Ramayana Simplified: Part 21: Sita Swayamvara (Sita’s marriage)
Thryambaka bow gets snapped
As we have seen in the previous chapter, King Janaka of Mithila wholeheartedly welcomed Maharishi Vishwamitra, Rama, and Lakshmana. He also narrated the story of Thryambaka. King Janaka then started talking about his daughter Sita. He said that he was gifted with this daughter after conducting a lot of austerities. He also added that a yaga was about to be conducted under the supervision of Maharishi Vasishta, but it didn’t happen as he found a child in a cradle as he was making preparations for the yaga. He thus said that he took her and brought her up as his own daughter and the princess of Mithila. He proudly said that his daughter was like Lakshmi Devi (goddess).
The king said that he was looking for a good life partner for his daughter under the condition that the person who was coming to marry her should be capable of snapping the Thryambaka bow. He said several princes came from the neighboring kingdoms hearing about her beauty and her good nature, but they failed to lift or snap the bow (Thryambaka).
Maharishi Vishwamitra motivated Rama to take up the challenge of lifting and snapping the bow. Rama thus reached near the bow. He felt as if he got some kind of power. He walked around the bow once and he saw that it was almost thrice his height. The Maharishi was very confident that Rama would be able to lift it up. People started gathering around the palace to witness this. Rama sought blessings from Maharishi Vishwamitra, King Janaka, he also remembered his parents and his mighty ancestors who belonged to the Ishwaku dynasty. He was constantly chanting mantras (hymns) of Lord Shiva and he felt as if Lord Shiva was showering his blessings over him. Rama with all his efforts slowly lifted and snapped the bow which was viewed surprisingly by everyone who gathered there. There was a huge thunderous sound as Rama snapped the bow.
The little princess, Sita, who was witnessing it felt really happy. The king hugged the young and the bold prince as soon as he snapped the bow. Maharishi Vishwamitra and Lakshmana also felt very proud on seeing this.
Sita Swayamvara
The next day, grand arrangements were made for the marriage of the little princess Sita. King Dasharatha and everyone in his family came to Mithila. King Kushadhwaja, who was King Janaka’s brother, also reached there. The first ceremony that took place was reading the history of the two kingdoms. On behalf of Ayodhya and King Dasharatha, Maharishi Vasishta read the history of Suryavamsha in brief. He even introduced the ancestors of King Janaka as he knew about everyone in advance.
Maharishi Vasishta put forward another proposal. He said that King Kushadhwaja had three daughters and since King Dasharatha had three sons apart from Rama, the maharishi asked him (King Dasharatha) if he could give permission for the marriage between the daughters of King Kushadhwaja and his other three sons. King Dasharatha liked the proposal and arrangements were made for their marriage also, the same day.
Different other ceremonies took place as a part of the marriage like pooja, dhaana, etc. The four sons of King Dasharatha stood prepared for the marriage. The beautiful smell of sandalwood and Jasmine spread everywhere. The beautiful Sita Devi arrived there and everyone got enthralled by her beauty. There were celebrations all around the kingdoms of Mithila and Ayodhya.
Thus prince Rama and his brothers entered into the next stages of their lives in which Bharatha married Mandavi, Lakshmana married Oormila and Shatrughna married Shruthakeerthi.
Few Insights…
Here is another instance that shows how much parents had valued daughters. From this story, we see how King Janaka proudly speaks about his daughter and tries to find a very brave and valiant person for her. He wanted to give her the best. From numerous stories from Ramayana and Mahabharatha, we see that parents didn’t compromise their daughters’ lives and wanted to find the best match for them in terms of strength, bravery, etc.
Princesses were also given full freedom to select their grooms based on their skills and talents through swayamvara.
We must also note that swayamvara (marriage) was always referred to by the bride’s name. For eg.: Sita Swayamvara, Panchali Swayamvara, Rukmini Swayamvara etc. This is another example that shows that women were not sidelined in the Indian culture.
So, to summarize, the parents of girl children tried to give her the best but at the same time, every major decision concerning her (like marriage) took place under her discretion. Her happiness was of paramount importance there. This is something which is valid even in our current life.
