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This is with reference to Krishna Susarla's recent contribution on the

subject, which is as follows:

"Then when Lord Raama tried to "test" her chastity, this Maya-Sita went

into the flames and the real Sita emerged. Although externally, Lord

Raama did not take back Sita because of concern that she was unchaste,

the internal reason was that He could not take her back because she was

not the real Sita. The whole pastime of asking her to enter the flames

then was just to get the real Sita out."

Valmiki, the original author of Ramayana, did not create a Maya Sita.

In later times, people found it difficult to even imagine that Lord Rama

 

could put to such cruel test his wife whom he loved dearly, missed very

much and fought for her release from Ravana's captivity. They therefore

 

added a Maya Sita to the Ramayana epic. The underlying cause for this

was the belief that without such an interpolation, it would be difficult

 

for the Rama-Bhaktas to accept the fact of the AgniPariksha for Sita

Devi.

Narayana Bhattathiri, who has written a succint account of Bhagavatam in

 

his famous work 'NARAYANEEYAM', has dealt with this uncomfortable

feeling in a different way. This is what he has said in Sloka 10 Ch. 35

of

Narayaneeyam:

 

So yam marthyaavathaarasthava khalu niyatham marthyashikshaarthhamevam

Vishlesharthih niraagaasthyajanamapi bhaveth kaamadharmaathisakthyaa

No cheth swaathmaanubhootheh kka nu thava manaso vikriyaa chakrapaaNe

Sa thwam sathaikamoorthe pavanapurapathe vyaadhunu vyaadhithaapaan

 

Bhattathiri, an ardent devotee of the Lord, wonders if Rama acted thus

only to teach us that an excessive attachment to Dharma (Kaama

DharmAthiSakthayaa) can lead to injustice such as abandonment of the

innocent (Niraagasthya janam). The story as told by Valmiki needs no

excuses for Rama's conduct. He is Vishnu, the all merciful. If he

punished innocent Sita, following blindly the letter of the Law of Raja

Dharma, it must be so only to teach us that actions based on blind

obedience to society's rules and expectations may lead to adharma such

as punishment of innocent ones.

The story as told by Valmiki without the character of Maya Sita seems to

 

serve the greater purpose of teaching us a good lesson on the practice

of Dharma in its purest sense. This is the essence of Bhattathiri's

statement on the subject which, I thought, I should bring humbly to the

notice of Bhakthi readers.

 

"Bhattathiri's interpretation seems also to echo the famous sloka in

Bhagawad Gita:

'sarva dharmaan parithyajya maamekam saranam vraja'. The Lord is

advising:

'Look deep within you and divine your duty, abandoning all the man-made

dharmas

of the outside world. If by doing so, you commit a papam according to

those societal

rules, be certain that I shall release you from any consequences of such

conduct.'

Valmiki was sure that his readers would draw the right lesson from his

story of Rama:

 

"Strict adherence to the letter of the law relating to Raja Dharma (and

other societal laws) might result in injustice in some cases."

 

Rama's noble stature is enhanced by this act of role-modelling

negatively to teach us a lesson.

The method is similar to the 'reductio ad absurdom' process in

Mathematics.

 

Adiyen Dasan,

Mandayam Kumar Krishnaswamy

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