says, “Oh Raakshasis! Please do not continue your threatening tactics towards Sita! You are bringing about your own downfall! I had just experienced a dream that I think is meaningful! So please listen to my words!”

Hearing this from Trijadha, the demonesses become interested in listening to her dream. They ask her to narrate it in detail. Trijadha narrates – “Listen! I just witnessed in my dream, Rama coming here along with Lakshmana. They were very charismatic and were full of immense brightness like that of a sun! And I saw them taking Sita along to Ayodhya. At the same time, I also saw Ravana shaving his head completely! His body was bathed in oil and was being pulled by a woman in the southern direction (Normally the southern direction is associated with the “Yama-Patnam” – Those who have to meet a trageic death because of their wrong doings in life, are considered to proceed towards the southern direction, where the Yama Patnam is considered to be!) I saw Ravana meeting such an end – Along with other people like Kumbakarna and other important ministers in Ravana’s cabinet! Whereas, Sita is so happy as she holds Rama’s hand in hers, who then takes her to Ayodhya along with Lakshmana!”

Trijadha continues, “Moreover, I also saw in my dream, a monkey who is coming to Lanka city as a spy, setting fire to the whole city! It was really a tragic sight wherein, people were running here and there to save themselves and their family. If such things are going to happen in real, then I think it’s better that we do not continue the mistake of harassing Sita anymore! Run somewhere else! Go and protect yourself from the great danger that I foresee! This was an early-morning dream and hence there is a high possibility that this might come true! The only way to get rid of this great danger according to me is that we should surrender to Sita’s feet and ask forgiveness to what has been done to her! She is the only person who can protect us from Rama’s anger. Hence, let us all request Sita to forgive us for all our mistakes!”

Upon hearing this from Trijadha, the demonesses were afraid for one moment and at another moment they reminded themselves of Ravana’s stern instruction to them. They were confused as to which way to go! Should they continue harassing Sita? Should they seek Sita’s forgiveness? Which way did they choose? What happened next? Let’s find out in the next episode!

In yesterday’s episode we had witnessed that King Ravana could not bare up with Sita’s advice. He was not in a position to listen anything from anybody because his desires were driving him too much! Hence he rejected Sita’s valuable words and went to the extent of threatening her in order to make her budge to his desire. However, Sita being a “Pathi-Vratha” woman again advises Ravana for the second time. Even this time, Ravana is not to be shaken from his desires! Finally as Ravana goes back to his palace, he asks all the Raakshasis (Demonesses) to convince Sita to fall in line with him. Did the attempts made by the demonesses convince Sita? Let’s continue to watch!

As Ravana walks back into his palace, the demonesses who were assigned the task take over! They come and sit around the place where Sita is sitting and sobbing bitterly! There is nobody to protect her! She feels all the lonelier now. She desperately wishes to see her beloved Rama as early as possible. The demonesses begin their attempt:

“Maanushe maanusashchaiva bhaariyaartham bahumanyathe!

Prathyaahara mano raamaan naivam jaathu bhavishyathi!!

Yadhitham lokhamuddhistam udhaaharatha sangathaaha!

Naitham manasi vaakhyam me kilpisham prathi dishtathi!!

Na maanushee raakshasasya bhaarya bhavithumarhasi!”

Thus one of the demonesses (Raakshasis’) start talking to Sita: “Oh Sita! Aren’t you ashamed on yourself that you enjoy being the wife of a man who is just nothing in this world? You have all the qualities to be the wife of someone who is very special. Make up your mind and get up! Go and prepare yourself to get married to Ravana!” Another one gets up and says, “Oh Sita! I’m sure even Lord Brahma would fall in love for your unique beauty! I’m sure that you do not have any women in this world who can even come near you in terms of your beauty! Do not waste any more time – Ravana is waiting for you! Don’t you know the stature that Ravana possesses? He is the king of the entire world and also for the Devas and other Celestial Beings! Don’t you realize what you’re doing is absurd?” Another one gets up and says, “Oh Sita! Till now you’ve been faithful to your Rama! Now the time is over for that. If you’re not changing your stance, you would be killed by all of us! We are going to eat you alive!” Another demoness adds to this point – “Oh fellow mates! We should not fight amongst ourselves in this matter! Let’s kill Sita immediately and share her flesh equally amongst all of us. Someone go and get all the side dishes ready! Let’s kill her now!” Thus, there were different demonesses who were trying their best to convince Sita to marry Ravana!

