Sita – A name derived from Sanskrit word meaning “furrow” (a trench in ground by a plow) was given by King Janaka who found Sita as a baby while ploughing land for yagam and decided to adopt her. Hence Sita is considered to be child of the Mother Earth (Bhuma Devi).
Now, if we ask our
friends to choose between Rama/Krishna, Sita/Radha, I believe that most
of the people will choose Krishna over Rama and Radha over Sita. The reasons
are obvious as Ramayana being the tale of misery and all we know was Rama suffered with Sita during exile. Happened in Treta Yuga, Rama
being the Maryadha Purushan, who
followed the rules perfectly, suffered silently at many points in his life. Following
rules is very difficult and we all will accept nodding our head. Now being wife of a rule
follower, imagine how difficult that would be.
Sita was not an ordinary woman.
Janaka raised her to have independent thoughts and self responsible for her life. Some
say that she even killed a demon with thousand heads during her early life. But then why
did not she kill Ravana? Why did she live so faithful to Rama even after so many
sufferings? Why was she ready to burn herself to prove? Why did she deny returning
to the kingdom? Why did she silently survive everything when all Rama could do was follow rules?
Because Sita was the child of
Mother Earth, a symbol of patience and tolerance. If she was able to kill a
demon she could have easily slayed Ravana all by herself. Instead she decided to let Rama do his role. (Same with Hanuman, who decided not to kill Ravana hence burnt the city)She let him be the dutiful ideal Son. She let him be the people
serving ideal King. She let him be the faithful ideal Husband. And she let him
be the God himself. She downplayed herself to establish Rama as God.
But we decided not to see this side
of hers. A woman who killed a demon, followed her dharma, endured the sufferings
in Ayodhya, declined to return as Queen, raised her kids alone in forest can
never be considered a weak, dependant, always-crying-for-help and wanna-be-saved woman.
She was not a victim. She was not a person who was rescued. She was not a
person who blindly followed her husband. Sita was a person full of love, knowledge
and persistence. She demonstrated love, care and affection during her days with
Rama. She demonstrated strength, endurance and tolerance during her exile and abduction. She demonstrated
the pleasure of motherhood even as a single woman.
All this was possible because it
was a matter of choice.
There is never a better measure of what a person is than what he does when he's absolutely free to choose. - William M. Bulger
No law stated that Sita should
not save herself. No law stated that she should abide by Rama at that
point of Yuga where women enjoyed free will to some extent. She decided to make
Rama, the ideal Rama, because of her love towards him. And Rama did not demand
this from Sita. He earned this love and respect from her. It’s a story of this
beautiful relationship which Rama and Sita shares. Sita made the Ideal Rama.
Rama respected the invaluable Sita. Hence they both lived faithfully. It was not a
matter of law but a matter of choice.
Finally Sita tells that
- By nature, a woman is very much capable
of taking care of herself and her family.
- Love is not
a matter of law but is a matter of choice.
References:
http://devdutt.com/articles/indian-mythology/female-as-alpha.html
2 comments:
Very true... the decision one takes in love must be a matter of choice and not forced in the name of love.... But i feel Sita took her decisions considering the society back then and not just her self interested decision...
Ya Sowmya.. But at that point of time, she denied to prove her again and again for the so called society. Proved herself once for Ram. When demanded again she leaves to the forest saying its you to whom i have to prove not them. She was a woman of self esteem.
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