Sita Navami, birthday of Sri Sita, wife of Ramachanda, Janaki Navami. Vedic holidays

Goddess Sita is one of the most famous goddesses in Indian history, a symbol of meekness and devotion. She is glorified in the ancient Indian treatise (epic) “Ramayana” as the virtuous wife of the main character Rama. The work describes her appearance from the furrow of a plowed field, which appeared and began to signify the name Sita, since “Sita” is translated from the ancient Indian language as the goddess of arable land.

Goddess Sita is praised as daughter of the earth, and she also embodies kindness and femininity, so she serves ideal woman in ancient Indian mythology. Sita is considered the symbol of the ideal daughter, wife, mother and queen. She embodies all the characteristics that should describe a modern woman.

Goddess Sita was born in Navami, on the 9th lunar day, in the month of Vaisakha, which is considered to be the second month of the Indian calendar. Her father Janaka, when he was plowing the ground to perform the Yajna, found a beautiful golden chest in which little Sita was. Because of this supernatural manner of birth, Sita is called Ayonija (which means “not born from the womb”).

Sita is also called Bhumija (“earth”), Dharanisura (“carrier”), Parthivi (“broad”) - all these names come down to one thing and mean “daughter of the earth.” Since his father’s name was Janaka, accordingly, Sita was often called by his name - Janaka.

Epic "Ramayana"

The ancient Indian treatise was written and dates back to the 2nd century BC. The ideological meaning of the work is to show the life path of the main character - Rama. In the epic, he appears during the period of the seventh avatar in the form of a brave warrior - Rama.

The main role in the work is played by goddess Sita. According to the Ramayana, only she had the power and strength to move the heavy chest from the place where the bow was kept. Therefore, her father Janaka could give his daughter in marriage to a man who was distinguished by the same strength. For this purpose, Janaka announces a competition where it is necessary to string the bow. To the one who copes with this difficult task, he promises to give his daughter in marriage. Many princes tried to string the bow, but no one succeeded. Only Rama was able not only to string the bow, but also to break it.

King Dasharatha appears in the work as the father of the hero. The treacherous wife of the king, having learned that Rama will become the heir to the throne, drives him out of the palace, resorting to cunning and cunning. The main character leaves the kingdom and his wife Sita and brother Lakshman leave with him.

After wandering for a long time, they find shelter in a dark forest, where they live for 6 years. Once in the forest, Sita saw a golden deer, which she really liked. She told Ram to catch up with him. Seeing that her husband was not returning home for a long time, she asked Lakshmana to go to his aid. When leaving, he outlined the home with a circle of protection, and strictly ordered Sita not to leave these boundaries. But Sita broke her word when Ravana, disguised as a brahmana, asked her to taste food. So Sita left a protective circle. Taking advantage of the fact that she is left alone, a demon kidnaps her and takes her to the island of Lanka.

Every day, Ravana visited Sita with an offer to become his wife and gave him time to think about it for only 1 month. At that time, taking the form of a monkey, he began to look after Sita. One day he gave her a ring that belonged to Ram, but the frightened girl did not believe him even when he appeared before her in his true form. But the story told about the crow, which only Sita and Rama knew about, was made to believe Hanuman. At this time, he wanted to take her to the camp where Rama was, but she refused and gave him her comb. After this, Hanuman set the kingdom of Lanka on fire.

It is worth noting that while Sita was being held hostage in captivity, she refused to please those who kidnapped her. She remained faithful to her husband Rama until the very end.

The brave warrior Rama saves his wife by attacking Lanka with an army of vanaras and bears. The main character managed to besiege Lanka and kill Ravana. To prove her innocence, Sita jumps into the fire, where she is immediately carried out in her arms god Agni. He returned her to Rama and the couple were happily reunited.

When the demon was defeated, Sita, along with her husband and Lakshmana, returned to Ayodhya. A real huge feast was held there in honor of the heir's return from exile.

For a long time, the husband was consumed by doubt about the innocence and fidelity of his wife Sita. These thoughts were prompted by the constant criticism and condemnation of his subjects. It is also worth considering the fact that, according to the canons of that time, a husband must banish a wife who spent at least one night in the house of another man. Based on this, Rama, as a true ruler, decides to send his pregnant wife in the forest, where the sage Valmiki helped her, who later wrote the epic “Ramayana”.

In exile, Sita gave birth to two sons, Lav and Kush, who received the best knowledge from the sage. Having matured and grown stronger, they defeated their father’s army. As a result, the military feuds were over and the children recognized Rama as their father.

