Name – Hirva Pandya
Roll No.: 10
Enrollment No.: 4069206420210022
Paper no: 201
Paper code: 22401
Paper name: Indian English Literature :1
Topic: Comparative Study of character of Sita Ramayana v/s poem Lakshman
Sem.: 3 (Batch 2021- 2023)
Submitted to: Smt S.B. Gardi Department of English, M.K. Bhavnagar University
E-mail- pandyahirva815@gmail.com
About The Poetess
Indian poet and translator. Born in Calcutta in 1856; died in 1877 of tuberculosis; daughter of Govin Chunder Dutt.
The daughter of a justice of the peace, Toru Dutt was born in Calcutta to a family of high-caste cultivated Hindus, and her parents were converts to Christianity. She received a broad education at home with her sister Aru . At 13, she and her sister were sent to France to study for a few months and attended a convent in Nice. The family moved to Cambridge, England, in 1871, and the sisters heard lectures that the philosopher Henry sidgwick and other liberal dons had begun for women. The family returned to India in 1873, and as Dutt resumed her studies she began learning Sanskrit. With a strong affinity for the French character and an aptitude for the French language, she undertook a study of French romantic poetry and produced essays on Leconte de Lisle and Joséphin Soulary as well as a series of English translations of poetry. In 1876, the translations were collected in A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields. Her collection Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan was selected from work left unpublished at the time of her early death, and these English versions of native Indian legends have been said to show strong original power. After Dutt's death of tuberculosis while in her early 20s, her novel, written in French and entitled Le Journal de Mlle. d'Avers, was published in 1879. Dutt is regarded as a pioneer for her writings in an age when few Indian women published.
About The poem: Lakshman
The poem "Lakshman" is from Dutt's Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan (1882). It tells a story from the Hindu epic Ramayana, in which the hero Rama is told to procure a golden deer for his wife, Sita. After Rama leaves Sita with his brother, Lakshman, for safekeeping, he finds out that the deer is actually a demon and kills it. However, when the demon dies, it calls out for help using Rama's own voice. Though Lakshman knows Rama is invincible and does not worry, Sita panics at the sound of the cry for help and asks Lakshman to go and investigate. So that he can both please Sita and also ensure that she stays put, as ordered by Rama, Lakshman draws a line in the ground that Sita is not to cross while he leaves to search for Rama. While he is absent, however, Sita crosses the line and is abducted by the demon king Ravana.
Character of Sita in Ramayana
Sita, symbolizes the meaning of an ideal woman, filled with loyalty for her husband. The meaning of her name is “furrow” that symbolizes the place where she was found by her father. When we hear of Sita, the first thing that strikes us is her unconditional bond of love with Lord Rama. In the face of extreme hardship, Lord Rama’s queen displays extraordinary character, founded on her pure devotion to the Lord. Rama, had to pass Shiva’s test of lifting and breaking a heavy bow, to win the right to marry Sita. Rama is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, while Sita is the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, hence, they were born to be together connected by a string of eternal love. Sita embodies the character of an ideal woman to an ideal man, containing the right thoughts and actions.
Birth of Sita
The birth of Sita, is still a very controversial topic, open to debate amongst scholars. In Valmiki’s Ramayana, she was found in a furrow, as an abandoned child. This is the reason she is called the daughter of Mother Earth. However other potent theories that have been proposed about Sita’s birth are:
Sita as Vedavati
Vedavati was the daughter of sage Kushadhwaja, a learned scholar, living in hermitage deep inside the forests. Vedavati, who lives with her father, grows up to be a woman with ethereal beauty, and a fervent devotee of Lord Vishnu. She thus vows not to marry anyone except the Lord himself. One day, after her parents’ death, Ravana spots her and tries to proposition her. She denies as usual. Ravana, getting frustrated, tries to molest her by pulling her hair. She cuts off her hair, and cursed Ravana that she would jump in the fire and be reborn to become the cause of his destruction. She jumps into the fire, and enters it fearlessly. Legend has it that she was reborn as Sita, to cause the destruction of Ravana, and by being reborn as Sita, Vedavati also fulfills her dream of marrying Lord Vishnu, in the avatar of Rama.
Sita as Ravana’s Daughter
This theory about Sita being Ravana’s daughter is a very popular one. Ravana and his wife Mandodari were childless for many years after their marriage, and when Mandodari finally becomes pregnant, an astrology prediction states that the particular child will be the cause of his obliteration from the Earth. When this child was born, Ravana threw the child into a basket, however, that child was protected by Mother Earth, and was found by King Janaka. Thus, Ravana, while lusting for Sita, and tormenting and torturing her, never even imagined in his wildest dreams, that Sita was his own daughter. Thus he committed a greater sin, than just abducting Rama’s wife, he lusted for his own daughter, giving way to incest, which is a grave sin in Hindu mythologies. The astrology therefore proved to be right as Sita’s abduction and captivity was primarily responsible for Ravana’s obliteration from the face of Earth.
