[Posted May 5, 2010]

Sita Devi - Separating Myth from Truth

Das devi dasi

Was Sita the daughter of the greatest demon?

Srimati Sita Devi is the adored heroine of the famed Ramayana recorded by Valmiki Muni. An incarnation of the goddess Laksmi, She became the beloved consort of Lord Rama and followed Him into exile. The evil Ravana abducted Her and spirited Her far away, but after searching high and low for Sita, at last, with the help of Hanuman and Bali, Rama learnt that she was held prisoner in Lanka. He constructed a bridge of floating stones and launched a massive attack on Lanka, finally defeating Ravana and rescuing Sita.

The story of Rama and Sita is known to practically every Indian, but there are versions known to other parts of Asia also. Thailand and Indonesia have their own traditions of the story.

More recently, an Indian-Japanese collaboration produced an anime depicting the story.

In the telling and retelling of the pastimes of Sita and Rama a number of inventions and twists have been slipped in. But Valmiki's Ramayana is accepted by Srila Prabhupada as authoritative. There is also a summary of the pastimes of Sita and Rama given in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

This leads me to share an email exchange, which was forwarded to us today:

Brenda Macedo (aka Rajesvari devi dasi?) wrote:

Dear All,

How come we were never taught in ISKCON that Sita was Ravana's daughter??

[Here she inserted links to Story Matters: The War to Free Sita and a Wikipedia article on Ramayana. These articles would take up too much room in this discussion, so we leave it to readers to check them out.]

Comments appreciated...

Rajesvari

Followed by:

Yes, Sita was found "in the earth..." But what else do we know about her??

By the way, most of these accounts have been repeated in various forms by learned sages I've encountered from India... so it's not just believing in things I've read... Perhaps this insight was too scandalous from an ISKCON perspective...which takes everything literally...

The Bhaktivedantas World Sankirtan Party and Inside Nam Hatta are hosted by Hansadutta das, a senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada and trustee of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Participate or learn more about World Sankirtan Party.

Rejecting "Maybe this, maybe that"

Teachings of the Vedas A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

In this way, the Vedic knowledge comes down by disciplic succession. It is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā that Vedic knowledge is understood in this way. If you make experimental endeavor, you come to the same conclusion, but just to save time you should accept. If you want to know who your father is and if you accept your mother as the authority, then whatever she says can be accepted without argument. There are three kinds of evidence: pratyaksha, anumna and shabda. Pratyaksha means "direct evidence." Direct evidence is not very good because our senses are not perfect. We are seeing the sun daily, and it appears to us just like a small disc, but it is actually far, far larger than many planets. Of what value is this seeing? Therefore we have to read books; then we can understand about the sun. So direct experience is not perfect. Then there is anumana, inductive knowledge: "It may be like this" – hypothesis. For instance, Darwin's theory says it may be like this, it may be like that. But that is not science. That is a suggestion, and it is also not perfect. But if you receive the knowledge from the authoritative sources, that is perfect. more

Reply from GK das:

I am not taking ISKCON doctrine literally.

There are different sources of knowledge.

A Jain story is not accepted by Vaisnavas.

If you want to know about Sita then the ultimate source is Valmiki Ramayana, not some Jain or non-Vaishnava stories.

If you don't have discrimination about who you accept as an authority then you will be bewildered.

Neither will I waste time arguing with someone who does not know what authority to accept.

If and when you accept a particular authority then let's talk.

You need a guide. Good luck finding one.

GKD

Reply from Praghosa das:

Dear Brenda,

Dandavats.

In order to understand the appearance and pastimes of the Lord and His Consorts - one needs to understand the scientific method by which we are able to access the correct presentation of this wonderful information: The Vedic Scriptures vibrated exclusively by a cent per cent pure devotee of the Lord Himself.

Might I suggest you carefully digest the wonderful Introduction to the Sri Ishopanishad by our dear Srila Prabhupada. This will help you to understand the absolute value assigned these scriptures and their explanations of all the details surrounding the pastimes of the Lord.

Two excellent replies. There are all kinds of stories and ideas out there - and all of us can choose to hear from a Hindu or Jain acquaintence, a comic book, a Hindi movie, Wikipedia, whatever. But for disciples of Srila Prabhupada, we take Srila Prabhupada as the standard by which we measure everything. His words, his teachings, his exemplary conduct all support the conclusions of the previous Acharyas without contradiction. These are the same instructions given by Lord Krishna 5,000 years ago in Bhagavad-gita and by Lord Chaitanya 500 years ago. Therefore we accept him as the genuine and pure representative of Krishna.

On May 21 (or 22nd, depending where you live) this year, devotees will celebrate the appearance of Srimati Sita Devi. Read more about Sita Devi.

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Sri Guru and Gauranga