Page 9 - GALIET LOVE AND DUTY´S LOTUS: Rama and Sita IV

Galiet & Galiet
Rama and Sita, husband and wife and hero and heroine of Valmiki’s glorious epic, The Ramayana1, are embodiments of phosphorescence: noble qualities and virtues richly intertwined with philosophical notions of dharma, artha, karma and kama.2 Rama, son of King Dasaratha of Ayodhya, is the paragon of virtue: renowned ideal son, husband, brother and eventual leader of his people whose bravery, generosity and devotion to his father and duty to his subjects ultimately demand he sacrifice his beloved Sita. Sita, illustrious daughter of Earth raised by King Janaka of Mithila, is the epitome of devotion, sacrifice and love towards her beloved Rama. Sita is pearl and embodiment of female beauty, nurture and excellence whose tenderness, kindness, faithfulness and understanding becomes the very essence of unconditional love.
Sita’s nature, under the most strenuous circumstances, remains steady and loyal to Rama, to her essence and to her values. Although she feels her agonies and sometimes wishes death, her truth never wavers whether she dwells in the heart of the forest or in the hearth of Ayodhya for her truth is whole, complete 3⁄4 it lacks nothing 3⁄4 her essence, in many ways, is as pure as Parmenides’ sphere. By contrast, Rama’s nature oscillates between public duty in Ayodhya and private life in the forest. Though Rama says that a “Kshatriya does not change his nature wherever he is,”3 he remains, absorbed in her and devoted to her, under the spell of the forest, while his loyalty and nature changes, in a way, under the pressures of government. Hence, his love does not share Sita’s magnitude. He suffers and dwells the life of flux and change 3⁄4 flooding and drying 3⁄4 his essence becomes, in many ways, the river of our lives: a Heraclitean river.
Rama’s and Sita’s devotion to one another while in the forest is like fire to phosphorus, when ignited, their flame dances: Sita becomes the inner-essence and Rama the embracing of her essence: inseparable. As Dr. Nagaiah suggests, “Sita’s absolute devotion to her husband, her eagerness to sacrifice her life of luxury in order to serve him in the forest and to endure great hardship for his sake
1 Valmiki. The Ramayana. With Sanskrit Text and English Translation. Gorakhpur, India: Gita Press, 2006.
2 Dharma and Artha take precedent over Kama in King Dasaratha’s life. Nagaiah, Samudralala. An Appreciation of Valmiki’s Ramayana. Tirupati: Nagaiah, 1981. (II-53-7 to 15) p. 215.
3 Nagaiah, Samudralala. An Appreciation of Valmiki’s Ramayana. Tirupati: Nagaiah, 1981. 269.
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