Week 5 Story: Rama saves Sita

Sita and Rama in the forest. source: Flickr

Hanuman was fresh on the trail.  He moved swiftly and silently like a shadow jumping on rooftops and sneeking through alley ways. He was seeking out Sita, Rama's wife, who had been stolen by Ravana a little while ago when Rama was out hunting.  She was being held in the great city of Lanka, which Ravana had ruled over for quite some time.   Hanuman had searched nearly all of the city over the past few weeks but had still not found Sita.  Then it occurred to Hanuman that he hadn't checked any of the gardens yet because he figured they would hold her away somewhere unseen.  he raced up to Ravana's personal garden and lo and behold, there was Sita sitting under a great tree in the middle of the garden.   Hanuman rushed over to speak with her and see if she was alright.  She told him to go and tell Rama that she is alright but that Rama must come get her, for no other man has a right to touch her.  Hanuman takes a piece of her jewelry as a token for Rama and left.

On his way out of the city, Hanuman is discovered by one of Ravana's sons and he is captured.  Ravana wants to make an example of Hanuman, so he sets his tail on fire and parades him through the streets.  This doesn't go as planned however, Sita prays to the Fire to leave Hanuman unharmed from the flames and it works.  Hanuman becomes impervious to the flame and breaks free of his bonds.  He runs through the streets lighting the city ablaze.  He makes one last check on Sita to make sure she was unharmed and leaves the city on fire.

Once he hears the news, Rama starts to make plans to attack Lanka and take back Sita.  He and Hanuman assemble a massive monkey army and lay siege to Lanka.  It doesn't take long for Lanka to fall when up against Rama's superior force.  He defeats Ravana and finds Sita in the garden where she had been staying for some time.  He embraces his wife and is overjoyed to have her finally return to him.  It was then that one of Rama's generals asks Rama what he is to do with Sita now that he has defended his honor.  Rama became angered at the question for in Rama's mind, there was only one place for Sita, and that was at his side as his queen.  He knocked back the general and exclaimed for all to hear that Sita was his wife and she shall remain by his side forever.

Author's Note:  I decided to tell the story from Hanuman finding Sita until Rama reunites with her.  I changed how Rama reacts to finding Sita because I think the actual story is kind of lame making Sita prove her innocence and then banishing her later.  I think this ending more aligns with modern sensibilities and makes more sense to me.

Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues, by Nina Paley