By Dipankar Sengupta

The one hundred fourteenth and fifteenth cantos (sargah) of the Chapter on War, (Yudhya kandya) in Maharshi Valmiki’s Ramayana describe the post war scenario in Lanka. The great demon warrior Ravana has been vanquished, his last rites performed and Bibhisana, Ravana’s younger brother has been sworn in as the new king of Lanka at the behest of Sri Rama. The two sargahs offer meaningful significance to the epic because of the way Maharshi Valmiki describes the reunion of Sri Rama with his wife Sitadevi after years of confinement in Lanka among the demons. A reader’s mind goes through uneasiness as he or she reads through the passages because of the unexpected turn of events. In my opinion Ramayana would not be an epic but for these two sargahs.

As the passages describe, Sri Rama was holding a post-war royal court in Lanka to resolve unsettled matters. He was seated on a throne flanked by his trusted lieutenants Hanuman the great, Sugrib the king of Kishkimbda, Bibhisana and most closely, his brother Lakshman. Sugrib’s monkey soldiers and Bibhisana’s followers stood by with bowed heads, all eager to hear from Sri Rama. Hanuman, the great warrior and emissary of Sri Rama just returned after meeting with Sita at the Asokebatika where she had been imprisoned. While describing the meeting, Hanuman told Sri Rama how anxious Sitadevi was to meet with him after hearing the news of his victory. He requested Sri Rama to meet with Sitadevi for whose sake the very war was fought. As Hanuman spoke, Sri Rama became meditative: his eyelids closed and his chest heaved with long breaths. It was as if he was struggling to control an incalculable emotion. Then looking up and addressing Bibhisana, Sri Rama requested him to bring Sita to the court. She must come dressed in jewelry and clothes like a queen.

Bibhisana entered Asokebatika with his queen and consorts. After introducing himself he gave Sita her husband’s message. The chariot was waiting outside to take her to the royal court. He told her that the women would dress her in regal attire. Sita refused. Instead, she desired to meet her husband in the exact condition as she had been all these years in confinement – in her lean attire. As Bibhisana continued to press her, Sita, a devoted wife changed her mind, allowed herself to be dressed regally and climbed into the chariot.
Sri Rama was still meditating when Bibhisana entered the court and announced Sitadevi’s arrival. Instantly, Sri Rama’s facial expressions changed. Maharshi Valmiski describes his mood at that instant:

tāmāgatām upaśrutya rakṣogṛhaciroṣitām /
roṣaṃ harṣaṃ ca dainyṃ ca rāghavaḥ prāpa śatruhā //

“Hearing the news of her return after a long period in Raksasha’s palace the
mood of Sri Rama, the destroyer of enemy changed to anger, pleasure and sadness”.

Sri Rama was pleased because the great mission he had ventured – killing Ravana and setting Sita free, had been accomplished. He was sad because he reminisced on the panorama of sorrowful events in his life – his loss of kingdom, the death of his father, his exile to the forest, the kidnapping of his wife and the resulting separation, war and destruction. But why was he angry?

Sri Rama asked Bibhisana to bring Sita inside the court. This was not going to be a private meeting. It would be in the presence of all the commoners. An ominous feeling chilled the heart of brother Lakshman and others. Sitadevi, the queen of Mithila and Sri Rama’s wife deserved her honor and privacy. Bibhisana started clearing out the court. But Rama stopped him. He reminded Bibhisana that those who were present were his trusted followers. Any insult to them would be directed to him. He explained the validity of his order. In times of physical and mental difficulties, during marriage and performance of yogic rites, a wife could be seen by others. She did not need the ordinary veil of protection; her dignity and composure would be her veil. Sitadevi came and stood before Sri Rama with her long eyes cast longingly on his face drinking the nectar of his radiant beauty. Her mind was full of love and gratitude for her husband. Sri Rama, however, had something else in his mind.

Addressing Sitadevi Sri Rama said that he had done what was humanly possible for him – to free her from the demon’s custody. He was not responsible for what had happened to her and the long confinement in the house of a demon surrounded by ugly rakshasis. Sri Rama then spoke of his self esteem and the pride of his ancestry. Both were at stake when Ravana trespassed in the hermitage and kidnapped Sita. He had to protect his own honor and that of Ikshakubangsha, his ancestry. There was no remorse or empathy in his voice. There was no acknowledgement in his words that he fought the war because of his beloved wife.

The apparent contradiction in Sri Rama’s statements and his earlier actions are obvious. Through out Valmiki’s Ramayana there was evidence of Sri Rama’s unequivocal love for Sitadevi. Valmiki devoted eight sargahs, fifty eighth to sixty fifth of Aranya kandya to describe the lamentations of Sri Rama after Sita was kidnapped. He kept asking Lakshman, “Where is my beautiful celestial Sita, my life partner but for whom I cannot even live one moment of my life?” He moved from tree to tree, from one animal to other asking if any one of them had seen his beloved Sita. He was in complete delirium remembering the sweet memories of their love. It was Lakshman who focused him and brought him to his senses.

Now, after he won back Sita, Sri Rama sat in the seat of justice apparently forgetting what he did or said before. He could not admit that it was his love that urged him in his daring rescue mission. He was angry and his voice found a new tone as he denounced Sita. He said the worst thing that a devoted wife could possibly hear from her husband. Sri Rama called her “praptya chāritra sandehā- a woman of questionable character. He said, “Ravana put you in his lap and he cast his dirty look on you”. She was free to leave him and go wherever she wished. He had no compassion or any other feeling for her. Rama’s anger could be sensed in every word he uttered.

Sri Rama was an avatar of Sri Bishnu, protector of the Universe. Valmiki had endowed him with qualities that went beyond humane virtues and reached celestial proportion. But Rama was also a mortal person. He had the same shortcomings that characterized human beings. One of which, was his ego. Rama, born mortal could not rise above his ego. He was angry because in the eyes of his subjects, in the eyes of all his relatives, Gods and Goddesses he was the protector of his wife and he had failed. Ravana had kidnapped her, kept her in his palace and must have polluted her. He had to pay for the consequences because he failed in his duty. He was angry because of what was now a fait accompli.

It may be argued that Sri Rama could have accepted Sitadevi under the prevailing circumstances: Sita should not be condemned for something she had little to do with and especially after she had suffered so tragically. Accepting Sita as she was would have made a perfect sense in modern thinking. But society then had a norm. Sri Rama knew in his heart of hearts that his subjects would not excuse him if he accepted Sitadevi without verifying her chastity. Valmiki wrote: “His heart was torn for fear of criticism of his subjects”.

Although Sri Rama appeared to be annoyed in this passage, his anger was controlled. Valmiki wanted to show the greatness in Sri Rama – his truthfulness, loyalty to his subjects and ancestry and his very real love of Sitadevi. There was not an iota of doubt in his mind about the virtues of his wife. Banishing Sita would have meant punishing himself after all he had gone through to ensure her safe return. Sitting on the pulpit of justice, Sri Rama had to be detached in his judgment of Sitadevi for the sake of his subjects, and for their own sakes. What seemed to be anger was in fact an expression of his detachment. Staying impartial in this trial – to be truthful to his duty or dharma was Sri Rama’s biggest challenge. Rama was having the opposing pull of love and dharma and he finally chose dharma over love. Sri Rama, the God incarnate rose above his mortal weakness to preserve dharma, which has sustained Hinduism through the ages. Through the dichotomy of Rama’s thought and action Valmiki proved the victory of dharma in these two sargahas and made Ramayana an epic.

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