365bet娱乐

Sita: How She is depicted in the Rama Story of Southeast Asia鈥擮ne of the most important characters of the Rama story after Rama and Hanuman is Sita, the consort of Rama. It is not possible to imagine the Rama story without her. While Kausalya, Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, Mandodari and Tara occupy only a small space in it, Sita has her presence almost all through particularly after her marriage with Rama. She is the pivot round which the whole story moves. Her very birth is mysterious. Valmiki describes her to have come out of the earth with Janaka tilling the land, her very name owing itself to that incident; the literal meaning of Sita is furrow; whom he took along with him to his capital of Mithila, adopted her as his daughter and to find a match suitable for her laid down the condition of lifting the bow of Siva he had with him. Rama fulfilled the condition and got the hand of Sita. The Southeast Asian versions have their tales to describe her birth. She is Laksmi incarnate in the Thai version. According to it a demon of the name of Hirantayaksa had been a great source of trouble. To destroy him Lord Isuan (Isvara, Siva) asked Lord Narayana to take birth on the earth. He agreed to do so provided the Cakra, Gada, Anantanaga and Laksmi were also to do so. With the Lord agreeing to this, Narayana (Visnu) incarnated himself as Rama, Cakra as Bharata, Anantanaga as Laksmana , Gada as Satrughna and Laksmi as Sita. As in the Indian versions, so in the Southeast Asian versions she is said to have been discovered by Janaka from the earth with New Delhi. Digitized by S 3 Foundation USA

the difference that the incidents taking place prior to that which the Southeast Asian versions describe figure nowhere in any of the Indian versions. In the Ramakien, the Thai version of the Rama story, when a divine being appears with a tray of four rice balls from the sacrificial fire lit by sage Kalaikot, the Thai counterpart of the deer-horned sage Rsyasrnga of Indian versions on obtaining permission from Siva for going ahead with preparations for the sacrifice in deference to the wishes of Dasaratha for begetting a son, the Putresti, a crow demon, Kakana, coming from the South pounces on them and flies off to Lanka, she having been deputed to do so by Ravana to whom his consort Mandodari drawn by their irresistible smell had petitioned for acquisition. Mandodari partakes of the balls, conceives thereby and delivers a girl who as soon as born cries aloud thrice: "kill Ravana, kill Ravana, kill Ravana". Alarmed at this Ravana enquires of his astrologer brother Vibhisana about her future to which his prediction is that she is most inauspicious and is going to be the cause of the destruction of the Raksasa race. With a view to getting rid of her Ravana hands her over to Vibhisana asking him to do with her as he would like. Vibhisana puts her in an urn and floats her in a river. While in the river its presiding deity Manimekhala takes care of the baby girl. The urn in its onward movement reaches the very bank of the river where King Janaka who had repaired to forest to practice austerities had come to take bath. He notices the urn, opens it and finds a baby girl in it. Thinking that she could be an obstruction to his penance he closes the urn and digs it under the roots of a tree and goes back to his penance. Twelve years pass. The king now thinks of going back to his kingdom. He at that moment remembers the urn. A search is made for it but none of his retinue is able to locate it. He takes up then the plough himself and starts tilling the land. He discovers it under the roots of a tree. He opens the urn and finds a dazzlingly beautiful girl coming out of it. He adopts her as his daughter, brings her along with him to Mithila and what follows is all too familiar a story at Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by S 3 Foundation USA

