Ramayan has always been a very integral part of a Hindu life. It is a never ending most intriguing story of Ram & Sita, story of their love, their separation, their devotion to each other and story of THE GREATEST SACRIFICE.
Let me make myself clear at this point, just because I am using the word ‘story’ that doesn’t make it a folklore. It is as true as you and i am, as true as our emotions, as true as Death.
We have been reading and listening to ramayan since we were kids. However when we read ramayan there is one thing which at the moment we don’t realize but afterword’s it draws some negative emotions like sadness, anger, some even find it detestable.
It is the major cause of criticism of Ram, The Maryada purushottam. What is that thing which makes us question him?
It is the transition of a man from being called कृतवैवाहिककौतुक राम् (who became happy after marrying sita) to सीतवेदितकाकावन राम् (who became upset because sita cried) and finally विपिनत्याजितजनकज राम् (who had to abandon sita into forest).
There are many interpretations of Ram & Sita’s life, but important thing to notice here is that in every single one of them, Ram leaves sita. Not only that, in lanka after winning the war, he asks her to prove that she is pure, Sita does that successfully but despite of the fact that she has proven herself once in lanka, Ram leaves her when similar suspicion is raised in ayodhya. This time though he doesn’t even give her a chance to defend herself. Doesn’t sounds like Ram Rajya, does it? But wait before you form an opinion..
It is kind of hard to understand why Ram (who is ready to fight anyone just to marry Sita, who can go to any length just to find her trace, who is ready to fight a mighty king who not only has world’s largest army but also has Shiva’s blessing) will leave sita just because some unknown uneducated guy raised a suspicion about her character.
To find the answer we have to go deeper into the matter, require more reading, a better understanding and to say the least, we have to widen our gauge.
Here I have to tell you that there are many forms of ramayan, ranging from valmiki ramayan, vasistha ramayan, agastya ramayan, anand ramayan, ramcharitmanas, etc., there actually is a different version of ramayan in every region of India. Most version of ramayan which I named and which I didn’t are traditionally attributed to valmiki, in fact all of them except one and that is adhyatma ramayan, which is extracted from brahmaand puran ascribed to ved vyas, it is this adhyatma ramayan (not valmiki ramayan as many think) which is the inspiration of tulsidas’s ramcharitmanas.
Now let me take the liberty to draw your attention to the end of the war. Ram offcourse emerges victorious and then asks vibhishan and hanuman to bring sita. They comply and sita is brought there on a chariot guarded by vibhishans guards. At this very moment something happens which although looks innocuous but is very significant for us in context of this topic.
Ram asks, nearly reprimands, vibhishan to withdraw his guard’s and demands that sita should walk to him. Sita as always complies with her husband’s wish. This gives everyone a chance to look at Sita closely which results in some low character people making some shallow comments on Sita’s character. Ram witnessing all this, immediately (and I emphasize on that word) asks Sita to prove herself. Sita in return without wasting a single second asks laxman to prepare a pyre and when he does, she jumps into it without any hesitation. Maybe she realizes what we don’t, why Ram asked her to walk to her? In the meantime everyone is dumbstruck, not a single sound, every eye wet, every heart pounding, tears flowing down the cheeks, now even those who questioned her integrity are repenting and crying. Then comes out Agni devta himself carrying Sita along and presents her to Ram. Everyone’s emotions are running high; they know what they have witnessed. By this time they know Sita is pure, even purer than fire itself. Ram has achieved his motive.
If you think that the motive of Ram was to prove to himself that Sita was pure then you are absolutely wrong. His motive was to prove to everyone what he already knew, it was to make people realize that a woman who stayed in other man’s custody for around a year is still as pure as ganga, it showed everyone that Sita’s devotion to her husband is something which even a powerful king like Ravan could not challenge. Ram on the risk of being brought down from his high podium, makes sure that no one ever raises a suspicion on his wife. This is the sacrifice I talked about when I started. Risking his own respect in society to restore his wife’s honour.
