Sita (Epic Characters of Ramayana) (ePub)

Sita, Kushadhwaja's daughter was Vedavathi who did severe tapas to win Vishnu as her husband. As Ravana tried to take her forcibly by her hair, she swore that he had defiled her and that she would be born as a woman just to destroy him. Thus, King Janaka found her as a baby in a box while ploughing the field. She was called Sita and came to be known as Maithili, Janaki and Vaidehi. When she grew up, King Janaka announced that he would get her married to the one who would string Shiva's bow. It was thus that Rama won her hand. Sita remained an ideal wife to him, following him to the forest and renouncing everything in the palace. If Anasuya blessed her by giving her a divine string of beads, sages in Agastya's ashram placed her among the greatest pathivrathas. He troubles started with the arrival of Shoorpanakha. Ravana then abducted her. All through her stay at the Asokavana in Lanka, she refused Ravana's offer to become his queen and in fact, did not succumb to his threats either. She was thrilled on meeting Hanuman and knowing that Rama and Lakshmana had left no stone unturned in their search for her. After Ravana was killed by Rama in a mighty battle and she was released, Rama wanted her to prove her fidelity. She prayed to Agnideva and entered the lit pyre. The Fire God then emerged with her and handed her over to Rama. In spite of this test, she had to prove her fidelity once more after Rama was crowned king and some people started suspecting her. Rama asked Lakshmana to leave a pregnant Sita in the forest near Sage Valmiki's hermitage. Sage Valmiki took care of her until she gave birth to twin boys. He then initiated them into education and when they were grown up, he came to Ayodhya along with Sita, Lava and Kusha. Again when Sita was asked to prove her purity to the people of Ayodhya, she prayed to Mother Earth to vouchsafe for her. In no time, Mother Earth appeared seated on a divine throne. She beckoned to Sita to sit on her lap and simply disappeared. Sita led a life of suffering, yet she never complained even once. She remained a faithful and loving wife and truly a queen.