Unable to bare up with all these bitter words from the Raakshasis, Sita moves away from that place and sits in a different place. Her sorrow knows no bounds! She was hurt again and again by all these illegitimate words by everybody around her! What will poor Sita do? Yet, she musters up her courage and replies to all of them, “Oh demonesses! Is it ever possible in this world that an ordinary woman like me becomes the wife of a Demon? I shall never pay heed to all of your words! All what you’re saying sounds absurd to my ears! Even if Rama is a wanderer or a beggar in the forest, he is my beloved husband. I shall always be with Rama at every difficult situation he undergoes! So even if you threaten my life, I shall not budge to your words! This is my stance!”

“Oojishta paramah krodhaha pragyushyaashu paraa shathaan!

Saa vakshyamaanaa bheemaakshi raakshaseebhir varaanganaa!!

Bhraamayanthi mahathshoolam idam vachanam abhraveeth!

Imaam bharanasaavaaksheem thraasaath kampabhayodharaan!!”

It is at this time when each of the demonesses were using different kinds of language to threaten and convince Sita that “Trijadha”, who is Vibheeshana’s (Ravana’s brother) daughter intervenes. Trijadha suddenly wakes up from her sleep and shouts out towards the raakshasis’ that she has just had a strange dream during her sleep and wants to explain that to all of them.

What was Trijadha’s dream? What does she got to say to all the Raakshasis and to Sita? The action continues in the next episode!

So far we’ve witnessed that Ravana comes to the Ashoka Vana to pay a visit to Sita. He comes and expresses his desire to marry Sita by any means. Meanwhile we also witnessed how Ravana tempts Sita by making innumerable offers to her – His ultimate aim was to attract Sita’s attention towards him. However, Sita turned deaf ears to all of Ravana’s “tempting” offers! She stuck to her stand that she cannot imagine any other man even in her wildest dreams other than her beloved Rama. Meanwhile, Sita gives some important advice to Ravana to correct himself from all his wrongdoings. She explains the consequences of going after another person’s wife. But does Ravana pay heed to the advice of Sita? Let’s find out in today’s episode.

As Sita utters each word, the anger in Ravana increases tremendously within him in the same proportion. He is not in a position to listen to any advice from anybody. This is why we say that if we get angry, our mind would get shut! We would close ourselves from receiving valuable ideas and thoughts from others. This is why it is said that a leader should maintain his calm nature and composure, come what may! We can exactly see from this Ravana example that what happens to a king if he loses his cool and gets carried away by anger and unwanted desires. Hence it is important for us to learn and cultivate the habit of keeping ourselves calm at any situation.

When Sita finishes her advice, Ravana feels that he is insulted by her and looks ferociously at her face! However, he is overtaken by the desire to attain her and hence he talks back, “Oh Sita! It is a pity that you are still behind that Rama who is a wanderer! You do not realize your worth! I cannot tolerate this anymore! In the beginning I had given you twelve months time to come and marry me. Now this is the tenth month. You still have two more months. Hence if you do not fall in line with my order within the next two months, you would be killed next minute without any mercy!”

Hearing this from Ravana, Sita again advises him! Here we can see the amount of patience and perseverance of Mother Sita. She again tells him, “Oh Ravana! It feels so pitiful to look at your condition! Even if there is a good-hearted person in Vibhishana, you seem not to approach him and listen to his valuable advice. Neither, you listen to my advice! With this, I think your end has come near! You are going to reap the results of your wrongdoings very soon!”