The background to this is the meeting that the sage planned. As a result, Rama met his sons, whose existence he previously knew nothing about. Valmiki tries to convince Ram that Sita is absolutely innocent and pure in front of him, but Ram's constant doubts make her become despondent and sad. Sita, unable to cope with her sadness, performed a ritual act, where her soul went to Vaikuntha, and mother earth accepted her for the third time, separating her from her husband. The story ends then Rama and Sita meet again only in heaven.

Analyzing the ancient Indian epic, the goddess Sita is the personification of purity, fidelity, devotion and tenderness. Sita is the standard of chastity and the ideal of pure love. For the sake of her husband Rama, she followed him out of the palace and followed her husband into the forest for many years. This is clear proof of devotion. She humbly went through all the trials of life that were given to her and her husband.

Only the most loving wife is capable for the sake of her beloved sleep on the ground, eat only roots and fruits, give up life in the palace, the best outfits and jewelry, love and attention from loved ones. For the sake of her husband, she left a luxurious and comfortable life, and followed him in simple clothes, without servants. Going through all the hardships of life, she maintained the strength of calm and balance, no matter where she was, in the palace or in the forest.

Sita was an obedient wife, strictly fulfilling any will of her other half. It was not easy for her to cope with the separation from her beloved husband. And it was even harder to disobey or violate his will, and even more so to doubt his rightness.

Such vivid historical examples are a good lesson for the modern woman, who should strive to correctly understand her destiny, be a good wife and mother, perform your duties correctly. As society becomes more modern and democratic every year, unfortunately, such concepts as humility, chastity, fidelity and purity are lost in society.

The rapid development of civilization at all levels leads to the fact that these concepts manifest themselves as archaisms and are accepted in modern society as relics of the past. Or, as they say, it is considered out of date. But not a single man in the world will refuse a cozy atmosphere at home, where love reigns, there is an obedient wife who recognizes the leadership of a man in the house and where children grow up in complete harmony and understanding of their parents.

All this testifies not to remnants of the past, but about eternal and unchanging values. Another question is whether modern society can accept such high rates of relationships. People who strive to live in the spiritual world will always strictly walk through life alongside the laws of morality and re-read such stories, taking them as examples to follow.

We continue our excursion into Hinduism. Today we will talk about the beautiful companions of the Hindu pantheon and some of their descendants. By the way, many Indian gods and goddesses help in creativity, help remove obstacles and achieve well-being and prosperity. If you want to know the details, then read on ☺

As I already said in the post “Hinduism and the Supreme Indian Gods”, at the top of the Indian “Olympus” there are the Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, who form the Trimurti. Each of them has a wonderful life partner (or even all lives), of divine or human origin, but always with a very difficult fate. After they linked their lives and destiny with their divine spouses, they became Shakti - deities (divine power, light) carrying feminine energy in the universe.

Companion of Brahma

Brahma's wife is the beautiful goddess Saraswati, the patroness of the hearth, fertility, and prosperity. In addition, she favors creators, giving special preference to writers of all stripes and musicians.

Saraswati is often called the river goddess, the goddess of water, moreover, her name translates as “she who flows.” Saraswati is usually depicted as a beautiful woman in white robes, seated on a white lotus flower. It is not difficult to guess that white is her color, symbolizing knowledge and cleansing from blood. Her clothes are rich, but, compared to Lakshmi’s attire, they are very modest (we’ll get to Lakshmi later). Most likely, this indirectly indicates that she is above worldly goods, since she has learned the highest truth. Her symbol is also a light yellow blooming mustard flower, which just begins to form into buds in the spring during the holiday in her honor.

Saraswati, like Brahma, has four arms. And just like her divine husband, in other of them she holds a rosary, naturally white, and the Vedas. In her third hand she holds a vana (national musical instrument), in her fourth hand there is sacred water (after all, she is the goddess of water). Often a white swan swims at Saraswati’s feet, which is also a symbol of her experience and wisdom in knowing the highest truth. Saraswati is sometimes called Hamsavahini, which means "she who uses a swan for transportation."

If you remember, last time I told you that according to one of the theories, humanity appeared as a result of Brahma’s passion for his daughter Vak. This state of affairs does not really suit some believers, which is why Vak is often positioned as one of the incarnations of Saraswati. Her other images can be Rati, Kanti, Savitri and Gayatri. The goddess is very popular in India, sometimes she is even called Mahadevi - the Great Mother. It is believed that if you name your daughter Saraswati, she will study diligently, and there will be prosperity and contentment in her future home.

