Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana Read online

  Sugriva and Ram kill Vali by trickery. In nature, trickery is a valid tool of survival. In culture, trickery is often frowned upon but strength is respected, perhaps because trickery is too intangible for comfort.

  Ram is called maryada purushottam, the supreme upholder of rules. Whose rules does he uphold? Ayodhya’s or Kishkindha’s? Must he impose his rules on others?

  The scriptures wonder who decides what is fair: must the dominant Vali decide, must the deprived Sugriva decide or must the outsider Ram decide? Can the villain who treats everyone unfairly demand he be treated fairly by the victim? Does a hero impose fairness upon himself to feel good about himself and to create a fair society, and in doing so does he make himself vulnerable to villains who do not understand or respect or care for fairness? These subtle questions are provoked by the Vali story.

  The spot where Vali is killed, like other spots associated with various events in the Ramayana, has been located in different parts of India from Karnataka to Kerala to Assam.

  In the Tamil and Telugu Ramayana s, Tara is described as emerging from the ocean of milk and is given to both Sugriva and Vali who participated in the churning of the ocean.

  A New King in Kishkindha

  Hanuman then told Sita about the coronation of Sugriva.

  In Swarga, Indras come and go, but Sachi stays the queen of paradise. She is married to the throne, not the person who sits on it. This is the code of the devas. This was also the code of the vanaras. Tara would be queen to whosoever was the leader of the vanaras. Once she was Vali’s queen, now she was Sugriva’s.

  Ruma, Sugriva’s first wife and now junior queen, said, ‘Vali took me as wife to punish Sugriva. Sugriva takes Tara as wife to declare his right over the throne. Vali was driven by rage and Sugriva is driven by rules. Either way, it is I who suffers.’ But no one heard her voice.

  A dominant monkey kills all the children of the previous king as they are potential rivals. So Tara braced herself to watch Sugriva kill her son Angada without mercy.

  ‘This must stop,’ said Ram. ‘For our friendship to thrive you must give up the way of animals and accept the way of humans. Tara must not be a trophy and Angada must not be seen as a rival. You must open your heart to see her as your wife and him as your son and heir. And you must find a way to make sure that Ruma does not feel she is less favoured, for I have personally seen the cost of such preferences. You must be king because you can care for all, not because you are stronger and smarter than the rest.’

  Sugriva agreed to follow the path of the rishis when he was crowned king of Kishkindha. He swore he would change the ways of the vanaras. They would outgrow their animal instincts and be more human. They would submit to dharma not adharma.

  Great celebrations were held to mark the occasion. The best of fruits and berries and nuts and tubers and flowers and pots of honey and bundles of sugar cane from every corner of Kishkindha were gathered so that everyone could feast and make the day memorable. Ram and Lakshman withdrew silently and watched the monkeys dance and sing and celebrate from a hill afar. ‘Thus they would have danced and sung the day you would have been crowned king,’ said Lakshman wistfully.

  ‘Let us not allow our minds to wander to the past or to what could have happened. Let us focus on the future and what should happen,’ said Ram.

  Just as the celebrations came to an end, the rainy season arrived. A bit early, some might say; perhaps Indra was angry as his son Vali had been killed by Vishnu’s avatar on earth. Clouds covered the sun and the sky. Wet mists covered the mountains. Thunder rumbled and roared. Lightning split the sky and the waters poured with a fury never seen before. The earth was covered with water. Rivers swelled and broke their banks. Mud slid from mountainsides, carrying rocks and trees and animals with it.

  ‘The search for Sita may have to wait till the rains end,’ said Sugriva. Ram nodded grimly in agreement.

  For four months it rained. The vanaras hid in caves, eating what little they had hoarded or could find. Most of the time, they embraced their mates and made love, for there is little else to do at times like these. And the smell of wet earth and the sound of pouring rain is intoxicating. Kishkindha was filled with the sound of the monkeys’ love sport.

  ‘I stood outside the caves, watching Ram atop a hill, facing south, patiently yearning for you,’ Hanuman told Sita.

  ‘All these days in the garden of Ashoka trees I have sat facing north, in full faith,’ said Sita to Hanuman.

  Angada who is Vali’s son is declared Sugriva’s heir and this is significant. The old king may be dead but an attempt is made to make peace with the past, not wipe it out. Revolutions often seek to wipe out all traces of the past – like the book burnings by Chinese emperors, or the denial of the pagan past by the Church in the Middle Ages, or of the mythical past by the scientific revolution. But this only festers rage and resentment that explodes into yet another revolution in the future.

  In the Ramayana, Vishnu as Ram supports Surya’s son (Sugriva) against Indra’s son (Vali). In the Mahabharata, Vishnu as Krishna supports Indra’s son (Arjuna) against Surya’s son (Karna). Thus balance is restored over two lifetimes.

  In ancient times, in some communities, a brave man acquired property by marrying a woman. Property was linked to the woman. She did not go to the husband’s house; he came to hers. She was initially linked to the immovable asset, land, but gradually she came to be associated with movable assets like gold, popularly called stri-dhan or women’s wealth. This is probably why women like Kaikeyi and Kaushalya in the Ramayana are given names linking them to the land they belong to. In Lanka, we find Lankini, identified with Lakshmi, who serves Kubera and then serves Ravana and finally Vibhishana.

  The idea of a woman serving more than one man disturbed the conservative section of India and so emerged the concept of Panchakanya, or five virgins, to indicate women who regained their virginity after intimacy with a man. These included three from the Ramayana: Ahilya, Tara and Mandodari. Only two are from the Mahabharata: Kunti and Draupadi. Sita is sometimes named instead of Kunti but this is unacceptable to most Hindus as Sita is seen as being only Ram’s in mind and body.

  Lakshman’s Rage

  Hanuman then told Sita about a delicate moment that could have led to war between Sugriva’s vanaras and the sons of Dashratha.

  Slowly the rains stopped. The land dried up. Green trees with yellow flowers covered the earth. The sky had no clouds and the moon shone brightly.

  Ram waited for Sugriva to summon his monkeys and begin the search for Sita. But there was no sign of Sugriva. He was still busy with the song and dance and food and pleasure of his queens.

  Ram waited and waited, and waited. Patience gradually wore away and was replaced by irritation, then rage. ‘What is wrong? Why does he not keep his promise?’

  ‘Because he is a liar and a cheat,’ roared Lakshman. ‘Let me teach that ungrateful monkey a lesson.’ He picked up his bow and stormed towards the pleasure garden of Sugriva.

  Watching him approach thus, full of rage, Hanuman became nervous. He rushed to Sugriva’s side and warned him against upsetting the brothers. ‘Ram killed Vali with a single arrow. He will hunt you down with less.’ Sugriva snapped out of his happy drunken stupor, realizing his mistake. But who would calm Lakshman down? All the monkeys were afraid.

  ‘I will,’ said Tara. ‘He will not harm a woman.’

  ‘Don’t be too sure,’ said her son Angada. ‘Remember how Ram dealt with Tadaka and Lakshman with Surpanakha?’

  Fearlessly, Tara went to Lakshman, her palms joined, her face gentle and friendly. She found him protesting, bow in hand. ‘Where is the cheat who does not keep his word? Where is the good-for-nothing who forgets his promise when he gets what he wants? Where is the coward who calls himself king of Kishkindha?’ he kept shouting.

  Tara had approached him without bothering to arrange her clothes. Her hair was dishevelled. Her body was exposed, covered with marks of lovemaking. Her walk was the unsteady