There are some questions in Ramayana that have remained a mystery. For instance, why the wicked and powerful Ravana, who was known for abducting and sexually assaulting wives of other kings could not force himself upon Sita after abducting her to Lanka?

Valmiki’s Ramayana describes a number of occasions when Ravana tries to threaten Sita and coerce her to surrender to his whim and fancy. But she remains unmoved and unaffected by his threats and cajoling.What could be the reason the mighty Ravana could not subdue gentle Sita’s mind and body?

In the Vanaparva of Mahabharat (280), Sage Vaishampayan narrates the following incident to King Janmejaya, and throws light on the above mystery to reveal why Ravana could not succeed in taking advantage of Sita.

After abducting and carrying off Sita to Lanka, Ravana kept her captive in Ashokavana surrounded by demonesses. The terrifying demonesses threatened Sita in all possible ways demanding Sita, surrender to Ravana as he was the most powerful King. But Sita categorically refused the demands by saying “Besides Rama I would not let any man touch my body”. To break Sita’s will, these demonesses began to torture her mentally and physically. Only demonesses Trijata, was sympathetic to the plight of Sita.

Trijata was not only kind to Sita, but she also assured Sita not to fear Ravana’s threats as he would never be able to touch her without her consent. When Sita, asked the reason why Trijata was so certain about this, Trijata replied, “Oh Sita, You would always be protected by Nalakubar’s curse that is holding back Ravana”. “And why did Nalakubar curse Ravana?” asked Sita, and Trijata replied “Once Ravana violated Rambha, the wife of Nalakubar and the daughter of Kuber, without her consent. When Nalakubar came to know of this he became livid with rage. He cursed Ravana that if he ever touches a woman without her consent, his head would splinter into a thousand pieces.” Ravana was bound by this curse and could no longer force himself upon any woman without her consent. Trijata assured Sita that she would be safe as long as she remains steadfast in her devotion to Ram, who would come and rescue her from Ravana’s captivity.

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Story Collected by: Vidya Kamat
Text Source: Mahabharatachi Shapvani by R. Bhide ( Marathi)
Location: Pan India
Image Copyright: Vidya Kamat

Sage Durvasa appears in Hindu mythology as the angry sage who is always ready to put a curse on anyone who displeases him. People revered Durvasa only out of fear. For instance, the curse put on Shakuntala, daughter of nymph Menaka and sage Vishwamitra, that her lover king Dushyant would forget her is well known through literary texts.

Even the gods were not excluded from his ire as the sage is said to have cursed Krishna. When Durvasa visited Krishna, he desired that Krishna and his wife Rukmini should drag the chariot in which he was sitting to show their respect to the sage’s greatness. When Krishna and Rukmini started dragging the chariot, Rukmini felt thirsty. Krishna stopped the chariot and made Ganga change her course and come where Rukmini was standing, so she could quench her thirst. Durvasa became furious because Krishna did not ask his permission before bringing Gang, a and cursed Rukmini that she would be addicted to wine drinking and she would be separated from her husband Krishna.

Who was sage Durvasa? And why was he always so angry?

Every household near the Idukki dam in northern Kerala knows this tale that links Rama the mythic hero with the construction of the arched bridge in Idukki. How does these two entities that belong to different eras get linked through the history of Idukki?

Oorali tribals narrate the following story about Rama. After Sita was abducted by Ravana and taken to Lanka, Rama was in despair for he could not trace her wherabouts. He searched each and every forest he could find, day and night, looking for his beloved wife. On the way Rama reached the forest land of Idduki occupied by Oorali tribals. In the forest lived a newly married young tribal couple with the name Kuravan and his wife Kurathi. The newly weds were madly in love with each other and oblivious of everything else. Rama was who was passing through the forest, stopped by their home expecting hospitality and rest for a short while before continuing his search for Sita. But Kuruvan and Kuruthi were so engrossed in their lovemaking that they neither noticed Rama enter their home nor did they welcome him with an offering of water to quench his thirst, as Rama had expected.

She was my best friend in seventh grade. We sat on the same bench. Shared food, shared our secrets, gossiped and secretly giggled at our teachers.

As teenagers, these were exciting years of our lives as everything around us seemed bubbling with life. . But it was mostly the curiosity of our changing bodies that played on our minds. One day my friend came up to me and whispered in my ear “ I have to tell you something very important ” What I asked, baffled by her urgency. “Don’t ever- ever eat leftover food or zoota. Especially, if it is a fruit eaten by a boy”. Not getting the clue I asked “why?”

She told me this story

Once there was a Brahmin couple. They did not have children for years. After doing sever penance to lord Shiva, they were blessed with a girl child. The couple was so happy that they would spend all their time pampering the new born baby. Once a sage came to their house begging for alms. But the couple was so engrossed with the new born baby that they did not hear the sage’s request. The sage got furious for being ignored and cursed the baby that she would be the cause of pain and shame for her parents by becoming an unwed mother.

The couple was saddened by the sage’s decree. But they could do nothing to revert sage’s mood. When the girl grew in to a beautiful woman, old parents told her about the sage’s curse. Girl heard the father’s plea and promised him that she would never hurt her parents by bringing shame to the family. In order to avoid the fate she declared she would renounce from worldly pleasures and live life of a celibate nun. With heavy heart, her old parents agreed to her resolve. Thus the girl started living alone in a small hut outside the town. As a nun she would live a simple life having no belongings. She did not eat any cooked food; slept on a hard floor and kept away from all male company.

One day when she had gone to the lake to fetch the water. A thief running away from the cops entered her hut. Hungry and tired he searched for food and found a fruit in the corner. As he took a bite; he heard footsteps approaching the hut. He dropped the fruit and ran away in the jungle. When the girl sat down to eat she found the only fruit which was her food for the day was half eaten. Who could have come in this jungle besides animals? She thought to herself. May be a hungry rabbit might have taken a bite. Since she had nothing else to eat she ate the remaining fruit and drank water to keep her hunger away.

Alas! The fate had caught up with her. The girl got pregnant after she ate the fruit. The sage’s curse had come true.

Story Collected by : Vidya Kamat

Location: Karvar, Karnataka

Story Told by: : Pratima Kamat

Image source: Wikipedia