Vaqlmikiramayana-Balakanda-Rama weds Sita

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13.Rama weds Sita-SeethA kalyANam

 

Dasarata was elated to know about the exploits of Rama and about the marriage proposal.He started for Mithila with all his retinue and reached Mithila after travelling for four days.Valmiki says that he ordered his treasures of pearls corals, precious gems and heaps of gold a to be carried in front This deserves to be noted by the parents of the bridegrooms today! Janaka welcomed them with due honour and informed Dasaratha that the wedding will take place the day after their arrival when the yaga will be completed. He said, 'yajnasyAnthE naraSrEshta vivAham rshisammatham,' indicating that the wedding is of the kind called brAhma, which is done according to the principles laid down by the vedas.

 

The marriages are of eight kinds according to Manusmrthi. they are, brAhama, daiva, Arsha, prAjApathya , gAndharva, Asura, rAkshasa and paiSAcha.

 

brAhma - This is done when the boy completes his brahmacharya , that is, gurukula vasa and the parents of the boy approaches the parents of the girl who consent to give their daughter satisfying themselves about the background and education in vedic lore of the boy . No dowry is given and no money transaction involved and the bride is given as kanyadhana to the bridegroom.This is the highest and noblest kind of marriage.

 

daiva- In this kind of marriage when the girl cannot get a suitable bridegroom the parents, after waiting for a reasonable period, go to yajnasalas to find a priest to marry their daughter,who is decked with ornaments This is considered to be inferior because the girl's parents go on, looking for a suitable match instead of viceversa.

 

Arsha - A girl is married to a sage after exchanging two cows for the girl.This is because neither the parents of the girl nor the sage could affor a better kind of marriage. This is even inferior to the previous one because of the exchange of cows as the sasthra does not consider any marriage involving money or material transactions as noble.

 

prAjapathya- similar to brAhma but the parents of the girl go in search of bridegroom unlike the latter.

 

gAndharva- Similar to the love marriages of today where the girl and boy get married secretly without the consent of the parents. Typical example of this kind is that of Sakuntala and Dushyanyha.

 

Asura - When the groom is not at all suitable for the bride but gives a lot of wealth and to the bride's parents and get married . it is more or less like buying the girl.

 

rAkshasa-where the bridegroom fights and carries away the bride and persuads her to marry him, often with the concent of the bride as in the case of Rukmini and Krishna or that of Prthvirakj and Samyuktha of recent times.

 

pAisacha-The bride is taken against her will and is forced to marry.This was not sanctioned as per the sastras.

 

The reply of Dasaratha to Janaka was classic.Valmiki calls him vAkyaviDHAm SrEshtah, the best of the speakers. Dasaratha said 'prathigrahO dhAthrvasah Srutham Ethath mayA purA;yaTHA vakshyasi Dharmajna thathkarishyAmahe vayam,' The meaning of the sloka is this: The gift depends on the giver, which is a well known fact and hence Dasaratha agrees to do as Janaka says because he is the dhAthA, the giver of kanyAdhAna while Dasaratha is the one who receives, and therfore has to go according to the wishes of the giver. This idea should also be noted by the parents of the bridegroom nowadays.

 

Then Vasishta related the glory of ikshvakuvasmsa and Janaka stated the greatness of his vamsa and they agreed on the marriage whcih is like nischayathartha of modern times.

 

The day of the marriage dawned. Janaka offered to give his daughter UrmiLa to Lakshmana and Visvamithra suggested that the daughters of his brother Kusadvaja, Mandavi and Sruthakirthi may be given in marriage to bharatha and sathrugna to which Janaka agreed with delight. Vasishta was requested by Janaka to conduct the marriage and he did so with Sathanandha and Visvamithra. Valmiki describes in such detail, all the rituals done before and during marriage, that we can learn about them from Ramayana. The muhurtha was set on the day of the star utthara in phalguna , that is , panguni utthiram, which day has become important for so many other reasons since then.

 

Sita, beautifully adorned, was brought to the marriage hall, and here is one of the places where Valmiki the poet has overtaken Valmiki the sage.