Following this event, they went back to ayodhya and lived happily. What followed was the famous Ram Rajya. Then a dhobi raised some suspicion on Sita and Ram sends her to valmiki’s ashram. He didn’t leave her alone in any forest as contrary to common belief, he asked laxman to take her to valmiki’s ashram and laxman does exactly the same, except however laxman drops her on the gates of ashram rather than taking her inside, may be because he was too terrified to face his guru while indulging in such an act (which according to him was unjustified).
This sudden change of heart on Ram’s part can be understood if you read another source of ramayan, other than valmiki’s. Valmiki somehow misses this point, maybe he was too naive and thought “who will ever dare to question someone like Ram”, by this time we all know how wrong he was. Anyway, so the only ramayan you get which is not derived from valmiki’s ramayan is adhyatma ramayan (I have written few lines about it when I mention it earlier in the post). When you read adhyatma ramayan things start to make more sense.
Here is what actually happens which leads up to sita’s Samadhi in earth.
After few years of ruling ayodhya, one by one Ram’s elders start to leave this world; kaushalya was first to go then kaikeyi, followed by sumitra. Now Ram realises that probably someday he has to go as well but how can that happen, Sita will never let that happen. Sita’s devotion for Ram is something which can neither be explained nor be understood. There are no words good enough to describe that. So Ram thinks of something.
One day other gods went to Sita and said to her;
“Our lord is still on this earth just because of you, Mother”
“Mother, if you will be gracious enough to come to heaven then our lord will also follow you and will be seated at his most deserved place”
Sita tells this to her Lord (who already knew about it). He tells her that he will leave her to valmiki’s ashram where she will give birth to two boys and then he will visit her after which she will leave this world. At that very moment Ram told Sita “I will follow you soon”.
Please don’t be fooled by my incompetence in translating the ramayan or by my over simplification of things, this all was very difficult for Ram, more difficult for him than Sita. I say so because despite of the fact that it was all pre planned, Ram’s love for Sita was above all other things. How difficult all this would have been for a man who loved his wife so much that he lived like a sadhu after her demise, we can’t even imagine.
When you consider all these things and look at them objectively then maybe you can connect the dots and see the clear picture.
God who came on earth in form of Ram, who is supposed to be the source of inspiration for every human being doesn’t even think twice before putting himself under the the sword of criticism, just for the love of his wife, for her Honour. In the end by putting a blemish on his persona of MARYADA PURUSHOTTAM, Ram raises Sita above all suspicions…
The greatest love
The greatest sacrifice
.
Very good friend, But why Valmeeki missed it, and Adhyatma ramayana is writen before valmeeki did it ?
Gr8 job!! really an eye-opener blog!! fewthings r still in my mind….dont u think people got an inspiration from Ram to leave their wife wenever they have even “false” doubt !! dont u think it became a followed tradition !! even that incidence wen Ram asked Sita to do d fire test…y didnt Sita asked Ram to do so??!! why only a man can ask for the “purity” test wen his wife is w.out him??
first of all thanks for appreciation
i get your point but you seem to have missed mine..if ram would have done what you expect him to do then obviously he would never have been criticised for anything, infact he would be idolized even more but spare a thought for sita, we all know how our society thinks, dont u think people would have said and would still be saying, derogatory things about her..
god gives us the power to think, our sanskar’s give us the direction but in the end it’s our choice of how and what we think..remmember, FOR EVERY RAM THERE IS A RAVAN TOO..
Regarding the purity test, I am not sure if you are aware that this test is linked with the story of Lord Tirupathi Balaji (Lord Vishnu himself). If you read the story of Lord Balaji, you will come to know how all these events are interlinked with each other. Once you read the story, you will regret your statement. I am not here to prove you wrong. Just want to highlight that Lord loves everyone equally. Glories to the Almighty!
Firstly my friend I didn’t write this to prove my intellect or knowledge, that’s what immature people do, so I hope those who read my blog should also rise above it.