Companion of Vishnu

As we remember, Vishnu came to earth 9 times in different avatars and each time his wife was Lakshmi, naturally, in her different incarnations. The most famous and revered are Sita (when Vishnu was Rama) and Rukmini (Vishnu - Krishna).

But no matter how they call her in one form or another, no one doubts that this is Lakshmi. Lakshmi emerged from the depths of the Comic Ocean along with other treasures, so many revere her as a divine treasure. She, like a true woman, is both the strength and weakness of her chosen one, which has been repeatedly reflected in folk art, for example in Ramayat. Often her image overshadows Saraswati, as well as Vishnu Brahma, and it is to her that the role of the Great Mother Mahadevi is shifted.

Lakshmi is traditionally depicted sitting on a pink or red lotus flower as a beautiful young woman, younger than Saraswati, wearing beautiful expensive clothes and jewelry. She usually uses a white owl as a means of transportation. She, like other gods, has four arms, but no obligatory objects that she holds can be distinguished. Sometimes she is depicted with lotuses, sometimes with gold coins - whatever the artist’s imagination allows. Lakshmi is incredibly popular in India because, in addition to being the wife of the supreme deity, she is also the patron of wealth, good fortune, luck, light, knowledge, wisdom, light, courage and fertility. She is a welcome guest in any home.

Surprisingly, but true, in order to earn her favor, the following actions, already familiar to us, are mandatory. The Goddess does not accept clutter, if your house is full of garbage, dust, unused things, do not expect her to visit you. The air in the house should be fresh, there must be water in a decanter, a house plant (if there is no garden), candles and incense. The most favorable area for placing the image of Lakshmi is the south-eastern part of the house. If you remember my post, then according to Chinese tradition, the wealth zone is located there, and the minimum measures to attract it come down to cleaning and ventilation. There is reason to think...

The offspring of Lakshmi and Vishnu is the god of love Kama. We have all heard a lot or a little about the Kama Sutra, and so, if translated literally, it means “the rules of love (lust).” By the way, poor Kama was seriously injured by the god Shiva, which brought upon the latter the serious wrath of Vishnu and Lakshmi. Kama fired an arrow of passion at Shiva when he was in deep asceticism and many years of meditation in order to attract his attention to the beautiful daughter of the king of the Himalayas, Parvati. This angered Shiva so much that he incinerated Kama with his third eye. Under pressure from Vishnu, Lakshmi and other gods, he was forced to agree to the rebirth of the god of love. Despite all his efforts, Kama was revived to life by ananga (incorporeal) and now he is everywhere.

Shiva's companions

Here we are gradually approaching the love affairs of the great ascetic Shiva. There were many of them, depending on the form of its manifestation. Religious scholars did not agree on whether this woman was alone or not.

Here I will talk about them as different, because if all this diversity of forms and essences is “shoved” into one character, I’m afraid I will get confused myself. Naturally, I won’t be able to write about them all, so we’ll focus on the most revered ones.

Devi - "goddess". Devi is especially revered among followers of tantra. Goddess Devi "contains the whole world in her womb", she "lights the lamp of wisdom" and "brings joy to the heart of Shiva, her Lord." Today in India, rituals dedicated to Devi are often performed on the eve of marriage, and, as we understand, no one is interested in the religion of the couple ☺

Sati – “true, immaculate.” Sati was the daughter of king (god?) Daksha. On the day of her coming of age, he sent out an invitation to all the gods, with the exception of Shiva, so that Sati could choose a worthy husband. He believed that Shiva was behaving unworthy of the gods, damaging their name and essence. When Sati entered the hall and did not see the only one whom she worshiped and whose wife she dreamed of becoming, she offered him a prayer asking him to accept the wedding garland. Shiva accepted her gift and Dakshi had no choice but to marry Sati to him. But the story didn't end there. Dakshi decided to arrange a huge sacrifice in honor of the gods, again depriving Shiva of his attention. This act outraged Sati and she came to his house without an invitation, claiming that Shiva is the god above all gods. Defending her husband's honor, she herself stepped into the sacrificial fire and burned in its flames...

Upon learning of the death of his beloved, Shiva was distraught with grief. With his servants, he came to Daksha's palace and killed him and his followers. After that, with the body of his beloved in his arms, he danced his divine dance 7 times around all the worlds. The crazy rhythm of his dance brought destruction and sadness to everything around, the scale of the disaster reached such a volume that they forced Vishnu to intervene, who, in order to stop this crazy dance, cut Sati’s body into several parts and they fell to the ground. After this, Shiva came to his senses, repented of killing Daksha and even gave him back his life (though with the head of a goat, since his original one was lost).

