Week 3 Story: Rama and Sita's Story of Love at First Sight
(A photo of Sita in statue form. I picked this photo because this story is Sita's introduction. Photo by Ye-Zu)
The daylight had not turned into complete darkness, but the sun was slowly seeping into the ground. Rama and Lakshmana were eager to explore the new city that was near them, but they needed permission to leave Vishvamitra, so they asked and were allowed to enter into the city. It might have been getting dark, but the city was still lively as ever; people were crowding the streets. The people starred at Rama and Lakshmana with curiosity. The princes were dressed in bright colors, with flashy accessories, and they were carrying weapons. Girls and women all through the city were taking notice of the fine looking princes and buzzing to each other about them. Some had thought Rama was fit for Janak's daughter, Sita.
The princes continued to roam the city, until they stopped at a field. The brothers observed there surroundings for awhile. The field was silent, yet filled with people. Rama and Lakshmana decided to return their sheltered to call it a night.
The next morning, as the sun elevated into the sky, Rama and Lakshmana went to bathe. Just after their baths, they meandered around, and discovered the king's garden. The garden contained trees growing fruit, flowers, and animals. Through all those distractions there was a breath taking pond full of blooming lotus flowers. The princes took note of the beauty and were granted permission to pick some flowers.
(A photo of a Lotus flower.
Sita, the princess, and her maidens just happened to be perusing through the garden, when one of her maids walked ahead of them. The maid sprinted back to Sita and her escorts to report she had seen some handsome young men.
Rama heard the jewelry the women wore clanking and got a pit in his stomach that he was about to see the women he was meant to love and cherish for the rest of his days on Earth. Upon looking up he saw Princess Sita.
After Rama and Sita had made eye contact, Sita and her maidens ran off to the palace without saying a word to Rama. However, as Sita was on her way to the palace, she decided to stop at the temple of goddess Bhavani. She knelt down on her knees to pray and wish to not only see, but live her days out with the man she just encountered, Rama.
The goddess Bhavani dropped her flowers to Sita, symbolizing that her message was received.
Rama had returned to the Brahmin and explained his experience in the king's garden. The Brahmin delivered the Prince's message to the holy legends that day. That same night Rama recited his own wishes for his future aloud.
Authors note:
This story was based off of the "Sita" episode in the PDE version of Ramayana, part A. I chose this story because I feel like Sita is a big character in Indian epics, and I thought that her introduction was very important. I decided to stick to the same storyline, and I used the same traditional characters. I rewrote this story using my own words. I made the decision to elaborate in some of the sections where the original story was kind of vague, and vice versa, which means I have added how I thought things might have played out using my own creativity. I decided to leave out the old English in my version of the episode. I also changed up some of the paragraphing to my own liking. I chose to rewrite this story in my own words this week because last week I chose to create my own story line and let's just say it was not my greatest idea.
Bibliography. "Sita" from the PDE Ramayana, originally from The Divine Archer by F.J. Gould. Web Source.
Hi Hannah! I like your take on Rama and Sita's first meeting - it seems fitting that they would meet in a garden, their love blossoming with the flowers. The tie-in with the flowers at the end, which you describe as falling during Sita's prayer, helps to connect the idea of their love being fully realized; the petals of desire are free to stretch beneath the sun, allowing Rama and Sita's love to root firmly in both of their hearts.
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah, I enjoyed how to changed the story of Rama and Sita seeing each other for the first time. I also really like how you took the "female hysteria" out of the story. It bothered me that in the first story Sita was so overcome that she became hysterical, and Rama only seemed mystified. So, thank you, for that altercation. I liked how both Rama, and Sita, visited the same temple, separately. As well as asking for similar request. These would very interesting changes to the story, thank you of sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah! I really like your altercations to the love story between rama and sita. I agree with you that there are a lot of parts of the story that are very gauge. I assume this has to do with translation between the old language and modern English. I like how you added the nervousness Rama gets when he hears the girls coming. I can agree that you will get a pit in your stomach when you first see beautiful women. The think that WOW'D me the most in this passage was your ability to use such good imagery and the use of the sense. I could hear Sita walk in the garden and feel the pit that Rama got. Having good imagery is very important for filling in the gaps that we get from the Ramayana.Overall this is a very well done adaptation and I look forward to reading more of your work.
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you elaborate on the scene of when Rama and Sita first meet. The original scene in the Ramayana is fairly vague in my opinion, so I think you did a good job giving the scene more detail. I wish you gave it more detail though, like in the part where they first meet eyes! You did add the feeling that Rama got BEFORE he actually laid eyes on Sita, but I really think that the readers would be able to feel the love that Rama and Sita feel for each other if there was more descriptive feelings added in that specific moment.
Also, there are a few spelling errors that I saw, such as using "starred" instead of "stared" in the first paragraph. Also, I am not sure if this is a spelling error or if I am just not reading it correct, but did you mean to put "... decided to return their sheltered.."? Or is it supposed to be "...decided to return to their shelter...?"
Hello, Hannah!
ReplyDeleteI'm one of Sita's maidens, and I like how informative your story was. When I was in the garden, I thought we were in danger when we spotted the strange men. We did not know if they came in peace, and we clearly didn't know Sita was happy during the encounter. I really like that your story informed us of what was happening out there! Why were those men out in the jungle and so far from home? Who are these princes, and where do they come from? I feel like they must be powerful, and perhaps even godly, if they hope to court our fair Sita. What led them into our garden and how did they get past the guards? We don't usually wander the palace grounds unprotected, for the king of our land is quite protective of his daughter. I would like to know more about Rama's brother... he seemed like he was the more strong and powerful one. I'm not great at first impressions, and to be fair I thought I was going to be murdered out there. I also think it would add some perception to the story if you added how we tried to follow after Sita but she seemed the most afraid of us all. Perhaps she was simply blushing with embarrassment... one might never know!
Hi again Hannah! I really enjoyed reading your take on the PDE Ramayana's "Sita." It's in my opinion one of those deceptively insignificant chapters where it seems like you don't need to read it to know what's going on, but it holds some precious backstory that adds more to the epic if you do read it. You seem to have a great way with words too. I felt like I could easily picture what was going on with your imagery. Overall, great story!
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