Week 3 Story: Love at First Sight

Forest of Enchantments

by Chitra Divakaruni

They say love finds you when you least expect it, or when you're not looking for it. For Sita, it was the opposite. Hundreds of men came to her father's palace each year, trying to marry her. The catch was that her father, Janaka, would only allow a man to marry her if he could lift and string a bow that used to belong to Shiva.

So far, the only person known to be able to lift it was Sita herself. Janaka believed this was the only way to find Sita a worthy husband.

***

The day started out like any other, and I was praying in the temple to the goddess, asking for a worthy husband. It felt like thousands of men had tried to lift and string the bow in order to marry me, and I was just ready to finally be done with all of it and find love.

When I finished my prayers, I took the arm of my friend and we began to stroll through the gardens. These had always been my favorite place at the palace. They were so peaceful, being in them gave me the chance to think in a way I couldn't anywhere else.

As we spoke quietly, we suddenly came into the path of two young men. As I looked up, I saw that they were both beautiful. They both immediately bowed low to us, which made Anina and I both blush. Having people bow to me would always feel strange.

"Hello," I said with a smile. "You may rise." At this, they came to stand at their full height again. "Who are you? I didn't realize we had guests in the palace."

They're probably here to try out the bow, I thought. I hope they are, and I hope one of them is successful.

"I am Rama, and this is my brother Lakshmana," said the man on the right. His eyes shone with a light I'd never seen before in a man's eyes. 

I immediately hoped it was him that was destined to be my husband, but I knew I shouldn't let myself get carried away. I had hoped before and been let down.

"Welcome to my father's palace," I said, gesturing around me. "I am Sita. What brings you here?"

"I knew it had to be you," Rama said reverently. "Your beauty can't be mistaken. We are here so that I may try to lift and string the bow that your father says will make a man worthy of marrying you."

My heart began to pound, and I prayed they couldn't hear it nearly beating out of my chest.

"I see." I tried to keep my voice level and calm, but I couldn't tell if I was succeeding. "Well, I guess that means we should all head inside, yes?"

***

The very next day, I was getting ready to marry Rama. He easily lifted and strung my father's bow, to the happy surprise of everyone in the palace. My parents already had all the preparations for my wedding because they knew it could come at any moment.

Rama and I spent the entire night before the wedding talking and getting to know one another, and my ladies maids cursed me because I looked tired.

"It's okay, I have faith that you all will still make me look beautiful," I said with a wave of my hand as they primped and readied me for the ceremony. "I'm marrying the most amazing man in the world, I couldn't care less what I look like."

Before I knew it, I was married and after spending a few blissful weeks alone with Rama in a little cottage on my father's land, we were heading out to live in Rama's homeland. I was so blessed that my sisters married Rama's brothers, so I wouldn't be leaving everyone behind. But it was hard to know that I didn't know when I would see my mother and father again.

My mother held me the morning we were leaving, both of us in tears. Tears of sadness, but also joy that I had finally found my husband and would be making a life of my own.

"I know we will be apart, but I will always be with you," my mother said. "And it will be hard, to be in a new place that you don't know, but you have always been the strongest of our family. I know that you will be okay, and it will all be worth it because you have found love. So be strong, my daughter, for yourself and for your sisters, who might take it harder than you."

I nodded, wiping away my tears as she reached down to pick something up. She handed me two packages, and told me to open them when I arrived in my new home.

"These will ensure that you always have a piece of this place with you," she said.

"Thank you mother. I will open them and treasure them always. And I will send word whenever possible, and I hope to see you again someday soon."

***

When we arrived in Ayodhya, and when Rama and I were able to be alone in our private home, I sat down with him to open the packages from my mother.

The first was two dolls made of sandalwood, a king and a queen. The letter from my mother said to keep them above our sacred altar.

The second was bags and bags of seeds, all from the plants in my mother's garden.

"So that you can continue to cook the foods of Mithila, the foods that I taught you to make when you were a young girl," the letter read. "Now, you are a woman, and one day you will teach your own daughters to do the same. I love you, Sita."

***

Author's Note: This is a retelling of basically stories 44-47 from the Tiny Tales of the Ramayana book. In the Ramayana, Sita is the daughter of Janaka. Janaka has a bow that used to belong to Shiva, and for a long time no one could lift it. One day, Sita lifted it, and Janaka said that the man who could lift and string the bow could marry Sita. Many tried and failed, and when Rama heard about it he decided to try his luck. In story 44, Sita meets Rama and Lakshmana, where it is said Rama and Sita fall in love immediately. Then, in story 45 Rama lifts and strings the bow, but then he ends up dropping it and it breaks. But, Janaka still declares that he is to marry Sita. I didn't include any details from this except that Rama lifted and strung the bow. I also completely skipped story 46 in my retelling, when Rama had to shoot Parashurama because he broke the bow. I didn't understand this part so I didn't include it. Then in story 47 Rama and his brothers married Sita and his sisters, and it mentions the dolls from her mother. I only changed the fact that originally Sita got the seeds herself but in my version her mother gave them to her. 

Bibliography: Laura Gibbs, Tiny Tales from the Ramayana, Stories 44-47