Sita-How she is depicted in the Rama story of Southeast Asia 115 In the Laotian version called Phra Lak Phra Lam Indra's wife is reborn as the daughter of Ravana to take revenge on him for his having adopted the form of her husband (Indra) and ravished her. Soon after her birth she began attacking Ravana with a knife prompting Ravana to order her throwing in water. She, however, is saved by a hermit who adopts her as his daughter. Gvay Thuaraphi, another Laotian version of the Rama story also has the element of Indra's wife in it. She is referred to by her name there which is Sujata. She reincarnates herself as the daughter of Ravana. There she is described as appearing on the lap of Ravana for the same reason as mentioned in the other version. On the advice of the astrologers who predict that she will cause Ravana's death, she is placed in a golden casket and set afloat in a raft in the ocean to be adopted subsequently by a hermit as his daughter. The Rama Jataka, a still another version of Laos also records her as the incarnation of Indra's wife who is abandoned by her father Ravana on the advice of his brother Vibhisana for his prophecy for her bringing about his (Ravana's) downfall. The child is guarded by the spirits of the forest and is later adopted by a hermit as his daughter. In the Rama Thagyin, the most popular version of Myanmar of U Aung Phyo of the 18 th Cen. Sita is said to be an incarnation of a beautiful celestial maiden whom Ravana had tried to molest. She escapes from him, descends on the earth, kindles fire and jumps into it to be reborn later as a baby girl who is brought to Lanka, is put in a casket and is set afloat in the ocean by terrified Ravana. The casket is brought to a strip of land by waves. King Janaka who was ploughing land at that time as part of the austerities under the advice of Brahmins notices the casket and the baby in it and adopts her as his daughter. The motif of Sita floating is also found in the Khmer literary version the Ramaker (Ramakerti) but it is not the ocean there but a river (as in the Ramakien), the Yamuna. She is not mentioned there as the daughter of Ravana. Her adoption by King Janaka as his daughter is nevertheless found there to gitized by S 3 Foundation USA

According to the Malay Hikayat Seri Ram it is not Mandodari who partakes of the sacrificial balls brought by the crow demon Gagaksvara-that is the name of her that figures there-but Ravana himself. With this figures there the episode of Dasaratha sleeping with Ravana's wife Mandudaki who in reality was the replica of Dasaratha's own wife Mandudari. As a result of these two events Ravana's wife gives birth to Sita. Since the astrologers predict that she is destined to cause Ravana's destruction, she is placed in an iron box and set adrift in the sea and eventually becomes the adoptive daughter of Maharisi Kali of Durwatipurwa. In the Javanese version of the Rama story called Sarat Kanda Sita as Ravana's daughter is said to be the reincarnation of Visnu's consort called Mandang. According to the Wayang Siam version Lord Visnu's wife called Siti Andang Dewi reincarnates herself on the earth to take revenge on her ravisher Serajuk (Sirancak) who is the future Ravana and she enters the body of Ravana's wife through her mouth which makes her pregnant. At the prediction of Ravana's brother that she will cause disaster, she is placed in a jar which is then set adrift on the ocean. Eventually she is discovered by Maharisi Kala Api and grows into a beautiful girl named Sita Dewi. From what has been said above, it would appear that there are some common elements in the account of Sita's birth in different versions of the Rama story in Southeast Asia. These are: (1) Sita is the reincarnation of a heavenly being, of Laksmi in the Ramakien, of Indra's wife Sujata in Phra Lak Phra Lam and Gvay Thuaraphi (in the former she is just referred to as Indra's wife while the latter gives her name), of Visnu's consort Mendang in Javanese Sarat Kanda, of a beautiful heavenly damsel in Myanmar's Rama Thagyin, or a miraculous being like Mandudaki who was a replica of Dasaratha's wife Mandudari. (2) The motif for reincarnation in all the versions with the exception of Thai Ramakien and the Hikayat Seri Ram is revenge , the wife of Indra, Sujata, vowing it for having CC-0. Probeen ravished by Ravana in having assumed the form of tion, New Delhi. Digitized by S 3 13 undation USA