Uma – “Graceful.” There is a version that she is the rebirth of the goddess Sati, but skeptics are inclined to believe that Sati’s body was cut into several parts and fell in different places, so that she could not be reborn in a single image. Her name is sometimes associated with Barhma, since she is his intermediary in communication with other gods. Based on this, Uma is the patroness of oratory. Uma also became the cause of a divine conflict when the servants of Brahma found her in the arms of Shiva in the sacred forest. He was so angry that he doomed any male, regardless of his species, to turn into a female as soon as he entered the forest territory.

Parvati - "mountain". Another possible rebirth of Sati, daughter of King Himvan, ruler of the Himalayas. The girl loved Shiva very much, but he did not pay any attention to her and was completely absorbed in meditation and asceticism. In the end, the Gods could not stand the suffering of the beautiful Parvati and sent Kama to awaken passion and desire in him, for which, the poor fellow, he paid. Having noticed the beauty and devotion of the girl, Shiva nevertheless considered her unworthy, and she was forced to perform difficult ascetic feats for many years in order to achieve his favor. Ultimately, she succeeded and became not only Shiva's beloved wife, but also the mother of his son Ganesh.

Ganesha is one of the most popular characters, even in countries where the main religion is Buddhism, he is still revered. For example, in the north of the Thai city of Chiang Mai there is an absolutely stunning one. It is very easy to distinguish him from all other gods - he is the only one with an elephant's head. By the way, according to one version, he was deprived of his human head by his own father Shiva, who did not recognize his son in the grown-up Ganesha and was jealous of Parvati. In order to revive his son, he ordered the servants to kill the first animal they came across and bring its head to the palace. By coincidence, it turned out to be the head of a baby elephant, which Shiva attached in place of his son’s head in order to resurrect him and calm the inconsolable Parvati.

Ganesha uses a white mouse as a means of transportation, so Hindus do not favor cats - since they eat mice and cause Ganesha’s wrath. And no one wants his anger; on the contrary, they crave his favor. After all, Ganesha is considered the patron of prosperity, the remover of obstacles, he helps to increase earnings and profits, and also stimulates success in school and profession. For these purposes, a figurine of Ganesh is often placed on the desktop or at the cash register, and special mantras are also chanted, for example: OM GAM GANAPATAYA NAMAH or OM SRI GANESHAYA NAMAH.

Durga - “unapproachable”. There are many legends associated with the appearance of Durga, but one of the most popular is the following. One day, the king of the giants, Mahisha, defeated the gods, deprived them of everything and expelled them from their homes. Then Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva combined their powers and released dazzling rays of light from their eyes, from which emerged a warrior goddess with three eyes and eighteen arms. Then each of the gods gave her his weapon: Brahma - a rosary and a jug of water, Vishnu - a throwing disc, Shiva - a trident, Varuna - a conch, Agni - a dart, Vayu - a bow, Surya - a quiver of arrows, Indra - lightning, Kubera - a mace , Kala – shield and sword, Vishwakarma – battle axe. Mahisha was inflamed with passion for Durga and wanted to make her his wife, but he said that he would submit only to the one who defeats her in battle. She jumped off her tiger and jumped on the back of Mahishi, who had taken the form of a bull to fight. With her feet she struck the bull's head with such crushing force that he fell unconscious to the ground. After this, Durga cut off his head with a sword.

Kali – “black”. Probably the most controversial goddess of the Hindu pantheon, one of the most beautiful and at the same time dangerous. Her skin is black, she is a great warrior and a great dancer, like her husband Shiva. She is usually depicted in expensive clothing with a necklace of skulls and a belt made of severed hands. Most often, she has four hands: in one she holds a bloody sword, in the other - the head of a defeated enemy, and the other two hands bless her subjects. That is, it simultaneously brings both death and immortality. During the battle, she pulls out her tongue to drink the blood of her victims (by the way, according to many theories, Kali is the prototype of Lilith and vampires). Sometimes she is depicted with one foot on her chest and the other on the thigh of a prostrate Shiva. This is explained by the following legend. Having defeated the giant Raktvija, she began to dance in joy, and her dance was so passionate and unbridled that it threatened to destroy the earth and the whole world. The gods tried to persuade her, but everything was in vain. Then Shiva lay down at her feet, and Kali continued to dance until she saw her own husband under her feet. She was ashamed of her own fury and the disrespect shown to the great god that she stopped dead in her tracks. By the way, Shiva forgave her quite easily.

Among Shiva’s companions there are also Jagadgauri, Chinnamustaka, Tara, Muktakesi, Dasabhuja, Singhavanini, Mahishamandini, Jagaddhatri, Ambika, Bhavani, Pithivi, etc., you can’t remember them all ☺ .

