|
 'If he could create a woman like her, he would have done so!'
'ivaL oppaaL oru peNNai tharum thaan ennin innum tharalaamE.' 'If it at all it is within his power, he could do so even now! The very fact that that there is none like her goes to show that she was not Brahma's creation and that he is incapable of giving this world another Sita', sang an enthralled Kamban. 'Even the Ocean of Milk cannot produce another like her. May be if the celestials go and beg with it, it may be possible for the Ocean of Milk to give another dose of nectar. But not her. It is not capable of bringing Her once again from its bowels. Just because, there is no parallel to her.'
'ayoni
sambhava,' is how Sita is known as. Not born from any mother's womb. Siradhwaja, known more widely by his honorific title Janaka, narrates the story of Sita when he gives her in marriage. "Immediately after that there arose from the track of the ploughshare (even) as I was ploughing the plot set apart for a sacrifice, a female baby, who was discovered while dressing the field and (as such) was widely known by the name of Sita. That (foster) daughter of mine, who had emerged from the soil, gradually grew at an extraordinary pace (in my care). This daughter of mine,
who was not born (in the ordinary way) from the (mother's)
womb, was kept by me for being given in marriage to a suitor who would win her by his valour." (Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda, Canto LXVI, Sloka 12-15)
The epic gives this special position to Sita. Not created in the ordinary way. Not born in the usual manner. Even Rama was borne by a womb. Sita was not. Hearsay has it that the epic was originally named after her.
Sitayana.
 She represents the womanhood of India. If Rama was the ideal man, she was the ideal woman. The most beautiful and gracious of all women. 'What simile is there for me to liken her to! I am deprived of words! I am denied of the one and only simile that is the favourite of all Poets,' wonders an enraptured Kamban whose inner eye had imbibed Her image. The great Poet says, 'My empty words are powerless to describe her beauty.'
'seppum kaalai seng kamalaththOn mudhal yaarum,' Whoever he is, right from Brahma to the last of all poets,
'ep peN paalum koNdu uvamippaar' when describing the beauty of a woman,
'uvamikkum ap peNN thane aana pOdhu,' would liken that woman to Mahalakshmi. When the very Mahalakshmi is born as Sita,
'ingu ayal vEru Or oppu engE koNdu ev vagai naadi urai seyvOm?' what is left for me to compare her to! Who is there to be compared with! I am not left with anyone else who can even remotely come anywhere near her in beauty or personal qualities.
If the Poets sing of her beauty, it is not that the beauty of the limbs alone that they sing. What they really describe is the beauty that is enriched by her
gunas. Strength of character. Beauty of patience. Tolerance. Love. Mercy. Simplicity. Compassion. Empathy. A staunch, unshakable, unyielding faith in her husband, his ability to spot her even if she is hidden under the earth. No. There is more. There is one very important trait of Sita, which is very much overlooked. Courage. Courage born of conviction, knowledge and I would say, wisdom. The highest kind of all traits resided in her. That is how Hanuman picturises her to Rama when he returns from his mission in Lanka
More follows...
Published on 15th
December 2002
Hari Krishnan
Index
| Next Article
|
|