Sita-How she is depicted in the Rama story of Southeast Asia 117 her consort Indra in Phra Lak Phra Lam and Gvay Thuaraphi of Laos; Sita Andang Dewi, the wife of Visnu, vowing it for having been ravished by Serajuk in the Wayang Siam version of Malaysia; a most beautiful maiden having been ravished by Ravana vowing it in the Rama Thagyin of Myanmar. In the Thai Ramakien Laksmi incarnates herself as Sita as per the wish of Narai (Narayana =Visnu) who consents to reincarnate Himself in deference to the wish of Isuan (Isvara-Siva) to destroy Hirantayaksa who is born as Ravana. In the Hikayat Seri Ram it is through an altogether a different phenomenon under which she appears on the earth. (3) She is predicted by Vibhisana and other soothsayers to cause the destruction of Ravana and the Raksasa race. (4) As a consequence thereof she is abandoned. The act of abandoning is: (a) she is put in a glass urn in the Ramakien (Thai), Wayang Seri Ram version (Malaysia) and Sarat Kanda (Indonesia) (b) in a box in the Rama Thagyin (Myanmar) (c) in an iron box in the Hikayat Seri Ram (Malaysia) (d) in a golden casket in Gvay Thuaraphi (Laos) or (e) just left in the forest in the Rama Jataka (Laos). (5) The urn or the box or the caskets floated in a river (to ultimately reach the sea) in the Ramakien (Thai and Phra Lak Phra Lam (Laos); in the Yamuna in the Sarat Kanda (Java, Indonesia); in the ocean in the Rama Thagyin (Myanmar) and Wayang Siam and Hikayat Seri Ram (Malaysia) and (on a raft) in Gvay Thuaraphi (Laos). (6) In the course of floating the baby girl is protected by the river goddess Manimekhala in the Ramakien (Thai) ; is guarded by the forest spirits in the Rama Jataka (Laos). (7) The glass urn/the box/the casket while afloat in river / ocean reaches the place where King Janaka is practising penance in the Ramakien (Thai) and Ramaker CC-0(Kampuchea); a hermit in the Phra Lak Phra Lam , Gvay Delhi. Digitized by S 3 Foundation USA

Thuaraphi and the Rama Jataka (Laos); Maharisi Kali of Durwatipurwa in the Hikayat Seri Ram (Malaysia) and Maharisi Kala Api in the Sarat Kanda (Java, Indonesia). (8) On discovery the glass urn is buried under the roots of a tree by Janaka first, the girl in it being taken to be a potential source of obstruction to penance and then dug up twelve years later with the ploughing of the land pulled by the sacred bull of Siva after attempts of his retinue had failed to trace the urn had met with failure. From the discovered urn a beautiful grown up girl steps out (Thai Ramakien). The child is discovered from a floating jar by Maharisi Kala Api and grows into a beautiful girl named Sita Dewi (Java, Indonesia). The other versions simply say that she is discovered by a hermit/King Janaka/Maharisi Kali of Durwatipurwa and is adopted by him as his daughter. (9) Only two versions have explanation for the name Sita and those are the Gvay Thuaraphi of Laos and the Ramaker of Kampuchea. According to Gvay Thoraphi Sita is a combination of two words si and ta. The first, si, meaning rubbing and the second, ta, meaning eyes. She came to be so called because the hermit on opening the casket saw the child raising her head and rubbing the eyes. According to the Ramaker the king of Mithila saw a god's daughter in a raft and gave her the name Sita because of her being like the moon in a full moon night. (10) Only in one version, the Thai Ramakien, she is shown to cry as soon as born three times "kill Ravana". A comparison of the account of Sita's birth in Indian versions and those of Southeast Asia would reveal that the motif of Sita being dug in the earth and later dug out of it is found in the Jain versions . There is nothing of her being floated in water in Indian versions. That may be a typical Southeast Asian innovation. It is only in one version, the Thai Ramakien, that both these versions have beens combined . The urn containing the baby Sita is first

Sita-How she is depicted in the Rama story of Southeast Asia 119 floated in water and then dug into the earth from which it is dug out twelve years later. The Dasaratha Jataka records Sita to have been the daughter of King Dasaratha and thus a sister or half sister of Rama. The same is the case with the Luang Prabang version Of Laos where she is said to be the daughter of King Dasaratha's fourth In the Hikayat Seri Ram of Malaysia the plot is so contrived as to make her the daughter of Dasaratha as well as of Ravana. queen. The Southeast Asian versions describe Sita to have been a stubborn type of lady; a streak of that side of her character manifesting itself in her insistence on accompanying her husband to forest much against his protestations, a side that distinguishes her from her other similarly placed sister-in-law Sumitra as also her taking umbrage at Laksmana's reluctance to leave her alone after his elder brother had left her in his (Laksmana's) care while pursuing the golden deer and her slanderous accusations on hearing the fake anguished cries "O Laksmana, O Sita!". In the Myanmar version she noticing a golden deer frolicking near her hut expresses the desire to Rama to have it for her, she having taken fancy to it. Rama dissuades her pointing out the impossibility of a deer being of gold. Thinking that Rama is saying so for he does not want to fulfil her, wish, she darts forth in a fit of rage, pulls out an arrow from his quiver and tries to dig it into her chest. Rama in all consternation takes it away from her and says that if she is so insistent in having it, he would have it for her. Saying this he goes out in pursuit of it. And what follows is a familiar story. The Thai version has a different indicator of her stubbornness. After she repairs to the nether region on having been forsaken by Laksmana who could not kill her as ordered by Rama on the suspicion of her having a soft corner for Ravana (for her drawing his portrait to satisfy the curiosity of her maid Adul, the daughter of Surpanakha in reality out to take revenge for the ill-treatment to her mother; who coaxed her to do so under a cunning plan of knowing as to how he looked like), Rama having come to know that she is alive sends Hanuman to bring her to Ayodhya, she