Well, perhaps that’s the end of the fairy tale, whoever read to the end - well done ☺! I hope you found it interesting.

In the Rig Veda, Sita is mentioned only once, in one hymn (Book IV, No. 57), addressed to the patron gods of agriculture. In later Vedic monuments (Paraskara-grihya sutra) Sita is the wife of the god Indra, which, perhaps, is in connection with the rare (only in the Rigveda) epithet of Indra - urvarâpati (lord of the field). In the Taittiriya Brahmana, Sita receives the epithet Savitri. Apparently, this Vedic image reflected a pale remnant of a previously brighter and more developed mythical personification. Due to the oblivion of its original content, mythological creativity tries to associate this image with other, more tenacious and vibrant mythical personalities - Indra, Savitar - but all these attempts are random and short-lived.

Hanuman finds Sita

The asteroid (244) Sita, discovered in 1884, is named after Sita.

see also

Links

Literature

• "Ramayana" - "Ramayana"
• “The Tale of Rama” - Literary presentation by E. N. Tyomkin and V. G. Erman

Ramayana
Characters	Dasaratha · Kaushalya · Sumitra · Kaikeyi · Janaka · Manthara · Rama · Bharata · Lakshmana · Satrughna · Sita· Urmila · Mandavi · Srutakirti · Vishwamitra · Ahalya · Jatayu · Sampati · Hanuman · Sugriva · Vali · Angada · Jambavantha · Vibhishana · Shabari · Tataka · Shurpanakha · Maricha · Subahu ·

On the day of the appearance of Srimati Sita devi, we will tell the amazing story about Lord Ramachandra and His consort Srimati Sita devi, which was told to the world by the great sage Valmiki in his mystical work "Ramayana", containing all the wisdom and depth of the Vedas. You can spend your whole life studying the Vedas, or you can just listen to or read the Ramayana. By listening or reading this story, you will be saved from all misfortunes. This bestows long life, victory and strength. Those who are without children will be able to conceive children. Those who want fame will get fame. Those who read or listen to it with faith will achieve all four goals of human life: dharma, artha, kama, moksha. Ramayana helps you make the right decisions in life.

You will receive all the blessings of Lord Vishnu as Rama, who will be discussed, is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. You will also receive the blessings of the Goddess of prosperity, luck and love - Lakshmiji, the consort of Lord Vishnu. Sita devi, the eternal consort of Lord Ramacandra, is an incarnation of Lakshmi devi.

Sita is compared to the moonlight, giving coolness, and her husband Rama (Ramachandra) is compared to a beautiful month. Moonlight always follows the Moon.

Sita is the beloved wife of Rama, the daughter of King Janaki, “born not of man.” Sita is the personification of a perfect woman, portrayed as the ideal of female purity, and therefore one of the translations of Sita is snow-white.

According to Janaka, the king of Videha, Sita (Sanskrit Sîtâ = furrow, personification of furrow and agriculture) emerged from the furrow of his plow while he was plowing the place of sacrifice.

Janaka had no children, so he was ordered to commit halahom-yagya. It consists of taking a plow and drawing a line around the palace with this plow. While the plow is moving, it gets stuck in the mud, and every time it gets stuck in the mud, one has to donate gold to the Brahmins. The plow gets stuck every time it moves, so you have to give gold. When all the Brahmins are happy with what they have been given, the plow moves on and when it gets stuck, the Brahmins must receive more gold.

This is how Janaka did charity and received many blessings, so it helps in the birth of children. Janaka plowed the land and distributed gold to the brahmanas. The plow got stuck in one place, and after all the gold was given to the brahmanas, it still did not go further.

“There must be some big rock in the ground,” everyone said.

And so they dug in this place and found a casket there. And inside this casket was a girl who became known as Janaka - the daughter of Janaka.

Due to this supernatural manner of birth, Sita is called Ionija(Ayonijâ = not born from the womb). Other names for Sita are Bhumija(Bhumi = earth), Dharanisura(Dharani = earth, actually “carrier”), Parthivi(Prthivî = earth, actually "broad") - all indicate its origin, meaning "daughter of the earth".

One day I made a furrow in a field, and from there
The child of indescribable beauty looked - oh, miracle!
For the father's heart, the best is not knowing joy,
I named the girl Sita and princess Videhi.

Maharaja raised the girl as his daughter: “Her name is Sita, and she is the very life and soul of every inhabitant of Mithila, even a flower and an insect, not to mention people, because she is bhakti embodied. She is the most beautiful girl in all creation."

