In Goa, Ramayana is narrated during harvest festivals and folk performances such as, Jat , Val , Aarat, Chaurang, Taalen, Ranamale, Gavan Kaani, Fugadi , Ovi, and Gadya Ramayana which is a local version of Ramayana performance. It is a common practice across India, for folk performers to embellish and localise the main narrative of Valmiki’s Ramayana by inserting specific local details and episodes. The following episode from Ramayana sung and performed in the Canacona region of Goa is one such instance.
Once Guru and Ravana went into the forest for hunting animals. But even after spending a whole day they could not find any prey. Hungry and tired they fell asleep under a Jamun tree. Suddenly a huge bright shining jewel fell from the tree. Ravana and Guru woke up hearing the loud thud and found the precious jewel lying in front of them. Guru picked up the precious jewel and decided to present it to Indra-Kavalasa. Indra accepted the jewel, looked at it for a long time, then tied it in a holy red cloth and hung it on his wall.
Ravana became very curious about the precious jewel. “ I must have this rare jewel in my possessions,” he thought to himself. Greedy as he was, he quietly sneaked into Indra -Kavalasa’s home and stole it.
He got a special box made and hid the jewel inside it and locked the box with multiple keys. He then kept the box on his altar along with other deities. Every day when he was praying to his ista-devata, he would also offer prayers and ceremonial food offerings to the shiny jewel in the box. For months he prayed relentlessly hoping the magical jewel would multiply inside the box to become a cache of wealth.
After nine months he decides to open the box. To his surprise, he found a beautiful baby girl instead of a jewel. The girl was as resplendent and as alluring as the jewel itself and Ravana took an instant liking to her. “I must bring her up as my daughter” he declared, and he invited the royal astrologer to name the girl. The royal astrologer gave her the name ‘Sita’ As per the custom astrologer prepared an astrological chart for the baby girl. After reading the chart, he announced to Ravana, “ Oh King, this girl will only bring doom to you and your kingdom. She will be the cause of your downfall”. Hearing such a prediction, nervous Ravana immediately put the girl back into the box, locked it with multiple locks and asked his servant to dump the box into the sea.
A huge fish swallowed the box with the baby girl inside and soon after a fisherman from Janak’s kingdom caught the fish. Intrigued by the unusually huge swollen belly of the fish, he presented his rare catch to King Janak. King Janak, who was also intrigued by the unusual swollen belly of the fish asked his royal cook to cut it open then and there. The royal cook with great care slit opens the belly of the fish and Lo! A beautifully carved and locked box tumbled out. When cook broke opened the box, a beautiful girl with a bright glowing face stared back at Janak. Janak fell in love with the baby girl and immediately adopted her as his daughter. Sita grew into a beautiful woman and at the age of thirteen, the news of her beauty spread among the neighbouring kingdoms. Janak too decided to get her married but he could not find a suitable boy as a match for his precious daughter in the neighboring kingdoms. Finally, he decided to arrange a ‘swayamvar’ to find a suitable husband for Sita.
He set up a huge pandal in front of his palace and invited all the eligible prince from neighbouring kingdom to participate in the swayamvara. Meanwhile, Ravana too heard about the beautiful daughter of King Janaka. “I must have this woman in my possession “ a greedy thought popped into his mind. Janak had set a simple precondition for the Swayamvar- “Anyone who could lift Shiva- Dhanush, the bow of Lord Shiva, placed in the centre of the hall would win Sita’s hand in marriage” Janak announced at the gathering. Many eagerly rushed to lift the bow and failed miserably. Ravana’s arrogance made him think “Oh what a stupid task. I can do it easily. Sita is all mine” with a smirk on his face he went to lift the Shiva-Dhanush. As he tried to lift it up, the bow became heavier and heavier and in spite of using his all might, he could not lift it up fully. In the end, the bow fell across Ravana’s chest pinning him down on the floor and he started wailing in pain, shouting for help…
The Guru was watching the fiasco at the swayamvar and his two disciples Rama and Lakshman were sitting beside him. Guru looked at Ram and said, “ Help Ravana, else his death is imminent”. At his Guru’s request, Ram approached Ravana and with his little toe pushed the bow upwards. The bow rose up in the air like a feather. As it came falling down Lakshman caught it the air, with his left hand. Everyone in the hall was amazed by the sight and was surprised as many strong brave lads had failed at the task including mighty Ravana who almost got crushed under the weight of the bow. What a miraculous sight it was to see Ram and Lakshmana handle the mighty Shiva Dhanush with such ease!
Meanwhile, Sita saw the bow in the hands of Lakshman and stepped forward to garland him as her husband. But Lakshmana reminded her it was his elder brother Rama who had lifted the bow with his little toe. Thus he is the rightful groom who has won the swayamvar. Sita garlanded Rama.
Ravana felt deeply humiliated by the incident and stomped out of the hall, wowing one day, he would take away Sita from Ram and avenge his humiliation. “Sita belongs to me” he muttered to himself.
——————
The Story by : Dr. Pandurang Phaldesai
Text Source: “Similarities and difference in Konkani and Valmiki Ramayana” by Pandurang Phaldesai
Location: Goa
Image Copyright: Vidya kamat
Leave a Comment