Secondly I have read as many Ramayan versions I can get hold of and I totally stand with what I have said, I don’t see any reason why I should regret anything I wrote.
Yes I agree lord loves everyone the same, I only highlighted his love for sita because that’s what the topic of my blog post is, it doesn’t mean he loved others any lesser.
JAI SHRI RAM
Great blog, an eye opener for me. good work buddy, keep it up..
Thanks : )
This was indeed good work , this is the main questions in the mind of Hindu when we read ramayan why Ram left Sita ma , it was good to get this answer i would also like to read other forms of Ramayan , Now i would like to share something from Mahabharat , y Draupadi had 5 husbands , Few days ago i was reading Markandey purana then i got the answer that ” pandavon ka janam raja indra ke tez se hue tha , wo unke hi 5 roop the aur draupadi unki patni sachi ka roop thi ”
great work……….i always remember it..thankyou
satya shabdo ma kaisa rakha ja sakta hai…shabd meri khoj hai satya mai khoj raha hu..shabad khokhle hai..ya dhra se upje emotions ka samooh hai..aur satya..shabdo se ..ki pakad se bahir hai..its just like expressing indefinite.. with definate..
wow..,everything is clear now..i always thought why ram left sita nd pulled myself for not believing the importance of ram and devoting him…its just a simple view, how we see and take things..it can change anything!! please post more for awareness because awareness is light ,ignorance is darkness,..!
om
Hi, As for the AGNI PAREEKSHA, let me tell u the part I know. Lord Rama represented himself as human throughout his life but he knew his purpose on Earth. He knew how things wd happen coz he was a GOD. But the problem was that if Ravan would have touched the real Sita, he would have been destroyed [Bhasam] then and there, which would have flawed the Brahma Vardaan of near immortality. So just to keep the grace of Lord Brahma’s boon and also to fulfill Curse given by Lord Narad that he would one day feel the pain of being deprived by his true love- He asked the Fire God to take Real Sita with him, as everyone knows Fire is a symbol of purity- and only he cannot be burned by her near presence, and to leave a mirror illlusion of her shadow as SIta- as everyone knows Lord Vishnu is Mayapati [Lord of all illusions and Tricks], which Ravana can Kidnap. So AGNI PARIKSHA was performed so as to get the real Sita back in reality and clear any doubts in any living being’s mind about her Purity.
I researched and found so many sub-links to the story that amazed me like anything. Its amazing that to keep one’s word or even a curse, Gods would have done anything even though it meant bearing insufferable pain.
Do u know Ravan was cursed by a sage, [almost hundred years before Lord Ram took Birth] that few generations later a Raghukul Vansh born man would be the one to end his life- Another reason Lord Ram took birth in Raghukul Generation.
Also at that time, Doubt and No respect for relations were arousing, kind of start of Kaliyug. So he being a POWERFUL KING, set an example to everyone that he left everything on just his Mother’s wish and Father’s order expressing RESPECT FOR PARENTS AND ALSO OF HIS FAMILY HERITAGE as their generation used to follow 2 Rules and one of them was: ” Raghukul Reeti sada chali aayee, praan jaaye par vachan na jaye.”
His brother Bharat who was supposedly to be KING- did not accept the powerful reign left by his elder brother Ram with all respect- expressing eternal BROTHERLY LOVE in any form- as Ram and Bharat were brothers from diff. mothers. Also Lakshman leaving everything behind, even his wife, just to make sure that his elder brother and his wife don’t even feel slightest of tension during their exile phase- Eternal form of Love n Respect for his Brother.
Saving so many people’s lives from Demons who use to hide from Gods using their magic andf boons and only appear to Humans as Humans were inferior to them. So if one has to kill demon has to be a Human.
