Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Why Was Sita Banished?

A friend asked me recently, "Why was Sita banished?" The following is a letter I wrote to her in reply to her query. Her name has been omitted to protect her privacy.

Dear Mataji,

Pranams. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Hare Krsna. 

You asked me "Why was Sita banished?" That part of the Ramayana always makes me cry, so I don't talk about it very often. But I will just tell you what I have heard from others. 

The reason why Lord Rama banished Sita was because He came to this earth to show the example of the ideal monarch who follows Raja Dharma perfectly. So for a ruler who follows Raja Dharma, the welfare of the people is more important than his own welfare or the welfare of his own personal family. Therefore, in order to show the highest example of dedication to duty, He had Sita devi go live elsewhere so that no one would have a reason to talk against Him as a bad example of a man who took back a polluted woman. Although He knew that Sita was not polluted, and could certainly have convinced the people that She was pure, He chose to hear the complaints of even the most low-class of His citizens and act upon those words to show that He really, truly cares about the feelings of His citizens and their dedication to religious principles. Sita devi also knew the mind and purpose of Her husband. That is why She agreed to go away and accepted the banishment. She tolerated the separation from Her husband for the purpose of upholding the highest standard of dharma and behavior, in order to prevent gossip from spreading about Her beloved husband.

There is also another reason why Their Lordships separated in this way. Although Rama and Sita can never actually be separated, because They are one and the same Supreme Person manifested eternally into male and female forms for Their own pleasurable pastimes, They exhibit separation during Their pastimes to increase Their experience of loving mellows (tastes, flavors) with each other. This principle of separation is exhibited also in the pastimes of Lord Sri Krishna and Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In Sanskrit, separation from one's beloved is called "Vipralambha" and is considered the highest ecstasy. So sometimes, just to increase His own enjoyment and the enjoyment of His devotees, the Lord arranges for Himself and His devotee--or even sometimes His internal energy ("Shakti")--to appear to be separated from one another, even though They really are inseparable, because when we miss our beloved, we think of him or her even more intensely.

There is also a pastime which to my knowledge is not in the Valmiki Ramayana, but which I heard about one time. In this story, Sita as a child kept a female parrot separate from her mate against the parrot's will. Even though the female parrot wanted to be with her mate, Sita kept her encaged against her will, so the parrot cursed Her that one day She would also be separated from Her beloved husband. I don't know if that's true, but I thought to include it in case it will help your heart be calm.

Hope this helps. Always wishing you well,

Phalini devi dasi (ACBSP)

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