सीता राम सीता राम जय सीता राम
Sita Ram Sita Ram Jai Sita Ram
There was a wise, just, good and brave king called Janaka. King Janaka was the ruler of the kingdom of Videha. Mithila was the capital of the great kingdom of Videha. King Janaka was a rather unusual king in that whereas other kings met their subjects in the durbar halls of their magnificent palaces, King Janaka would go out of the palace every day to meet with his people. Not just that, he would work alongside them in their farms, ploughing the fields, planting seeds and cutting the harvest.
King Janaka was also devoted to God and prayed every day. The kind king had no children and sometimes in his prayers he would ask God to bless him and his queen with a child. However, King Janaka was content with whatever the Lord had given him and thanked God every day for his good fortune. The king was content, thankful and always grateful to God for keeping his kingdom strong and safe.
One day, as usual the king went out into the fields and began to plough the earth to prepare it for planting seeds. He worked all day in the hot, summer sun and as the sun began to set, knowing that it would soon be dark the king wiping the sweat off his face started setting the plough aside. Just as he was ready to return to the palace, he heard a gentle gurgling sound coming from one of the furrows he had just dug up. Exhausted after a day of hard labour the king slowly walked in the direction of the sound but suddenly stopped because there before him tucked away in a golden casket was a tiny, smiling, beautiful baby girl!
The king could not believe his eyes. He gently knelt down to pick up the gorgeous baby and was delighted when her sparkling eyes shone and she looked right at him, her soft pink lips smiling at him with joy. Gently he lifted the child and took her home with him to his palace. The king and queen were overwhelmed with joy at having a little baby to care for.
The minute King Janaka had laid eyes on this exceptionally beautiful baby girl he knew that Mother Earth had blessed him with this child. There and then he named her Sita. Sita means “furrow” in Sanskrit. A furrow is the ditch/trough that is formed when the farmer ploughs his field. Hence Sita was indeed an appropriate name for a child found in the furrow of a field.
The moment little Sita came into King Janaka’s life she brought with her luck and good fortune. Besides great wealth and happiness, King Janaka and his queen were even blessed with a second daughter who they named Urmila. The two sisters were beautiful, kind and generous and loved by not just their parents but all the people of the kingdom.
King Janaka sent both girls to school and they were taught by learned teachers. Both Sita and Urmila were very clever and excelled in their studies. The girls were well behaved, intelligent and cheerful. They also, like their father, would always willingly help anyone in need. The king and queen adored their two daughters and were proud that they were growing up to be gracious, respectful and caring.
One day Sage Parshuram came to visit King Janaka. Before entering the palace, he left his mighty bow at the entrance and then walked in to meet the king. As the king and the sage were talking, little Sita walked past and seeing Sage Parshuram’ s bow, the curious child picked it up and started playing with it.
Sage Parshuram was astonished to see this and he said to the king, “that is no ordinary bow, King Janaka. It is a Vaishnava bow and no ordinary person can carry this bow. I do not know how Sita is able to carry it and play with it so easily.”
King Janaka immediately replied, “when I found Sita in the furrow of the farm’s soil I knew that she was the daughter of Mother Earth. Now this is sufficient proof that Sita has indeed been sent to us by the Gods.”
Sage Parshuram nodded in agreement and then advised the king, “Make sure, oh king, that only a very noble and deserving man is given the hand of Sita in marriage. You must arrange a swayamvara (an ancient Indian custom of a young woman choosing a husband from a list of suitors) to which only the greatest and most powerful rulers are invited to ask for her hand in marriage.”
King Janaka then informed Sage Parshuram, “Respected sage, when we found Sita in the field we also found a mighty bow beside her. A bow so heavy that we needed several horses to pull it ba.ck to the palace.”
Hearing this the holy sage immediately knew the purpose of the mighty bow and he said, “at the swayamvara as a test of strength have the suitors try to lift and string the bow. Only the man who is able to do this must be given Sita’s hand in marriage.”
Later the beautiful Sita was married to the handsome, strong, brave Prince Ram. Lord Ram was the only man at Sita’s swayamvara who could lift and string the bow. Then when he pulled the string back toward his ear to check it if was taut and properly strung, to everyone’s amazement, the bow broke in half creating a thunderous sound. Undoubtedly, there was no one stronger or more worthy of Sita’s hand in marriage than Lord Ram.
LESSONS LEARNT
1. Like Sita we must study hard and keep learning because there is nothing more important than a good education. Always remember knowledge is power.
2. No matter whether you are a Princess or Prince hard work will always make you a stronger and better person.
3. Like King Janaka and Sita always be kind to others. Kindness has its own rewards.
4.King Janaka gave of his time, his work and his wealth to his people and God blessed him with the greatest treasure of all - Sita. So remember the more you learn to give the more God chooses you to receive.
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