 

thathasseethAm samAneeya sarvAbharaNa bhooshithAm

padhmAm padhmaviyukthAm vai kESavAnkachyuthAm iva

vidhyuthprabhAm viSAlAksheem snigdhakunchithamoorDhajAm

hamsAnkithEna kshoumENa kimchith peethEna samvrthAm

vAsithEnOtthareeyENa surakthEna susamvrthAm ( VR.BK.73.30)

 

Sita was adorned with all ornaments, wearing red uppercloth which fully covered her and also covered with a veil of silk slightly yellow decorated with swans. She looked like Lakshmi who has left her lotus and slipped from the lap of Vishnu.She shines like lightning and has large eyesbeautiful curly hair.

 

Kamban describes the arrival of Sita in his own inimitable style.

 

ponnin oLi poovin veRi sAndhu podhi seetham,

minninezil , annavaL tham mEni oLi mAna

annamum arambaiyarum Ar amizdhum nANa

sittridai nudanga oLir seeradi peyarndhAL

 

She was shining like gold,with sweet smell of flowers, and cool with the sandal paste, her lutre that of lightening and she put to shame the apsara damsels and the swans with her gait.

 

The beauty of this verse consisits in the rhythm of the words which is in kanta nadai which when recited even without music sounds like the beautiful walkof Sita. As compared with this the verse in same rhythm is used to describe the gait of surpanakha but the alliteration was such that it portrays the deceitful behaviour of the rakshasi in disguise.We shall see this when we come to that part of the story.(MaduraiTNSeshagopalan explained this in his harikatha on Kambaramayana and also sang the two verses in kanta nadai to the delight of the rasikas which sounded different as suited to the different contexts.)

 

Janaka placed Sita in front of Rama before fire and said the famous lines which are repeated till today in marriages.

 

iyam seetha mamasuthA sahaDHarmacharee thava.

pratheeccha chainAm bhadhram thE pANim grhNeeshva pANinA

 

This sloka is explained by commentators elaborately.

 

iyam - this Seetha.

1. who is wellknown not only for her beauty but also because of her mode of manifestation. Seetha means the edge of the plough and she was called Seetha because she appeared from the earth when the tip of the plough touched the ground where she was.Being ayonija , not born from the womb she shines with her special atteributes natural to her.

2. She is like lightning and could not be seen with normal eyes and hence see her well.

3. Rama as Narayana has been separated from Seetha, Lakshmi, for long and therefore he would have been seeing her everywhere even when she is not there. Hence he was told that Seetha is here.

4. She also, like Rama, acts like a human being but has taken the incarnation for the sake of Rama only.

5.She has come to Janaka because of much penance in order to be given to Rama in kanyadhana.

 

Mama suthA - my daughter.Janaka is a rajarshi. and being his daughter is a testimonial for Seetha . This adjective is the predecessor of the next.

 

sahadharamacharee thava- She will be a fit companion for you in all your pursuits, both yoga and bhoga.For instance Seetha proved to be a sahdharmacharee in showing mercy like Rama , if not more than Rama, who accepted VibheeshaNa who was faultless, while she showed mercy even to those who wronged against her in Asokavana , by saying 'na kaschith nAparAdhyathi, who has not done something wrong ever.' Rama narrated the story of the doves to illustrate his saranagathi dharma and likewise Seetha told Hanuman the story of the bear and the tiger.(VR-YK)

 

pratheeccha chainAm- Take her . She actually belonged to Rama and hence Janaka says "take her " and not "I give her to you."

 

bhadhram thE- May you be auspicious by marrying her. It is a mangalASAsanam to ward off evil eyes as the couple are extraordinarily suited to each other.These words occur very often in Valmikiramayana. Being a sage he bestows benediction to the characters and through them to the readers.

 

pANim grhneeshva pANina- take her by hand. By this Janaka denotes his approval as her father.This also denotes that the marriage is a brAhma one with the consent of the parents.

 

Janaka gave away Seetha by pouring water purified by manthra in the hand of Rama by way of kanyadhana, saying 'pathivrathA mahAbhAgA chAyA iva anugthA thava.' These words, meaning that she is chaste and fortunate and will follow you like shadow.are indicative of her following Rama to the forest later. She reminds this to Rama and says that she has to go with him as per the orders of the elders.(VR-AK)