Saying thus, Sita continues, “Oh Ravana! Even now it is not too late! All is not over yet! Please go and ask forgiveness to Rama. I shall also explain your case to him so that he is not getting angry upon you! Please remember that there is nobody in this world who can ever win over him. Haven’t you seen the plight of the 14,000 demons at Janasthaana? Haven’t you heard the tales that Maareecha narrated to you? Haven’t you heard how much of suffering he was put into? Haven’t you heard how his brother Shubaahu was killed? Even after knowing all this, you still had the audacity to kidnap me during Rama’s absence? What kind of a king are you? Aren’t you ashamed that you literally stole me away from Rama? Please mark my words today! Your end has come closer! Wait and see how Rama is going to destroy the entire clan of the Raakshasaas single-handedly. Just because of your wrong desire, you are going to destroy the entire city of Lanka! This entire city is going to be up in flames, just because of one person called Ravana!”

Ravana was already furious with the first set of advice from Sita! Upon hearing the second set of advice now from Sita, his anger increased exponentially! He couldn’t stand it anymore. Hence he instructs all the demonesses (Raakshasis’) sitting around Sita to use all possible methods to make Sita obey his words! He warns Sita of dire consequences for each of the words that she spoke!

Upon allocating the task of convincing Sita to the Raakshasis’, Ravana goes back to his palace with anger. Now, the Raakshasis take over the job of convincing Sita to marry Ravana. Did they succeed in doing so? Was Sita convinced? The action continues in the next episode!

In the previous episode we had witnessed that as Ravana tempts Sita with all his offers, Sita doesn’t get carried away even a bit! She sticks to her “Dharma” of “Pathi-Vrath” (Complete devotion to her husband) and begins to render some important advice to Ravana to mend his ways. She advises him to show his desire towards his wives, rather than towards the wife of someone else. She also goes on to warn him of severe consequences if he moves away from the track of Dharma.

Eventually, Sita also talks about the valour, invincibility of Rama and explains the dire consequences Ravana is about to face for all his wrongdoings. Hence Sita says, “Oh Ravana! Even if you’ve committed this great sin, you can still have the opportunity to correct yourself!”

“Yevam thvaam papa karmaanaam vakshanthi nikruthaa janaaha!

Mithra maubedhum karthum raamaha prathaanam parichhathaa!!”

As Sita was saying thus, she was intending to say to Ravana, “Please go to Rama and fall on his feet!” However, she suddenly changes her thought and rephrases the above sentence while talking. She thus says, “Oh Ravana! You are not even fit to go and fall on the feet of Rama, however, go to him, join hands with him and be his friend! (“Mithra maubedhum karthum raamaha”) Atleast by that, you can escape the wrath of Rama’s anger! Thus, if you and your entire clan of people have to be alive, please do what I advise you now!”

Sita continues – At this point, she imagines Ravana asking her back “I’ve already done all these sins in my life! Now what is the use of surrendering myself to Rama and seek forgiveness? Will he forgive me?” Thinking that Ravana is asking such a question, Sita answers back:

“Vidhruthah sahi dharmagnyaha sharanaagatha vatsalaha!

Thena maithree bhavathuthe vijeena parimichhasi!!”

Here is a very important answer of Sita. She says, “Oh Ravana! Even if you have such a doubt, you do not know how Rama’s flawless character is! He is a “Dharmagnya” – A person, who sticks to the righteous path, come what may! He will forgive you of all your sins, the moment you surrender to him with a pure heart!” (“Sharanaagatha vatsalaha!”)

We might wonder here, why is Sita asking Ravana to go and join hands with Rama and to be his good friend, rather than falling on Rama’s feet! Why is Sita telling something like this wherein Ravana is not even fit to fall on Rama’s feet, for the amount of sins that he had committed! However, why should Ravana go and hold Rama’s hands and declare friendship with him?

Here is an interesting explanation with a deeper meaning: If Sita had asked Ravana to fall on the feet of Rama, what would have happened? Eventually after going back to Ayodhya and when Rama and Sita are talking with each other, Rama might ask Sita, “Oh my beloved Sita! I heard that you were giving some valuable advice to Ravana! What did you tell him?” If Sita would reply back, “Oh Rama! I asked Ravana to go and fall on your feet for all the sins that he had committed!” If Rama hears this answer, he would ask back, “Oh Sita! What kind of answers have you given? When you are talking with a king, (even if that king had committed the worst sin in his life) you should never ask him to go and fall on the feet of another king! This is “Raaja-Dharma” (The righteous duty of a king). This is like insulting the stature of that king! Two kings can become friends by holding hands, but never should a king be asked to fall on another king’s feet! Oh Sita! Don’t you know this important “Raaja-Dharma”? Didn’t your father teach you all this?” Fearing this, Sita changes her answer and says to Ravana, “Go and join hands with Rama and make friendship with him!” (“Thena maithree bhavathuthe!”)

