Sita's Story...RAMANAYA

August 28, 2007

Legend Sita was a foundling, discovered in a furrow in a ploughed field, and for that reason is regarded as a daughter of Bhudevi, the earth Goddess. She was found and adopted by Janaka, king of Mithila (Modern day Janakpur, Nepal) and his wife Sunayana. Upon her coming of age, a swayamwara was held to select a suitable husband for her, and she was wed to Rama, prince of Ayodhya, an avatara of Vishnu. Ravana abducts Sita, by Ravi Varma [edit] Exile and abduction Main article: Ramayana Some time after the wedding, circumstances became such that Rama felt it his duty to leave Ayodhya and spend a

period of exile in the forests of Dandakaranya. At this time, he was 25, Sita 18 and his brother Lakshmana 16. [1]. Sita willingly renounced the comforts of the palace and joined her husband in braving the travails of exile, even living in a forest. Worse was however to come; the forest was the scene for the abduction of Sita by Ravana, King of Lanka, one of her former suitors. Ravana kidnapped Sita while her husband was away fetching a magnificent golden deer to please her ( this deer was actually Ravana's demon uncle, Mareecha, in disguise). Jatayu, the vulture-king, who was a friend of Rama, tried to protect her, but Ravana chopped off his wings. Jatayu survived long enough to inform Rama of what had happened. Ravana held her captive in his distant island realm. In captivity, Sita not only consistently rejected the many advances of her powerful and royal captor, but also preserved her chastity of mind, never once wavering in her adherence to her husband. She was finally rescued by her husband Rama, who waged a tremendous battle to defeat Ravana and secure the release of Sita. [edit] Later life The couple

returned to Ayodhya, where Rama was crowned king with Sita by his side. While the trust and affection in which Rama held his wife never wavered, it soon became evident that a (perhaps small) section of the citizenry of Ayodhya found the fact of Sita's long residence in captivity, under the power of Ravana, a circumstance difficult to accept. The story goes that an intemperate washerman, while berating his wayward wife, declared that he was "no pusillanimous Rama who would take his wife back after she had lived in the house of another man". This calumnious comment was reported back to Rama, who knew that the aspersion cast on Sita was entirely baseless; nevertheless, he felt his position as ruler undermined by the constant possibility of slander attaching itself to his hitherto unimpeachable dynasty and personal reign. It was this train of thought that led Rama to desire the removal of Sita from his household. Sita was thus again in

exile; she was not only alone this time but also pregnant. She sought refuge in the hermitage of the sage Valmiki, where she was delivered of twin sons, Lava and Kusha. Sita raised her sons single-handedly in the hermitage. They grew up to be valiant and intelligent and were eventually united with their father. Once she had witnessed the acceptance of her children by Rama, Sita sought final refuge in the arms of her mother Bhumidevi, the Earth Goddess. Hearing her plea for release from an unjust world and

from a life that had rarely been happy, the earth dramatically split open; Bhumidevi manifested herself and took Sita away to a better world. But this part of Ramayana is disputed, it is said that Rama & Sita lived together happily ruling their kingdom for 11000 years,,( which was a common kind of lifespan in that yuga i.e. tretayuga), it was only for a period of 14 year exile in which one year Sita spent in Ravana`s kingdom,, so it is generally considered that Rama & Sita had a perfectly happy married life with very little disturbances. This part of the epic has been disputed. Sages point to it being written later than the Valmiki Ramayan. Some believe that this part of the story, Luv-Kushkanda, was

promoted by the British. Many Hindu organizations today disown Luv-Kush kanda and state that after Ram is crowned king there is Ram rajya, when everyone is happy. Sita also took part in the Hindu ritual of Ashvamedha. As narrated in the Uttara Kanda (book 7). In this narrative, Rama was married to a single wife, Sita, who at the time was not with him, having been excluded from Rama's capital of Ayodhya. She was therefore represented by a statue for the queen's ceremony (7.x[citation needed]). Sita was living in Valmiki's forest ashram with her twin children by Rama, Lava and Kusha, whose birth was unknown to Rama. In its wanderings, the horse, accompanied by an army and the monkey-king Hanuman, enters the forest and encounters Lava, who ignores the warning written on the horse's headplate not to hinder its progress. He tethers the horse, and

with Kusha challenges the army, which is unable to defeat the brothers. Soon we will continue... (Sharing with Sai Love) Ram.Chugani Ram ChuganiKobe, Japanrgcjp

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August 28, 2007

AUM SAI RAMThanks loads for sharing the legend of the Ramayana with me and other members of the Sai family.

Sincerely, I have always found the story of SIARAM in all the different versions the most romantic and captivating love story of all times and of all the yugas.The unparalleled nostalgic feelings of pure love and longing shared by both spouses ( or should we say lovers) when Sita was held captive by King Ravana; the meeting of Ram and Sita after fourteen years separation and their final separation in the end ( in one version) are all, grosso modo, sheer indications of the intricate game of eternal love. Eternal love is not physical; in eternal love devabharanthi (body consciousness) does not come into play at all but

daivabhimana (atmic consciousness) is exclusively involved. So much so that both versions of the story hold good- the first one, that is, that His Royal Highness Ram repudiated his wife, the queen following petty gossips by his subjects and the second,that they lived happily ever after, coz either way Siaram are one eternal soul.

