PDE Ramayana: Sita

Public Domain Edition: Ramayana

Reading Guide. In this episode, Rama meets Sita and falls in love. Just as Rama is an avatar of the god Vishnu, Sita is an avatar of the goddess Lakshmi, Vishnu's consort, so the love that Rama and Sita share is a heavenly and eternal love.

Image: You will see Sita below in the form of a theater puppet from Andhra Pradesh in southeastern India. You can read more about the shadow puppets of Andhra Pradesh at Wikipedia.

Source. The Divine Archer by F. J. Gould (1911). [600 words] This selection comes from Gould's versions of the Ramayana which is based both on Valmiki's Sanskrit Ramayana but also on Tulsidas's Hindi Ramayana. You can find out more about Tulsidas at Wikipedia or in this lovely Amar Chitra Katha comic book: Tulsidas.

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Ahalya | 8. Sita | Janaka

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The sun had not yet set, and Rama saw that his brother Lakshmana had a keen longing to view the wonders of the city, so he asked leave of Vishvamitra, and, with the hermit's consent, they walked out into the streets. As they crossed the marketplace, crowds of people, young and old, watched them with wondering looks, for the princes were handsome: they were clothed in yellow coats; their breasts were shining with big pearls; curly hair peeped out from under their caps; they carried bows and arrows in their hands. And girls, peeping from latticed windows, whispered to one another that these princes were goodly youths, and surely the dark one was fit for wedding with the king's daughter, Sita.

Thus they rambled from street to street till they arrived at the meadow of sports — a vast place marked out in a ring and all round it were, first, a row of seats for princes and nobles; then behind that, higher up, a row of seats for the citizens, and a grand gallery, painted in many colors, was the Place of Ladies. All was quiet, and after giving a hasty look at this tournament field, the brothers hurried to their lodging, and were soon asleep.

At the rising of the sun, Rama and Lakshmana bathed in a stream and asked the hermit if they might pluck flowers, and he cheerfully gave leave. Now, as they roved, they saw the splendid garden of the king, and they entered and admired the fruit trees and the flowers, and the peacocks, which spread their glorious tails, and they came to a lake like a looking-glass, around which were steps of smooth stone, and water-hens plashed in the pool, and thousands of lotuses spread their lovely petals to the sun. And the gardeners allowed the princes to cut flowers.

And it came to pass that the Princess Sita was walking in the garden with her maids. One of the maids had gone in front of the others, and she suddenly saw the two youths. She paused one moment and then ran back.

"What have you seen?" asked her companions.

"I have seen two most noble youths."

At that instant, Rama heard the jingle of the bangles on the lady Sita's feet, and he said, "I know of a surety that there comes hither a lady whom I shall love beyond all things else in the world." Lifting his eyes he saw Sita, the king's daughter, and they loved each other then and for ever.

The princess said not a word.

"It is time to go," said one of the maids. "Let us return to the palace, Lady Sita."

"It is time to go," echoed the princess, and presently she and her companions had passed from view of the brothers. On the way to the palace, she stopped at the house of the goddess Bhavani and, entering the temple, she knelt before the image and prayed, "Great Mother, bright as the lightning, and giver of gifts to gods and men, thou knowest, as I bend before thy lotus feet, what is the wish of my heart."

Then a garland of flowers dropped from the hand of the image, and Sita picked it up with joy, and felt a throb in her left side, and was sure, by these tokens, that her prayer was heard.

With flowers in hand, the princes returned to the guru, and told him of the meeting in the king's garden. The sage recited holy legends during the day, and at night Rama lifted his eyes to the moon and said, "The queen of night is not so fair as Sita."

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Ahalya | Sita | Janaka

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Sita (Indian puppet theater)

PDE Ramayana: Parashurama

Public Domain Edition: Ramayana

Reading Guide. You will meet a fascinating character here: Parashurama, Axe-Rama (Parashu-Rama), who is also an avatar of Vishnu. Parashurama gives Rama another test, and as a result, Rama comes into possession of a new weapon. This is just one episode in the fascinating life of Parashurama; he also appears in the Mahabharata. You can find out more at Wikipedia. The "fiend" that Parashurama refers to is the thousand-armed Kartavirya.

Image: The image below shows Rama confronting Parashurama, who is depicted as gargantuan in size.