It should be noted that there is the ocean of around 100 yojanas that is separating Rama and Sita at the moment! Yet, Sita phrases and rephrases every answer of hers, by thinking and analyzing how Rama would see each of her answers! Rama on the other hand is thinking and analyzing how much of trials and tribulations Sita is currently undergoing! Thus we can see here that even if both Rama and Sita are not near to each other, they think alike and for each other! This is why we say that Rama and Sita form a couple that is made for each other (“Dhivya-Dhambadhi”). In the modern day world, we are in a state wherein we are unable to understand each other’s problems and sufferings even when we live together! 🙂

Thus, Sita’s important advice to Ravana is to make friendship with Rama, ask for forgiveness and hand her over back to Rama! Else she warns – “Oh Ravana! If you fail to do this, you would meet a horrible end to your life! Aren’t you aware of Rama’s invincible power with his bow and arrows? Don’t you understand that this Rama single-handedly killed 14,000 Raakshasaas in the Janasthaana? Hence, Ravana! Please stop this mistake. Please hand me over to Rama! Please find a way to escape Rama’s anger!”

Saying thus, Sita advises Ravana in different ways possible, so as to make him realize his mistake. Did Ravana pay heed to Sita’s advice? What was Ravana’s reaction to Sita’s words? Let’s wait to find out in the next episode!

In the previous episode we had witnessed that as Hanuman was getting ready to talk with Sita, Ravana enters the Ashoka Vana to pay a visit to Sita. His mind is full of desires and the moment Hanuman sees Ravana, he wants to witness the proceedings more clearly. Hence he comes down to the lower branches of the tree from where he could clearly see what Ravana is trying to do. As Ravana comes near Sita, she feels scared and starts to weep. She covers herself with her saree, so as to escape the evil looks of Ravana. In due course we also witnessed that Ravana is trying to tempt Sita to satisfy his desires. At the same time he says that she is never going to see Rama anymore in her life and hence she has no other option but to marry Ravana.

Upon hearing these words from the wicked Ravana, Sita becomes even sadder and starts to weep. Tears are rolling down her eyes and Sita is in utter grief. However at the same time, she knows the strength, valor and invincibility of Lord Rama. Backing herself up, she laughs a little bit, thinking of Ravana’s lack of awareness about Rama and puts a small leaf in between him and her, before she begins to talk. Mother Sita is having that merciful thought that even Ravana (after all his wickedness and cruelty that he showed towards her) should be corrected into the right path of life. Hence she starts to give him advice.

“Dhrudamantharatadh kruthvaa pracchyuvaacha suchishmithaa!

Nivarthaya manomarthaha svajane priyathaam manaha!!”

Mother Sita says to Ravana, “Oh Ravana! Please do not direct your desire towards me (“Nivarthaya manomarthaha”). It is not right. Please direct your desires towards your wives” (“Svajane priyathaam manaha”). Saying thus, she takes a piece of grass and puts it in between herself and Ravana (“Dhrudamantharatadh kruthvaa”).

We might wonder why is Sita putting a piece of grass in between herself and Ravana. Firstly, if another male other than the husband (“Para-Purusha”) comes to talk, it is a practice that the woman shouldn’t talk with him face to face. Hence, if she puts a grass piece in between, it becomes a separation like a screen in the middle (“Tandhi Bedham”). Moreover, there is also another practice – If a king comes to talk, a chair (Aasana) needs to be given for him to sit. The “Shaastraas” (Scriptures) say that if the chair is not available at that moment, either water or grass can be substituted. Hence Sita puts the grass piece. More than all this, Sita indirectly says to Ravana, “If you fight against the invincible Rama, all you would end up doing is to eat this grass, and nothing more! You cannot escape!” Moreover, an in-depth meaning to this says that, “Oh Ravana! Do you know? Even this small piece of grass may become a lethal weapon to destroy you! Hence be careful!”