ABOUT The sage told about Sita's childhood fun Vishwamitra, telling the story of how little Sita was playing with a ball and it rolled behind her bow. This bow could not be moved by 5,000 people, but she lifted it very calmly. Of all the inhabitants of Mithila, only Sita could move the heavy casket, inside which the bow of Shiva was kept, so her father Janaka could marry her only to someone who was as strong as Sita.

A wonderful story happened to Sita when She was already six years old. One day Sita Devi was walking with her friends in the forest. The girls tried in every possible way to reach the high growing branch and pick the flower, but they couldn’t do anything. Then Sita went to the palace and quietly entered the room where the famous bow of Lord Shiva, with which He fought with Lord Vishnu, lay. “Little” Sita easily took this bow and quietly left the room. The guard standing nearby couldn’t believe his eyes and immediately ran to the king. And Sitaji shot at the twig and calmly put the bow in place. The ministers who had gathered on this extraordinary occasion said to Janaka: “O king, Maha-Lakshmi lives with you. By all indications this is evident. How are you going to marry Her off? If She is Lakshmiji, then you need to find Sri Narayana, Her Eternal Consort.”

First meeting of Sita and Rama took place in Janaki Maharaj's garden. In this garden, Lord Rama and Srimati Sita exchanged glances for the first time, and at that moment They gave Their hearts to each other. With beautiful lotus eyes, like those of a young chamois, she saw the subtle graceful beauty of Rama.

With beautiful lotus eyes, like those of a young chamois, she saw the subtle graceful beauty of Rama. More than anything else, Sita wanted Rama to become the Lord of Her heart. About this, even before meeting Rama in her father’s house, Sita addressed prayers to Durga.

In an amazing way, Prince Ramachandra found a wife.

In those distant times in India there was a custom - swayamvar, according to which, in order for the bride to choose a groom, competitions were appointed in her honor. Young men gathered at them, they competed in archery, wrestling, and javelin throwing. To the winner, if, of course, he was to his liking, the bride put a garland around his neck - by this she let him know that she agreed to become his wife.

And soon Sita’s father decided that it was time to marry off his daughter. Janaka promised to give his beloved daughter to the one who could pull the string of the sacred bow of Lord Shiva.

Rama also came to Medhila to participate in the competition. When Vishwamitra Muni, Rama and Lakshmana saw this bow, they froze in admiration. Extraordinary, gigantic and indescribably beautiful, the bow was skillfully decorated with heavenly emeralds, silver, gold, rubies, diamonds and pearls. Made by Vishwakarma himself, the heavenly gunsmith, especially for Lord Shiva, the bow sparkled like rock crystal in the sun, shimmering with the wondrous colors of the northern lights. No one has ever touched it except the great Shambhu.

Rama meanwhile approached the bow and, with his palms folded in reverence, offered humble obeisances to this expansion of Lord Shiva. Ramachandra looked at his guru, Vishwamitra Muni, because without the blessing of the Guru, Rama believed, no one could ever do anything worthy.

Rama slowly raised his bow and, spreading his powerful shoulders, began to pull the string. The black, shiny, heavy tree yielded to strong hands - the string separated further and further from the shaft, and finally the bow could not stand it - there was a crack like a thunderclap, the roofs of the houses trembled - the bow shattered in half. Shouts of joy filled the square.

Maharaja Janaka called Sita to come down, and she appeared before Lord Ramacandra to present him with the vijaya-mala of the winner - a fragrant garland of golden flowers, intended only for the one who becomes her husband. She stood in front of Rama, looking at his lotus feet. Then she decided to look into his eyes, and when their eyes met, the eternal love union of Sita-Rama, Sri Sri Radhika-Govinda, immediately manifested itself...

Vasishtha Muni, at an auspicious hour called Vijaya, began the wedding ceremony, very beautiful, very magnificent. King Janaka placed his daughter's hand in Rama's, saying, “I give my daughter Sita to You, my dear Rama. Sita is dearer to me than my life and soul, and I promise that she will serve You with great devotion and follow You wherever You go, like Your shadow. Whatever Your fate may be, my daughter will always be by Your side. Please take her as your wife! In all my life I have never seen a more worthy groom for my virtuous and chaste Sita.”

Giving Sita's hand to Ramachandra, Janaka and Vasishtha poured sacred water to seal the marriage. Sita was overjoyed because this was the kind of husband she wanted. The same could be said about Rama. They couldn't take their eyes off each other. Time simply ceased to exist when they were together.