Sita’s Unconditional Love for Rama
When Rama was banished to the forests, for fourteen years, she willingly gave up her luxurious life at the kingdom to accompany Rama, as she believed that it was her duty to stay with her husband. Rama initially denied her, but she still persisted and accompanied him. She was so worried when Rama went alone in the forests, she sends Lakshmana to accompany him, thereby risking her life by staying alone. She successfully passed and endured the test of fire, agni pareeksha, clearing all doubts of Rama, regarding her purity, thereby also proving that she had been untouched by any other man, during her period of abduction by Ravana. At the end of the story, she again proved her purity, however this time, she vanished inside the earth, from where she had originated.
Sita’s Inner Harmony and Peace with Nature
In Valmiki’s Ramayana, Sita’s origin is depicted to be from Mother Earth itself. Thus, Sita is a part of Nature, and is shown to always be in harmony and at peace with Nature. When Rama was denying her not to accompany him to the forests, she said that she would remain happy merely by gazing at the hills, lakes and rivers. This exhibited her immense love and oneness with Mother Earth and all its natural elements. Throughout the Ramayana she has been referred to as “golden-skinned” and “doe-eyed”. The golden deer symbolizes an image of beauty and forest wildness.
this inner harmony that breeds other good qualities of Sita. We see her extreme forgiveness, when she pardons all the female guards, when Hanuman offered to kill them. She understood that what they did was a consequence of Ravana’s orders. She is also very generous, when it comes to gratitude. She willingly gifts Hanuman the necklace that Rama gave her, as a token of appreciation of all the help that that he and his army provided to Rama to rescue her back. Her generosity is also highlighted when she asks the wives of all the monkey warriors to accompany them back to Ayodhya, to participate in the grand celebrations there with them.
Character of Sita in Toru Dutt's Lakshmana
As it is observed by MEENAKSHI T Assistant Professor, Department of English New Horizon College-Marathalli, Bangalore
The poem begins with the anxiety of Sita:
Hark! Lakshman! Hark, again that cry! It is, −it is my husband’s voice! Oh hasten, to his succor fly, No more hast thou, dear friend, a choice. (Stanza 1)
This kind of words from Sita expresses her heightened anxiety as a woman who is scared that her husband and her master is in danger. Added to this, it also surfaces the insecurity that Sita has within her of her protecter being in danger and the subsequent calamities that might fall on her in his absence
Sita’s character in the poem ‘Lakshman’ may not be strictly in keeping with her portrayal in the Ramayana, but it is in accordance with human nature, and shows the working of a woman’s mind. In the poem she does not appear as an idealized queen, but as a woman, who behaves as a woman in her condition ought to be. She acts impulsively and easily falls in the trap laid down for her by Ravana, the tricky and mighty king of Lanka.
In the beginning Sita is mild, gentle and unsuspecting and has full faith in Lakshman’s sincerity and loyalty towards her and Rama. But later on her temper changes and she becomes wild and fierce in reaction to Laksman’s lethargy in action. Instead of feeling convinced by Lakshman’s arguments, Sita becomes suspicious of his words, begins to doubt the very sincerity and truthfulness of his feeling towards her and Rama. Sita thinks that Lakshman has an evil eye on her and is an enemy in disguise. Further, she thinks that he wants Rama’s death, so that he may possess his wife for himself. She begins to hurl bitter sarcastic words at him, and openly accuses him of treachery, deceit, guilt, insincerity and cowardice. Side by side with Rama’s safety, she now begins to think of her own safety from the enemy in Lakshman.
Conclusion
According to the diasporic perspective the mythological figure of Sita projects an ambivalent function of a subservient wife and a powerful symbol emanating resistance to maintain her obedience till the end.
Work cited:
Dutt, Toru, et al. “Toru Dutt: Poetry ‘Lakshman’ Summary and Analysis.” GradeSaver, https://www.gradesaver.com/toru-dutt-poetry/study-guide/summary-lakshman
Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) Vol.4 ... http://www.rjelal.com/4.2.16C/900-903%20MEENAKSHI%20T.pdf.
Temple PurohitTemplePurohit.com is a one-stop destination for all your spiritual needs - Get in-depth information on Spiritual topics, et al. “Sita in Ramayana - the Ideal Woman - Templepurohit - Your Spiritual Destination: Bhakti, Shraddha Aur Ashirwad.” TemplePurohit, 16 Dec. 2016, https://www.templepurohit.com/sita-ramayana-ideal-woman/.
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