Sita continues her talk to Ravana, “Oh Ravana, you told me that you would give me all luxuries and comforts in my life! All those are equivalent only to this little piece of grass! I do not wish to have any luxuries in my life other than my beloved Rama. You even threatened me that you would kill me if I do not comply to your desires – I value even my life to this small piece of grass only! I do not care if my life comes to an end!” Saying thus, Sita illustrates many important points by just pointing towards this one small piece of grass.

“Thvam neecha sachavassruchaha sadhu dharmam ivekshasya!

Saadhu sadhu vrathanchara yathaannava tathaanyeshaam! Lakshyaadhaaraa nishaachara!!”

Moreover Sita asks Ravana, “Oh Ravana! Isn’t anybody there in this city who has a good heart and with a sense of wisdom?” While asking this question, Sita thinks once, “Oh! Vibhishana is there! So this question is not valid”. Thinking thus, she immediately changes her sentence, “Oh Ravana! Even if there is someone with a sense of wisdom, you wouldn’t go and listen to him!” Thus we can see from here that, it is not enough if there are good people. They should be other people around who is prepared to listen and learn the wisdom from these good people!

Thus Sita advises Ravana on various fronts. Apart from the above-mentioned points, there are other important points that Sita is going to emphasize to Ravana. From all these points, there are important lessons for our daily life. What are they? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out!

In the previous episode we had witnessed that Ravana is getting ready to come to the place where Sita was sitting. As Hanuman searches for almost the entire night, it was the time of dawn and early morning. Ravana wakes up to the beautiful music and Veda chanting. The moment he is up from his bed, his mind desires and searches for Sita. Hence he decides to pay a visit to Sita immediately. As a person full of desires in his mind, he quickly dresses himself up and comes to the place where Sita was sitting in the Ashoka Vana.

“Shadanga veda vidushaam krathuh pravara yaajinaam!

Sushraava brahma bhoshaam sa viraathre brahma rakshasaam!!

Vibhujyathu mahaa bhaagaha raakshasendrah prathaapavaan!

Sva sarvaabharanair yukthaha yudhvakshir anukthamaam!!”

Thus Ravana enters the Ashoka Vana. It was as if Lord Indra or Lord Brahma is directly walking along! Such was the charisma of Ravana who was coming through. At that moment, Hanuman was rejoicing his opportunity of having a look at Rama’s beloved Sita. He was somehow making plans to strike a conversation with Sita when Ravana comes along.

As Ravana walks his way along towards Sita, Hanuman’s anger knows no bounds! He is furious that this Ravana is coming with all the wrong desires towards a woman who is an epitome of “Pathi-Vratha”. At one moment Hanuman was crossing his fists with anger to go immediately and fight Ravana – However, at that stage he cannot afford to do that because he has come to Lanka as a messenger and not as a fighter. Hence, he controls his anger and stays where he is (amidst the branches of the “Simshuba Vriksha” tree).

Now Ravana stands in front of Sita and starts talking to her, so as to tempt her to fall into his desire:

“Sa cha kaama paraa dheenaha kabisthaanaam mahaabalaha!”

Tham pathrapidape leenaha pathra pushpa shataavruthaha!!”

As Ravana comes and stands in front of her, Sita tries to cover up her body completely and sits with all her fear and sadness in her eyes. Tears were rolling down her cheeks!

“Avekshamaanasthu tathaa dadarsha kapi kunjaraha!

Roopa youvana sampannam ravanashya parasthriyaha!!”

Ravana now has a seductive look at Sita says with all his desire: “Oh Sita! The most beautiful woman on this earth! It seems that even Lord Brahma (The Universal Creator) has stopped his job of creation after witnessing your beauty! My dear Sita! Please pay heed to my request! I would like to marry you and be your husband for the rest of your life. Look at the amount of wealth I have. Look at the various powers I possess! Everybody including Indra and the Devas fear my invincible powers! You can be proud that you are a wife of a person who is totally invincible! On the other hand, look at Rama – He is living a saintly life, roaming around in the forest and struggling to get one meal a day! He has lost everything in life – He has lost his family, his kingdom has deserted him completely! What else in this world is left for him? How can you be a wife of such a person who is just wandering along? You are to be the wife of a person who is a great and an invincible king!”

