Week 7 Storytelling: The Lovers' Reunion

This was it. After months and months of separation, Sita was finally going to see her beloved husband again.

She had spent that time a prisoner. A cruel king had kidnapped her and tried to coax her away from her husband to join him. He was a terrible man. He had ten heads with large fangs and blood-hungry eyes on each of them. He went to her each day of her captivity and tried to scare her into loving him.

The beautiful Sita was ever faithful to her husband, though. She thought of no one else. For all the months that she was prisoner, she refused to eat, dressed in poor clothes, and gave up all beautifying practices. Her days were spent in meditation under a large tree. All she wanted to think about was her dear husband. Why did he take so long to come for her? She still loved him. Surely he still loved her.

One day when Sita was growing weary from waiting so long, a new character, someone other than the demons who guarded and tormented her, came and greeted her. She came out of her meditation to speak to this new person. He said that her husband was on his way! He would soon be there to destroy the king who had kidnapped his beloved! Oh, Sita was so excited!

Sita gained confidence in her husband. He did love her! He’d never forgotten her! She dove even deeper into her meditation, praying for her husband’s safety and speed.

She meditated so hard that she did not hear the war just outside the city walls. It lasted four days and nights and she heard none of it except the last war cry, the cry of her husband as he slayed the terrible king.

“My Lord will be calling for me soon,” she thought as she opened her eyes. “I must prepare myself.”

Hanuman's Visit

So she quickly bathed and dressed in the robes of a queen. She put a ribbon in her braid. Fragrant oils kissed her skin for the first time in many months. She decorated her eyes and cheeks for her love. Sita was the most beautiful creature in the world that day; she had the glow of a bride on her wedding day.

“Oh, it has been way too long! What if he has grown cold? What if he doesn’t trust that I was faithful to him? Oh, my love, only the thought of you has kept me alive these past months! How can I go back to living if you do not love me still?”

As Sita began to fear that her triumphant husband would never come and get her, the same messenger that had appeared to her earlier approached. “Beautiful Sita,” he said with a bow, “your husband calls for you.” He led her out to the camp of the army who had helped to defeat her captor.

As they walked, Sita was all emotion. She was joyous, for she was about to see her love for the first time in months. She was nervous, for she had spent those months in the house of another man, an act inexcusable for any respectable woman. She was full of compassion, for she knew her husband must have been upset and worried for her. She was relieved, for she no longer had to face the terrible king or his demon guards. But most of all, she was excited, for her love was waiting for her only yards away.

There was a large gathering in the camp and, as Sita and the messenger approached, the crowd parted, making a path to her husband. Sita saw her love and ran to him. She held him tight in a warm embrace and planted kisses all over his face and hands. Something wasn’t right, though. He wasn’t holding her or kissing her like a lover at the end of a long separation should.

The god of fire was aware of their worries about her reputation and came down to the camp. He said, “These many months I have watched you. I listened to your hearts. Sita, I know how faithful and devoted you have been to your husband. May you walk through my fire and be protected from its’ heat if I speak the truth.” So Sita walked through the fire and came out unsinged.

“Now he cannot have doubts about my love for him!” she thought. This time he ran and embraced her and planted a thousand kisses on her face and hands. They were so infatuated that they didn’t let go of each other for ten thousand years.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author’s Note:  this is based on William Buck's 1976 Ramayana. I changed the story quite a bit, leaving out several big scenes such as when Ravana brings what appears to be Rama’s severed to Sita. In this version, Vibhishana doesn’t bring Sita to Rama, Hanuman does. I did that because I felt that two different messengers would complicate this story too much. I didn’t have enough time to properly introduce both of them. I also left out all of the names except Sita’s. This story isn’t about the others. It’s about Sita. One other thing I did differently was that I emphasized Sita’s meditation; I wanted to show how devoted to Rama and pure she was. 

Image:  Hanuman's Visit, in bazaar art with Marathi caption, early 1900s Source