13:33:00
Sita Swayamvar (Rama and Sita Marriage) Set
King Janaka was the ruler of the kingdom of Videha. Its capital city
was Mithila. Janaka was not only a brave king, but was also very
well-versed in the Shastras and Vedas. One day, while a field was being
ploughed in the presence of the king, he found a female child in the
deep furrow dug by the plough. Janaka and his wife
Sunayana were overjoyed by this discovery and adopted the little baby
girl as their own. The child was named Sita, meaning ‘Furrow’ in
Sanskrit. Thus, Sita is considered to be the daughter of Bhumi Devi
(Mother Earth) since she was born or found in the earth.
Sita grew up to be a girl of unparalleled beauty and charm and
possessed the greatest of womanly virtues. When Sita became of
marriageable age, the king decided to have a Swayamvara which included a
contest. The king was in possession of an immensely heavy bow,
presented to him by the God Shiva. Whoever could wield the bow and
string it, could marry Sita.
After the protection of
Vishwamitra’s sacred ritual, on their way back to Ayodhya, Rama and
Lakshmana traveled to Mithila. Accompanied by Vishwamitra, they attended
Sita’s Swayamvara. Rama successfully broke Shiva's bow as he picked it
up and was examining the tautness of its bowstring. The young prince’s
strength and courage perplexed all the attendees. And with the breaking
of the bow, Janaka proposed Sita to Rama in marriage. On the approval of
Sage Vishwamitra, Janaka sent his messengers to Ayodhya to convey the
message to Dasharatha. Upon hearing the story of how his son Rama not
only lifted the bow of Shiva, but also broke it, Dasharatha was
overjoyed. He gladly accepted the marriage proposal of Rama and Sita.
The next day, King Dasharatha’s delegation traveled to Mithila to carry
out the wedding ceremony. Upon reaching there, he received proposals for
marriage of his other three sons. Lakshmana was betrothed to Urmila,
another daughter of Janaka. Vishwamitra proposed the marriages of
Bharata and Shatrughna with the two daughters of Kushadhvaja, the
younger brother of Janaka. Thus Bharata was married to Maandavi and
Shatrughna to Shrutakeerti.
After the wedding ceremonies of his
four sons, Dasharatha and his delegation returned to Ayodhya. The young
princes and their brides were welcomed with pomp and grandeur.
Yudhaajit, the maternal uncle of Bharata, who had come for the weddings
of the princes, now took Bharata and Shatrughna to his kingdom. Rama and
Lakshmana engaged in the welfare of their subjects, at the behest of
their father. The couples entered the threshold of their blissful
married lives.
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