However, their happiness was short-lived and, like many lovers, they had to go through serious trials. Palace machinations force Rama to go into exile for fourteen years in the Dandakaranya forest, and faithful Sita, the eternal wife of Lord Ramachandra, goes after Him.

Just as moonlight comes from the moon, so Sita follows her beloved Rama. Sita renounced the luxury of Ayodhya and was therefore able to be with Rama in “exile.” She steadfastly endured all the hardships and hardships: staying close to the prince meant for her to be happy.

Rama, Sita and Lakshmana settled in a small reed hut in the thicket of the Dandaka forest. The brothers never lacked either courage or courage. Lotus-eyed Rama lived for ten years with Sita and Lakshmana, moving from one monastery to another, protecting the hermits from predatory animals, rakshasas and poisonous reptiles.

Another test was Lila abduction of Sita by the evil demon Ravana.

When Rama, Lakshmana and Sita were in Panchavati during their exile, the demon Maricha, on the orders of Ravana, the king of demons who ruled Lanka, turned into a golden deer and was walking nearby. Sita was fascinated by the golden deer and convinced Rama to catch it, even though Rama dissuaded her.

When Rama chased the deer and shot the fatal arrow at it, the demon assumed his true form and shouted the names of Lakshmana and Sita in the weakened voice of Rama. Hearing Rama's voice, Sita forced Lakshmana to go to Rama's aid. Before leaving the hut, Lakshmana drew a line around it and told Sita not to cross it. He declared that no one would be able to cross this line and enter the hut.

Meanwhile, Ravana came there, taking the form of a brahmana, and began begging for alms. When Sita offered him food from behind the line drawn by Lakshmana, he refused to accept the food, prompting her to cross the line and give him the offering. Since he pretended to be suffering from hunger pangs, Sita, being very compassionate and caring, crossed the line and offered food to the “brahmana”. Then Ravana assumed his true form, grabbed her and took her away on his celestial chariot to Lanka.

The lesson from the story of the abduction of Sita is that a woman, no matter how powerful she may be in the material world, should always be protected. Once a woman is left without protection, she falls into the hands of rakshasas like Ravana. Before her marriage, Sita was under the protection of her father, Janaki. And when she got married, her husband began to take care of her. Thus, a woman should always be under someone's protection. According to Vedic rules, a woman is not capable of being independent (asamaksam) because she is not able to protect herself. When she fixed her dreamy gaze on the golden deer and was captivated by it, she lost the Presence of Rama.

Although Sita was imprisoned by Ravana in the Ashoka Grove, he did not dare to touch her, because he knew that he would be incinerated. He wanted to subdue her by intimidating and threatening her. But Sita never even looked at him.

When he began to defame Rama, Sita took a blade of grass and said: “You are so pathetic and wicked. You are not worth even this blade of grass. How can you defame Rama?”

In fact, Sita caused the curse and death of Ravana.

In her previous incarnation, she was a young girl whose name was Masulunji. Ravana, having killed her father, tried to take her by force. Masulunji called out to Sri Hari and with his name on her lips she managed to escape. She reached the place in the forest where the rishis were reciting the Vedas. Since she appeared before them while they were chanting the Vedas, they gave her the name Vedavati. Arriving at the Himalayas, she sat there with her eyes closed, concentrating her thoughts on Sri Hari. When Ravana disturbed her meditation, Masulunji vowed that she would cause his death in her next incarnation and, with her mystical power, burned herself, dissolving in fire (Agni). Sita was born from the ashes. She is also called Vaidehi, that is, the one who has no attachment to the body.

To protect Sita, Agni replaced Sita with Vedavati, and took Sita with him and left him under the protection of his wife Svahadevi. Ravana took Vedavati to Lanka, mistaking her for Sita. He stole the shadow of Sita, that is, Maya-Sita. Maya Sita is an image of Sita, non-different from Her. The only difference is that no one can touch the Divine Sita while under the control of lust, passion and anger. She placed Her Primordial Form in the fire and hid Her divinity.

According to Brahma's blessing, only a man could kill Ravana, since he was invulnerable to the devas and asuras. Vishnu comes to this world in the form of a man - Prince Ramachandra. Ravana constantly harassed others, but when his cup of sins overflowed and he went so far as to attack Sitadevi herself, Lord Ramachandra killed him.

"Srimad Bhagavatam" Canto 9. "Liberation" TEXT 23:

“Having reprimanded Ravana, Lord Ramachandra put an arrow on the string of His bow, took aim and released this arrow, which, like lightning, struck the heart of the demon. Seeing this, Ravana’s subordinates filled the air with cries: “Woe to us, woe! What a misfortune!” Meanwhile, Ravana, vomiting blood from all ten mouths, fell from the airship to the ground, just as a pious man, having exhausted the stock of his good deeds, falls from the heavenly planet back to Earth."

