Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana Read online

  Dashratha’s refusal to let his sons go into the forest reveals his fears, and his attachment to his sons, especially Ram, his son by Kaushalya. Such preferential treatment for one child is assumed to be normal, even natural, but is it the best use of human potential?

  The Killing of Tadaka

  On the way to the hermitage, Vishwamitra taught Ram and Lakshman the many spells he knew to turn arrows into missiles by telescoping into them the power of animals, planets and elements. Ram learned how to set a tree aflame by shooting an arrow, how to bore a hole in the ground and cause water to spring forth and how to summon the wind. He learned how to make arrows fly like a hawk, pounce like a tiger and pound like an elephant.

  When they eventually reached Siddha-ashrama, Vishwamitra was pleasantly surprised to find Kushadhvaja there along with the four princesses of Videha. ‘We do not have sons but Janaka felt his daughters needed to witness a yagna performed in the forest.’

  Lakshman looked at the four princesses of Videha, but the girls were more interested in the yagna, as was Ram. He realized he had never had a sister. Only brothers surrounded him. He wondered what it would be like to have a sister to play with.

  Vishwamitra’s sons, once princes, were dressed in clothes of bark. They had strings of beads made of seeds around their neck and arms. Their wives, anointed with sandal paste, wore garlands of flowers and assisted them to prepare for the ceremony. The whole precinct was full of clay bricks and pots, wooden spoons and wicker baskets and mats of bamboo and the skin of deer. Seven types of fruits, seven types of leaves and seven types of flowers had been collected. ‘We must bow to Shakti, ask her permission, before we light the fire that will eventually turn the forest into a field,’ said Vishwamitra.

  ‘Why do you address the forest as a goddess?’ asked Sita.

  Knowing that the daughters of Janaka were well versed in the Upanishads, Vishwamitra saw that he would have to give a considered answer. So he framed his answer carefully. ‘Because I see the mind as a man,’ he said. ‘This mind of ours seeks to control nature as man tries to control woman. The mind assumes ownership of nature as a man assumes ownership over his wife.’

  ‘So my mind is male and the nature around me is female?’ said Sita.

  ‘Did you hear what she said?’ Vishwamitra overheard the younger prince of Ayodhya ask his elder brother. Vishwamitra waited with bated breath to hear Ram’s reply.

  ‘That is a figure of speech,’ said Ram to Lakshman. ‘The rishis have found it easy to explain the mind using the male body and nature using the female body. Do not take it literally.’

  Vishwamitra was pleased with Ram’s response. Sita was impressed too, he could see. There was reason to be: a prince with the mind of a sage is not common to find, especially one so young and handsome and brave.

  Vishwamitra, with his wife by his side, drilled the fire-stick and lit the fire in the altar. The princes and princesses watched the ceremony with fascination. Vishwamitra declared himself the yajaman, and sang hymns invoking the gods. His sons sang hymns in praise of Indra, the sky-god; Surya, the sun-god; Chandra, the moon-god; Vayu, the wind-god; Varuna, the water-god; and Agni, the fire-god. These powers that exist above the earth had to be invoked so that collectively they would help domesticate the forest and unknot the mind.

  As the chants filled the air and the fire blazed brilliantly, Sita looked up and saw Ram. A glance was exchanged, both hearts missed a beat, and she looked away.

  Then came the angry sounds that drowned the songs of Vishwamitra and his sons, first from a distance, then louder and louder, until it seemed they encircled the entire hermitage.

  Sita, well versed in many languages due to her interaction with many rishis, fathomed the words of the rakshasas: ‘We will behead Vishwamitra as Shiva beheaded Brahma. We will destroy Vishwamitra’s yagna as Shiva destroyed Daksha’s yagna. We will not let sanskriti destroy prakriti.’

  ‘You understand what they say, don’t you, Janaka’s daughter,’ said Vishwamitra. ‘Sanskriti is culture, where everyone acts with affection. Prakriti is nature, a place where all actions are propelled by fear of starvation and fear of attack. Though Brahma and Daksha conducted yagnas, they were not creating sanskriti. Brahma feared the untamed and used the yagna to control nature. Daksha used the yagna to make everyone do his own bidding. That is why Shiva attacked them. The point of the yagna is to outgrow fear, not indulge it. I conduct this yagna to transform kings into Vishnu, who uplifts with affection rather than subjugates with rules.’

  ‘The rakshasas don’t know that,’ said Sita as the chanting of the rakshasas was replaced by the clamour of weapons.

  ‘They will not until we connect with them. For now, we are strangers. We are threats. There is no room for conversation. We must not resent their hostility.’

  As they spoke, sticks were hurled into the precincts, followed by stones and bones. But before they touched the ground, arrows shot by Ram and Lakshman diverted or shattered them. Vishwamitra said, ‘Now is the time to use the mantras I taught you.’ So Ram and Lakshman shot a series of arrows creating a fence around the hermitage and a roof over the yagna-shala. The sticks, stones and bones hurled against them simply bounced back. Everyone felt safe.

  Then a blood-curdling yell was heard from beyond the trees. A woman’s voice. ‘That’s Tadaka, matriarch of this herd of rakshasas, stronger than all the others put together,’ Vishwamitra said. ‘Use the mantras that will turn your arrows into missiles imbued with the power of the sun, the moon, wind, water and fire. Shoot her dead, for she alone can force her way into the hermitage and destroy the yagna-shala.’

  ‘But that is a woman. The scriptures tell us not to hurt women,’ argued Lakshman.

  ‘Villains have no gender. Shoot!’ shouted Vishwamitra.

  Sita watched Ram chant a hymn softly, mount the arrow to his bow, pull the bowstring and with a calm expression shoot the arrow in the direction of Tadaka’s voice. The arrow struck Tadaka just as she was emerging from the trees. She was tall and strong and fierce-looking. But she fell silent as the arrow ripped its way through her heart. And then like a giant tree she fell down with a tremendous thud.

  Behind Tadaka were two men: Subahu and Marichi, both tall and fierce with hair like flames. Subahu ran to strike Ram, but another arrow brought him to the ground. Marichi turned around and fled.

  No more sticks, stones or bones were hurled thereafter. The yelling and screaming stopped, and was replaced by an eerie silence. The rakshasas had withdrawn.

  Vishwamitra spoke, ‘They see us as the new dominant beast who has marked this territory. They will return to reclaim the territory when we grow weaker or they grow stronger.’

  ‘If you wish, we will guard this compound forever,’ said Lakshman.

  ‘Then this space will never have sanskriti,’ said Ram, frowning as his mind was flooded with thoughts. Vishwamitra was pleased to see this. He asked his sons and Dashratha’s sons to gather wood to cremate Tadaka. ‘Let us facilitate her journey across the Vaitarni. Who knows how she will be reborn? Hopefully as a friend, not a foe.’

  ‘But why should we disturb the jungle way? Why don’t we just leave them alone?’ asked Shrutakirti, the younger of Kushadhvaja’s daughters, as she watched the funeral rites of Tadaka being conducted.

  ‘The forest belongs to no one. Without human intervention, it will stay a jungle, a place of fear, of hostility not hospitality, where might is right and only the fit survive. Without tapasya and yagna there will be no civilization,’ said Vishwamitra.

  ‘But we just killed Tadaka,’ said Urmila.

  ‘To light a fire, wood must burn. To feed the cow, the grass must be cut. Until the rakshasas learn to trust us, we will be seen as threats and rivals. Until then there will be violence. They will be hurt. We will also be hurt. What matters is our intention. Eventually relationships will be introduced and affection will prevail.’

  ‘They fear we will destroy their way of life. Will we? Can we?’ said Mandavi.