Setting an example with Sita’s kidnapping that a Woman has to be respected at all times especially if she’s your wife. Do u know that it is mentioned that Lord Ram was very unhappy and even scolded Lakshman when he cut Shoorpankha’s nose with a Sword, even though she tried to kill his Wife as it was a disrespect to Woman and also Violence to woman- as he has mentioned several times to many people even to RAVAN on 1st day of Battle when he defeated him by unarming him” Hum Bachcho[Children], Buzurgo[Old people], Aurto[Women] aur Nihatto[Unarmed] pe haath nahi Uthate aur unki raksha [Help/ Save them from any peril] karte hai.
Living without his beloved wife and bearing insufferable pain due to her absence as she was her life- teaching us that No pain is gr8 , and also to take actions to find a solution to end your own problems and no one is gonna solve them for U- rather than sitting and blaming the world or destiny or end one’s life coz of it.
So many other gr8 stuff that would make u feel proud of them as Humans then n even now need an example to live by.
Dushera was the day when Lord Ram killed Ravan and Diwali was the day he returned to AYODHYA. This I believe u must be knowing. But do u know this:
Diwali is said to be the night to perform any mantra with its effect being multiplied 100 or 1000 times, as after killing Ram, all Gods, Navgrahas, were release and set free so along with Lord Ram, everyone else returned to their respective home this very day. Since they were free after a long imprisonment, they rejoiced and celebrated this day. And who so ever does any sort of prayer or mantra is tipped by the God the same way we tip our guards with Bakshish when he comes and asks for it, as in happiness everyone shares happiness.
Even the Moon is always absent on this day as Moon also rejoices and celebrates this day.
Since that was a real long time ago and no one remembers the exact date, so everyone goes by the Nakshatra and weather time when this happened as at those time Nakshatra was something that was remembered and this was his reason for his absence at Diwali. Fascinating, Aint it???
According to Ramayana, Rama was separated from Sita due to a curse by Narada. Based on the legend, Narada was in deep penance when Lord Kamadev tried to disrupt him. Since Narada was graced by Lord Shiva, he managed to resist Lord Kamadev and continue his meditation. Overwhelmed by his victory over Lord Kamadev, Narada boasted to everyone despite several warnings and advice. He even went to the extent of visiting Lord Vishnu’s abode to boast about his strength.
On his way back from Vishnu’s abode, he came across the ceremony where King Sheelnidhi organized a swayamvar for his daughter and Narada fell in love with her immediately. Narada went back to God Vishnu seeking good looks to win over the King’s daughter. To teach him a lesson, God Vishnu tricked him and gave him a monkey’s face.
After being embarrassed during the ceremony, Narada cursed God Vishnu’s avatar of Rama to be split from his wife and will be reunited with the help of a monkey.
thank u
Jaya SitaRam – your knowledge and understanding of SitaRam is good. But My friend” you should know that Ram is also a king of Ayodhya. And Ram being a king: Duties of a king are very different from Ram who is Husband. Duty of King is to punish other and others can also have right to punish the King 👑. Ram was a great king who use to visit People of Ayodhya in disguise to know the problem facing by them. And people problem is king problem. People are more than a family member became the society is formed by People. And Individual make People, you and me are people. Who are commonly attached for better facilities both Socioe-conomic & spiritual. Ram being a king 👑 his duty is accept criticism and also greeting. Duty is most toughest to do 100% any one life. Ram was a good Son listened His Father Rama was a good brother listened to Mother, Ramaiah was a good friend who fulfill promise to Sugrieve, Raman was good human who accepted love both from animal world and humans, RamaSeeya Were good couple who showed path to live life for others, RamaTulasi is good lord who is worship by Hanuman (11th incarnation of Lord Shiva), RamaValamiki was a good student who followed all rules and regulations of a noble student, Rama is good friend for his Brother who helped in time of difficulties, RamJi was a good sacrificer who sacrificed more than asking for any reason whatsoever behind sacrifice, SeeyaRam was good husband who stood with her wife ever and also a great king 👑 who was ruled by PEOPLE WILL.. THANKS BUDDY, may lord Ram be happy with my answer.