Ravana continues, “Hence Sita, please make up your mind and pay heed to my words. Do not waste any more time in thinking about that Rama. Nobody even knows if he is alive or dead by now! Even if he is alive somewhere, please do not have even the wildest dreams in your sleep that he is going to come here and take you away! This is never going to happen. Hence, make up your mind and come to me! I’m waiting for you!”

Saying thus, Ravana is waiting for a positive answer from Sita. What is going to be Sita’s response to Ravana’s tempting and compelling offer? Is Sita going to budge to Ravana’s words? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out what happened next!

In the previous episode we had witnessed a very important point that Hanuman, after seeing Sita in the Ashoka Vana, confirms it by having a look at all the ornaments that were hanging from the branches of the “Simshuba-Vriksha” tree. Everything resembled exactly how Rama had mentioned to him and also with those ornaments that Sita had dropped down while Ravana was abducting her.

In the due course, we also discussed another important point wherein Hanuman is surprised by the unique similarities between Sita and Rama. They were literally made for each other in almost all ways possible! Valmiki Maharishi beautifully explains it with the following important sloka:

“Thulya seela vaiyo vrutthaam thulyaabhijana lakshanaam!

Raaghavorthathi vaideheem tanchaiyam asithekshanaa!!”

Valmiki Maharishi explains clearly from the above sloka as to how Sita and Rama are made for each other. He says, “Thulya seela vaiyo vrutthaam”, which means that both of them are of almost the similar age group, similar royal family backgrounds, similar beauty, similar body language and similar kind of behaviors.

It would be interesting to note here that the last phrase renders this sloka incomplete. Here he says, “Tanchaiyam asithekshanaa”, which means, “For this beautiful-eyed Sita”. Ideally it should have been paired as “Beautiful-eyed Sita and Beautiful-eyed Rama”. However, Hanuman here mentions that Sita has beautiful eyes and stops there. He doesn’t complete the sentence that Rama also has eyes that are as beautiful as those of Sita! Why is that? Indirectly Hanuman mentions here that it is Goddess Sita who has eyes that are full of mercy and love! She would forgive all our sins and wrongdoings and link us to Bhagawan! I’ve already spoken at length about this during the Sita-Rama wedding. We’ve discussed clearly that it is Goddess Mahalakshmi (Sita is an incarnation of Mahalakshmi) who is the universal mother protecting all of us. Whereas, if we go and stand in front of Bhagawan directly, his eyes know only to look at our sins and wrongdoings. No way in this earth he is going to forgive us and punishment is going to be evident! This is why we go to Goddess Sita first, ask her forgiveness for all our sins, and only after that go to Bhagawan!

Thus, Hanuman sees this in Sita and is waiting for an opportunity to strike a conversation with her. He wants to introduce himself to her and assure that Lord Rama is on his way to take her away from this Lanka. While Hanuman was thinking thus, suddenly he hears a huge sound from the direction of Ravana’s palace! Immediately there are so many lights and beautiful music being played! Ravana had got up from his sleep! As soon as he gets up, his mind thinks about Sita and urges him to come to her!

Accordingly, Ravana gets up from his bed, quickly dresses him up in the most handsome way and walks towards the Ashoka Vana wherein Sita was present! There were innumerable women who were following him. All of them were his wives. Unmindful of all this, Ravana’s desire was only focused on Sita! As he walks up to Sita, the entire world started to shake and tremble, unable to bare Ravana’s walk.

Thus Ravana comes near Sita. Hanuman sees all this from a branch of the “Simshuba-Vriksha” under which Sita was sitting. He wanted to see Ravana from close corners, but being unnoticed. Hence he climbs down to the nearest branch from where he could see what is going to happen.

As Hanuman gets into his position, Ravana comes in front of Sita. Upon seeing Ravana, Sita gets uncomfortable and also looks to be scared by his wicked thoughts and actions. She was all-alone at that point and nobody was there besides her to offer protection from this cruel demon!

What happened next? What did Ravana say to Sita? How did Sita react to Ravana’s words? Let’s wait till the next episode to witness the action!