flatly refuses to come, he having treated her badly on mere suspicion with no faith in her words when she tried to explain the circumstances of the case. She tells Hanuman that she would come to Ayodhya only when she gets to know that Rama is no more. Then Rama to have her with him by all means plays the ruse and sends Hanuman with the false news of his death. She in all sorrow comes to Ayodhya. There she discovers that Rama is alive. Feeling that a trick had been played on her she flies into rage and returns to the nether world. At the end of the story when Lord Siva summons her and Rama at the routine divine assembly held every hundred years (to know the goings on in the creation), she refuses to accept Rama even when asked to do so charging him with many a misconduct. She relents only when the Lord tells her that it is His wish. This she finds difficult to ignore. The Javanese (Indonesian) version shows an altogether different side of the character of Sita. She is depicted there to be going into nostalgia for her life in the Palace. She would remember the maids who had served her there. This would make it very difficult for her to control her tears. To beguile her Rama brings her a rabbit and a wild swan. Once Laksmana comes across a young monkey whose parents had forsaken it. Another time Rama notices chicks of a peahen tormented by hunger. The chicks had nobody to look after them; their mother having been devoured by a wild animal. These Rama brings to Sita. In this way over a period of time a small zoo comes up near the hamlet Pancavati [In the Javanese version that is the name of the hut put up by Rama in the forest rather than the name of the forest as in India] to keep Sita busy. She is shown to be very kind to all the birds and animals in her care. Another instance of her kind disposition is furnished in a Thai episode and the Rama Thonmyo of Saya Htwe of Myanmar which is based on an oral account of a marionette dramatist. One day she goes to a river to take bath leaving her son Mangkut with the sage Vajmrga (Valmiki ) in meditation. On the way she notices some monkey mothers jumping from one branch of a tree to another with the babies tucked to their bed by S. She tells them CC-0. Prof. Satya

Sita-How she is depicted in the Rama story of Southeast Asia 121 that what they are doing is no good for the young ones may suffer a slip. The monkey mothers retort that they are more mindful of their offspring than her for they are carrying them with them and not leaving them, as she has done, with a sage with eyes closed. Sita realizing her mistake goes back to the sage, picks up the child and goes to the river. In the meantime the sage getting through with his meditation does not find the child. Alarmed at the prospect of Sita losing the child, her only support in the forest, he through his Yogic power creates another child, the double of the original one. As he is about to infuse life into it, Sita returns with her child. Now, thinking that it is not necessary to create another child, the sage stops short of infusing life into it. Sita at this asks him to go ahead with it for that will give her child a companion to play with. And as goes the story, she brings him up with the same care and consideration as she does her own child. The episode of Sita's fire ordeal figures in almost all the versions of the Rama story of Southeast Asia. In the Thai Ramakien it gets a different twist. In it Sita does not come out to meet Rama after Ravana's downfall. She wants to prove her chastity first. As was the general belief in her time that it is the fire which proves the purity of a woman, she sends a message to Rama to invite all the gods to be witness to her walking on fire. The fire is lit and Sita asks Heaven and Earth as also the gods to witness her walking on the fire. With each step of hers a lotus appears beneath her feet. Sita comes out of the fire unharmed. Rama in all happiness takes her by the arm and seats her beside him. As shown above, the versions of the Rama story of Southeast Asia have woven their own magic web of stories and tales about Sita which are of gripping interest. This shows how her multifaceted personality has caught their imagination .