Sita-Parityaga – A Profound Analysis

IN THE Uttara-kāṇḍa, we see Rāma sending Sita away to the forest as he hears that his people are suspicious about her character. He is pushed into tremendous agony and expresses his pain to his younger brothers. He states that all activities are performed to attain kīrti – good fame and only then a king can rule his kingdom. Rāma feels that it is important to gain his people’s trust in order to govern them dhārmically. He instructs Lakṣmaṇa to drop off Sītā on the far side of river Gaṅgā near the āśrama of Sage Vālmīki. He probably knew that the sage would take care of Sītā. Rāma also knew that Sītā was pregnant when he abandoned her. By doing so, he was quite aware that he was even sacrificing his progeny who could have ruled the kingdom in the future.

Rāma asks Lakṣmaṇa to use as a pretext Sita's desire to spend time in the āśramas of sages during the period of her pregnancy. He did not tell Sītā explicitly that he was abandoning her probably because it would have created more turmoil in their hearts.

We may argue that Rāma should have gone away to the forest with Sītā as well, but then, we know what his brothers would have done – they would have followed Rāma abandoning the kingdom as they had done in the past. It was, therefore, implicit that Rāma retains the kingdom and gives up his family life for the greater good. He naturally placed samaṣṭi-hita over vyaṣṭi-hita, i.e., the well-being of his kingdom was more important to him than his own well-being.

This brings to mind a verse from the Mahābhārata:

tyajed-ekaṃ kulasyārthe grāmasyārthe kulaṃ tyajet |

grāmaṃ janapadasyārthe ātmārthe pṛthivīṃ tyajet || Ādi-parva 107.32

Give up one for the sake of a family, give up a family for the welfare of a village; give up a village for the well-being of the kingdom and give up attachments with the world for your spiritual growth.

In sum, for greater welfare, smaller sacrifices need to be made.

This episode, in fact, reflects the mentality of the common folk as well. The people of Ayodhyā neither witnessed Sītā’s abduction nor did they see her undergo the Agni-praveśa through which she was proved chaste. They believed only the former and even assumed that her character was flawed; they failed to believe that she had been testified as being pure and that all beings had attested to the chastity of her person. The world tends to believe the negative and not the positive set of events.

The episode of the Sītā-parityāga is considered a later-day interpolation by many scholars. There is enough basis to say so. The saṅgraha-rāmāyaṇa, i.e., the outline of the story narrated by Sage Nārada to Maharṣi Vālmīki and the recollection of the story eventually by Vālmīki do not mention the Sītā-parityāga.

The Rāmopākhyāna of the Mahābhārata, which is likely the first retelling of the Rāmāyaṇa in a creative literary work does not speak of the Sītā-parityāga. It is therefore likely that the version of the Rāmāyaṇa that was available to Vyāsa, the author of the Mahābhārata did not contain the Sītā-parityāga at all; or, it is possible that Vyāsa did not feel the need of including the episode in his epic. However, a ṛṣi-kavi like Vyāsa would not hide information and incidents unnecessarily.

Therefore, it is not too farfetched to assume that Vyāsa did not know of the Sītā-parityāga. Nevertheless, classical poets such as Kālidāsa, Bhavabhūti, Kṣemendra, and others have included the episode in their creative retellings of the epic. It is therefore likely that the interpolation has taken place in the period between the times of Vyāsa and Kālidāsa.

Even if this episode is proven to be a later-day interpolation, one cannot deny that its inclusion has added value to the Rāmāyaṇa. It shows how the world never fully trusts the moral uprightness of its ruler and the kind of circumstances an emperor is pushed into to gain the trust of his people. It is evident that neither Sītā nor Rāma was happy being away from each other, but they accepted the harsh, but inevitable reality. We don’t see Sītā ever complaining about Rāma’s deed; she only curses her fate but does not blame her husband. She truly understands her husband’s heart and the greater responsibility that he carries as a king.

Rāma never desired any other woman even when the ritual of yajña demanded him to be in the company of his wife; he made a golden image of Sītā and placed it next to himself when he performed the aśvamedha. He even tried to reunite with her when he got to know that Kuśa and Lava, who had come as singing bards of the Rāmāyaṇa were the sons of Sītā. To establish the purity of her character, he again requested her to undergo a test of chastity.

Sage Vālmīki also confirms to Rāma that Sītā’s heart and senses have always remained pure. Rāma too says that he knows well that Sītā is of unblemished character. When she is called to the assembly to prove her chastity, she requests that the goddess Earth take her away if she trusts her to be of pure character. And thus Sītā departs from Rāma forever.

Her vow is ironical in that, a woman usually would have desired to stay with her husband if proven chaste; but in this case, she wishes to go away if proven chaste. Sītā probably felt that her presence would cause only troubles to Rāma and would come in the way of his role as a king.

Rāma and the people of Ayodhyā accept Kuśa and Lava as the successors to the kingdom – this, in itself, establishes that the citizens finally acknowledged Sītā’s chastity.

None should accuse Rāma of possessing no love towards Sītā. The kind of pain he underwent and the efforts he expended to get her back when she was abducted by Rāvaṇa stand testimony to his love.

Rāma’s pain upon sending away Sītā is evident from the Uttara-kāṇḍa. While the world contemporary to Rāma rejected Sītā, she found spiritual refuge in Sage Vālmīki. However, the world thereafter has always remembered Sītā and Rāma as the ideal couple. The poet has documented their separation, but they have never been separated in people’s hearts. Throughout India, even to this day, the two are referred to together as Sītā-rāma.