SITA
Sita is the back bone of
Rama and the pillar of virtue of the Hindu epic Ramayana. She is the consort of the Hindu god
Rama (avatar of Vishnu)
and is an avatar of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and wife of Vishnu. She is
esteemed as a standard-setter for wifely and womanly virtues for all Hindu
women. Sita is known for her dedication, self-sacrifice, courage and purity.
Sita is described as the daughter of the earth goddess Bhumi and the adopted
daughter of King Janaka of Mithila and Queen Sunayna. In her youth, she marries
Rama, the prince of Ayodhya. Soon after her marriage, she is forced into exile
with her husband and brother-in-law Lakshmana.
While in exile, the trio settles
in the Dandaka forest, from where she is abducted by the Ravana, Rakshasa King
of Lanka. She is imprisoned in the Ashoka Vatika of Lanka by Ravana. Sita is
finally rescued by Rama in the fierce war where Rama slays Ravana. Sita proves
her chastity by undergoing a trial by fire. Thereafter, Rama and Sita return to
Ayodhya, where they are crowned as king and queen. However, Rama abandons a
pregnant Sita, when one of his subjects casts doubt over her chastity. In the
refuge of Sage Valmiki’s hermitage Sita gives birth to twins Lava and
Kush. After her sons grow up and unite with their father, Sita returns to her
mother, the Earth's womb for release from a cruel world.
She
is best known by the name Sita,
derived from the Sanskrit word Sita,
which means furrow. According to Ramayana, Janaka found her while ploughing as
a part of a Yagna and adopted her. The word Sita was a poetic term in ancient India, its imagery redolent of
fecundity and the many blessings coming from settled agriculture. The Sita of
the Ramayana may have been named after a more ancient Vedic Goddess Sita, as an
earth goddess who blesses the land with good crops. In the Vedic era, she was one of the goddesses associated with
fertility. Sita is known by many epithets. She is called Janaki as the daughter of Janaka; Maithili as the princess of Mithila'.
As the wife of Rama, she is called Rama.
Her father Janaka had earned the sobriquet Videha due to his ability to transcend body consciousness; Sita
is therefore also known as Vaidehi.
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