The chaste wife of Ravana Mandodari lamentingly says :

"O darling of fate, overcome by lust, you were unable to appreciate the power of Sita. Cursed by her, you lost all greatness and died at the hand of Lord Ramacandra."(SB Canto 9. TEXT 27)

The commentary to this text says:

“Not only Sita is powerful, but any woman who follows in her footsteps also becomes equally powerful. There are many examples of this in the Vedic scriptures. But whenever they talk about an ideal chaste woman, the name of Sita’s mother is mentioned.

Mandodari, the wife of Ravana, was also very chaste. Draupadi is also one of the five most chaste women. If men should follow the example of great souls like Brahma and Narada, then women should follow in the footsteps of ideal wives like Sita, Mandodari and Draupadi. By maintaining chastity and remaining faithful to her husband, a woman gains incredible, supernatural power.

Moral rules say that a man should not look lustfully at other people's wives. Matrivat para-dareshu: an intelligent man treats another man's wife as his own mother... Ravana was condemned not only by Lord Ramachandra, but also by Ravana's wife, Mandodari. Since she was chaste, she knew the power of any chaste woman, especially one like Sitadevi."

Evil dissipated, peace and tranquility reigned in the Universe. Monkeys entered Lanka. Hanuman found the beautiful Sita and told her about the death of her kidnapper. Finally, Rama met his beloved wife. He told her that he had avenged the insult and killed Ravana, but could not take her back, since she had stayed too long in the house of another: after all, Ravana had touched her and desecrated her with his gaze. Rama never doubted her loyalty and love for a moment, but in order to avoid misunderstandings, they test of Sita's loyalty by fire.

Lakshman prepared a fire. Many people froze in horror... When the fire flared up, Sita respectfully walked around Rama. Then, approaching the fire, she bowed to the brahmanas and demigods.

After this she offered a prayer to Agni: “O god of fire, if my heart has always remained faithful to Rama, may the god of Fire grant me his protection! If I am pure and unsullied before Rama, may the great Agni, the eyewitness of all things, protect me from unrighteous blasphemy!”

Sita, with folded palms and downcast eyes, entered the copper-red flame. Among the restless tongues of fire, her beauty shone like molten gold. And after some time, the god of fire himself, Agni, carried her out of the fire unharmed, saying: “This is your wife Sita, there is not a single spot on her, she is sinless. She was never unfaithful to you, neither in thoughts, nor in words, nor even in her eyes.Trust me and accept this jewel among women.”

Rama said that even without any test he was confident in the purity of his wife. It was important for Him to prove her innocence to others. The lifestyle of a ruler must be exemplary.

He approached Sita, looked into her beautiful eyes full of tears, He dreamed about this moment for a very long time, and quietly said:

“O daughter of the Earth! O my beautiful Sita! How could you even think for a second that I doubted you! I walked all over this country to see your beautiful face again. Was I tormented by unbearable pain from separation from you? My dear love, I know that you are pure and innocent, I love you very much and could not wait for this moment!”

Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura and Srila Sanatana Goswami said that the happiness of separation is greater than the greatest happiness of meeting.

Lord Ramacandra's separation from Sita is spiritual in nature and is called vipralambha. This is a manifestation of the hladini-sakti of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which is classified as sringara-rasa, the race of conjugal love in the spiritual world.

In the spiritual world, the Supreme Lord enjoys all kinds of loving relationships, exhibiting the symptoms of spiritual experiences such as sattvika, sanchari, vilapa, murccha and unmada. Therefore, when Lord Ramacandra was separated from Sita, all these spiritual symptoms appeared in Him.

The Lord is not impersonal or devoid of energy. He is sac-chid-ananda-vigraha, the eternal embodiment of knowledge and bliss. Spiritual bliss manifests itself in Him in all its diversity of signs. Separation from his beloved is also one of the manifestations of His spiritual bliss. As Srila Svarupa Damodara Goswami explains, radha-krishna-pranaya-vikritir hladini-saktih: The loving relationship of Radha and Krishna is a manifestation of the Lord's pleasure potency.

The Lord is the original cause of all pleasure, the center of bliss. In this way Lord Ramacandra revealed both spiritual and material truth. In a material sense, attachment to a woman brings suffering, but in a spiritual sense, the feeling of separation of the Lord from His energy of pleasure only increases the spiritual bliss of the Lord. (Sh.B 9.10.11)

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