Source. The Divine Archer by F. J. Gould (1911). [300 words]

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Rama Wins Sita | 11. Parashurama | Wedding

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But just then a strange and weird figure sprang upon the scene. It was a tall, bull-like man who had a bow in one hand and had tilted an axe over his shoulder. His body was bare except for a deerskin cloth about his loins. On his brow were marked three white lines that showed he worshipped the god Shiva. His hair was twisted in a knot. Flushed with rage, this hermit of the woods had come to see who had broken the god's bow.

The whole crowd bowed to him for his name was a name of terror to all the land. "Who has broken the bow? " he thundered.

"'Twas an old bow," replied Lakshmana, "which my brother snapped. Why be angry?"

"Wretch!" shrieked the hermit. "Do you talk thus of the sacred bow? Know you not that with my axe I cut off the thousand arms of a fiend?"

"Holy sir," said Lakshmana, "do not blow at me as if I could be puffed away."

"The madman who dares thus to speak shall be swallowed by the jaws of death!" The hermit would have smitten the youth with his terrible axe, but Rama stepped between, put his hands together in sign of respect, and sought by soft words to turn away the sage's wrath.

"If," said the hermit at last, "you are a hero indeed, draw this bow of Vishnu."

So saying, he handed to Rama his bow, the string hanging loose. No sooner had Rama touched it than the string fastened itself tight, ready for shooting a shaft! At this token of magic the hermit of the woods clasped his hands in homage: "Glory to the mighty Rama!"

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Rama Wins Sita | Parashurama | Wedding

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Rama and Parashurama.

moved The Divine Archer by F. J. Gould

POST IS BEING MOVED

PDE Mahabharata: The Afterlife

Public Domain Edition: Mahabharata

Reading Guide. In the end, the epic focuses on Yudhishthira and the final test he must face.

Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913). [500 words]

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Departure | 80. The Afterlife | PDE Mahahbharata

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Then Yudhishthira was transported to the city of eternal bliss, and there he beheld Duryodhana seated upon a throne. All the Kauravas were in heaven also, but the rajah could not find his brethren or fair Draupadi.

Said Indra, "Here thou shalt dwell, O Yudhishthira, in eternal bliss. Forget all earthly ties and attain to perfection; thy brethren have fallen short, therefore they sank by the way."

Yudhishthira said, "I cannot remain here with the Kauravas who have done me great wrong. Where my brethren are, there would I be also with our wife Draupadi."

Then a celestial being conducted Yudhishthira to the abode of his brethren and the Princess of Panchala. He entered the forest of the nether regions, where the leaves were like to sharp weapons and the path was covered with knives. Darkness hung heavily, and the way was miry with blood and strewn with foul and mutilated corpses. Shapes of horror flitted round about like to shadows; fierce birds of prey feasted upon human flesh. The damned were burning in everlasting fires, and the air reeked with foul odors. A boiling river went past, and Yudhishthira saw the place of torture with thorns, and the desert of fiery sand: he gazed mutely upon each horror that was unfolded before his eyes.

Fain would Yudhishthira have turned back, but he heard in the darkness the voices of his brethren and Draupadi bidding him to stay a little while to comfort them while they suffered torment.

Then Yudhishthira said to the celestial being, "Depart now from me, for I must remain here to assuage the sufferings of my brethren and Draupadi."

As he spake the gods appeared, and the scene of horror vanished from before the eyes of Yudhishthira, for it was an illusion conjured up to test his constancy.

Then Yudhishthira was led to the heavenly Ganges, and having bathed in its sacred waters, he cast off his mortal body and became a celestial. Then, rejoicing, he entered Swarga, the celestial city of Indra, and was welcomed by Krishna in all his divine glory, and by his brethren and by Draupadi, and all whom he had loved upon earth.

Indra spoke and said, "This is the beautiful and immortal one, who sprang from the altar to be thy wife, and these bright beings are her five children. Here is Dhritarashtra, who is now the king of the gandharvas; there is Karna, son of Surya, the peerless archer who was slain by Arjuna. Here cometh towards thee Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna; he is now the star-bright companion of the lord of night. Here are Pandu, thy sire, and Kunti, thy mother, now united in heaven. Behold also, Yudhishthira, the wise Bhishma, whose place is with the Vasus round my throne: Drona sits with Dharma, god of wisdom. Here are all the peerless warriors who fell in battle and have won heaven by their valor and their constancy. So may all mortals rise to eternal bliss, casting off their mortal bodies and entering by the shining door of the celestial city, by doing kindly deeds, by uttering gentle words, and by enduring all suffering with patience. The holy life is prepared for all the sons of men."

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Departure | The Afterlife | PDE Mahahbharata

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Yudhishthira's journey to hell

before ascending to heaven.