Sita

(“furrow”) Daughter of King Janaka,
wife of the god-prince Rama (himself
the seventh avatar or incarnation of the
god Vishnu), and the major female
character in the Ramayana, the earlier
of the two great Sanskrit epics. Unlike
many other Hindu goddesses, Sita’s
identity stems almost completely from
her husband, and she has little independent worship or personality of her own.
Her abduction by the demon-king
Ravana is the single major event driving
the plot of the Ramayana, prompting
her husband and his allies first to search
the earth for her and then to fight a climactic battle to regain her, concluding
with Ravana’s death. Throughout all the
tumult Sita simply waits to be rescued,
sure that this will provide her husband
with greater glory.
According to her charter myth, Sita is
not born in the normal way but is found
in a furrow by King Janaka as he plows
his field. Sita thus carries a strong association with the earth, fertility, and prosperity; as David Kinsley points out, her
marriage to Rama symbolizes the union
between the fecund earth and a righteous king that will make it prosper. Her
connection with the earth is also seen in
her disappearance, when in response to
Rama’s accusations of unfaithfulness,
she calls on the earth to swallow her up
as a witness to her chastity, and disappears forever.
Sita’s primary virtue is her devotion
to her husband, and in her unflagging
love for him she is a model Hindu wife,
just as many of the Ramayana’s other
characters incarnate cultural ideals. An
early sign of her devotion is shown
when Rama has been wrongly exiled in
the forest for fourteen years. Even
though Sita has never known anything
but luxury and ease, she is determined
to accompany him into exile, based on
the conviction that a faithful wife
should always accompany her husband. Rama objects, reasons, and even
forbids her, but Sita does not give in—
perhaps the only time that she does
not observe her husband’s wishes. She
goes to the forest with Rama and her
brother-in-law Lakshmana, cheerfully
taking on the difficult life of an ascetic,
since this means she can remain with
her husband.
The more difficult test of her devotion to her husband comes when she is
abducted and held captive by Ravana.
She holds steadfast despite Ravana’s
unceasing persuasion, threats, and
attempts to convince her that Rama has
been killed. According to one story, the
only part of Ravana that she ever sees is
his feet, since as a devoted wife she kept
653
Sita
her eyes modestly downcast rather than
look directly at another man. When
Rama’s ally Hanuman discovers where
Sita is hidden, she refuses to let him
carry her away, since this will have
meant touching another man, as well as
depriving her husband of the opportunity to rescue her.
Her devotion is severely tested after
her rescue, when Rama insists that she
must have been unfaithful to him during her long captivity. This accusation
reflects the Indian cultural assumption
that women have much higher sex drives than men, and much less ability to
control these drives. Stung by this accusation, she asks Rama to have a funeral
pyre built for her and enters it with the
wish that, if she is innocent, the fire will
not harm her. When the blaze dies down
she emerges unscathed, with the god
Agni (fire personified) as a witness to
her chastity. Despite this proof, Rama
banishes her from Ayodhya after their
return. When Rama later demands a
second ordeal, Sita calls on the earth
to swallow her up as a witness to her
purity, and disappears forever.
Sita’s ability to withstand both
ordeals reflects the widespread Indian
belief that women gain power through
their devotion to their husbands, power
that can be so great that they can even
curse the gods themselves. Encoded in
this notion are cultural messages about
the role of women and the importance
of their relationships with others. Sita
represents the model Indian woman,
whose primary loyalty is to her husband
and his family. This reflects the northern
Indian marriage pattern in which brides
are brought into the groom’s home and
become part of their marital families,
severing their connection with their
birth family. Wives are expected to place
other people’s welfare before their own,
so that they may live a happily married
life. In return for such self-sacrifice, a
wife becomes a model for all to respect
and honor.
For more information on Sita and all
the goddesses of Hinduism, see John
Stratton Hawley and Donna Wulff (eds.),
The Divine Consort, 1986; David R.
Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses, 1986; and
Sara Mitter, Dharma’s Daughters, 1991.