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Continued from yesterday’s instalment
 'It is wise to think twice - even more - before venturing into such an escapade.
'aduththavum eNNich cheydhal aNNalE amaidhi andrO?' Is it not practical to think of consequences before venturing into such an attempt? If you feel that this deer has to be caught, you stay here with Sita. I will go and fetch it.
'viduththu idhan pin nindraalgaL palar uLar eninum,' Even if there is a crowd that has connived to send this animal here,
'villaal vem pagazhi thUvith thodarndhanen viraindhu sendru,' I will go behind it quickly shooting many an arrow and
'padukkuven' I will kill it. 'adhu andru aayin patrinen koNarven,' or else I will capture it alive and bring it here.
Lakshmana was not ready to agree to Rama going after the deer. As the most loyal brother - loyal servant would be more appropriate - he wanted to take the risk himself. The amazing thing is his mind remains so wide awake that he is able not only to see the falsity of the situation but also able to spot that it is Märïca who has come in disguise and also that there must be 'somebody else' behind this drama as Märïca would not have dared to come of his own, especially after he was spared by Rama's arrows in the beginning of their exile when Märïca tried to attack him in the form of a deer, along with two of his friends. And that faculty of judgement was totally absent in both Sita as well as Rama, as the Poets mention.
"Sita, who had been robbed of her faculty of judgement by the hoax (practised by the ogre) and who felt overjoyed at the prospect of laying her hands on the weird deer) spoke (as follows) with a bright smile (playing on her lips)," says Valmiki. (Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda, Canto XLIII, Sloka 9)
 Of course, she had her fears. 'Lakshmana had already set his mind against this lovely deer,' she might have thought 'and would not do anything but kill it.' More over, it was something that she wanted to have from the hands of Rama, her loving husband, as a token of his love. She was therefore not prepared to let it caught by Lakshmana.
'vaayidai mazhalai in sol kiLiyin maazhghi,' blabbering like a parakeet she sulked.
'naayaga nIyE patri nalgalai pOlum!' 'So you are not going to get it for me?'
Sri VVS Aiyar, the great freedom fighter and a close friend of poet Subramanya Bharati reserved Sita as the last character for his 'Kamba Ramayanam - A study'. But alas, before he could write even the first word on Sita, he died in an accident and finally the book was published with the study on Sita written by the Delhi Tamil Sangam. The following lines on Sita in the said study are thought provoking. "Rama could have reacted like Lakshmana; and, if he had reacted that way, Sita might have changed her mind. Rama failed to grasp the truth about the deer and this failure on the part of Rama helped Sita's desire to grow unchecked."
But there is another angle to it. Sita, the loving wife, had accepted the life in jungle for thirteen long years and she had not asked Rama for anything. This was a demand, which only a loving husband can understand and could not resist or postpone it for a single moment longer. It was Rama's love for Sita that impelled him to pursue the deer, despite the explicit warning that issues forth from Lakshmana.
More follows...
Published on 13th March 2002
Hari Krishnan
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