Jai Sia RamAt the Lotus Feet of SaiAnitaOn 8/28/07, Ramchand Chugani <rgcjp

> wrote:

Legend Sita was a foundling, discovered in a furrow in a ploughed field, and for that reason is regarded as a daughter of

Bhudevi, the earth Goddess. She was found and adopted by

Janaka, king of Mithila (Modern day Janakpur

, Nepal) and his wife Sunayana. Upon her coming of age, a swayamwara was held to select a suitable husband for her, and she was wed to Rama, prince of Ayodhya, an

avatara of Vishnu.

Ravana abducts Sita, by Ravi Varma

[

edit] Exile and abduction Main article:

Ramayana Some time after the wedding, circumstances became such that Rama felt it his duty to leave Ayodhya and spend a

period of exile in the forests of Dandakaranya

.. At this time, he was 25, Sita 18 and his brother Lakshmana 16.

[1]. Sita willingly renounced the comforts of the palace and joined her husband in braving the travails of exile, even living in a forest. Worse was however to come; the forest was the scene for the abduction of Sita by Ravana, King of Lanka, one of her former suitors. Ravana kidnapped Sita while her husband was away fetching a magnificent golden deer to please her ( this deer was actually Ravana's demon uncle, Mareecha, in disguise). Jatayu, the vulture-king, who was a friend of Rama, tried to protect her, but Ravana chopped off his wings. Jatayu survived long enough to inform Rama of what had happened.

Ravana held her captive in his distant island realm. In captivity, Sita not only consistently rejected the many advances of her powerful and royal captor, but also preserved her chastity of mind, never once wavering in her adherence to her husband. She was finally rescued by her husband Rama, who waged a tremendous battle to defeat Ravana and secure the release of Sita.

[

edit] Later life The couple

returned to Ayodhya, where Rama was crowned king with Sita by his side. While the trust and affection in which Rama held his wife never wavered, it soon became evident that a (perhaps small) section of the citizenry of Ayodhya found the fact of Sita's long residence in captivity, under the power of Ravana, a circumstance difficult to accept. The story goes that an intemperate washerman, while berating his wayward wife, declared that he was "

no pusillanimous Rama who would take his wife back after she had lived in the house of another man " . This calumnious comment was reported back to Rama, who knew that the aspersion cast on Sita was entirely baseless; nevertheless, he felt his position as ruler undermined by the constant possibility of slander attaching itself to his hitherto unimpeachable dynasty and personal reign. It was this train of thought that led Rama to desire the removal of Sita from his household.

Sita was thus again in

exile; she was not only alone this time but also pregnant. She sought refuge in the hermitage of the sage

Valmiki, where she was delivered of twin sons,

Lava and Kusha

.. Sita raised her sons single-handedly in the hermitage. They grew up to be valiant and intelligent and were eventually united with their father. Once she had witnessed the acceptance of her children by Rama, Sita sought final refuge in the arms of her mother Bhumidevi, the Earth Goddess. Hearing her plea for release from an unjust world and

from a life that had rarely been happy, the earth dramatically split open; Bhumidevi manifested herself and took Sita away to a better world. But this part of Ramayana is disputed, it is said that Rama & Sita lived together happily ruling their kingdom for 11000 years,,( which was a common kind of lifespan in that yuga i.e.

tretayuga), it was only for a period of 14 year exile in which one year Sita spent in Ravana`s kingdom,, so it is generally considered that Rama & Sita had a perfectly happy married life with very little disturbances.

This part of the epic has been disputed. Sages point to it being written later than the Valmiki Ramayan. Some believe that this part of the story, Luv-Kushkanda, was

promoted by the British. Many Hindu organizations today disown Luv-Kush kanda and state that after Ram is crowned king there is Ram rajya, when everyone is happy. Sita also took part in the Hindu ritual of Ashvamedha. As narrated in the Uttara Kanda (book 7). In this narrative, Rama was married to a single wife, Sita, who at the time was not with him, having been excluded from Rama's capital of Ayodhya. She was therefore represented by a statue for the queen's ceremony (

7.x[citation needed]). Sita was living in Valmiki's forest ashram with her twin children by Rama, Lava and Kusha, whose birth was unknown to Rama. In its wanderings, the horse, accompanied by an army and the monkey-king Hanuman, enters the forest and encounters Lava, who ignores the warning written on the horse's headplate not to hinder its progress. He tethers the horse, and

with Kusha challenges the army, which is unable to defeat the brothers. Soon we will continue... (Sharing with Sai Love)

Ram.Chugani Ram ChuganiKobe, Japanrgcjp

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