Posted:
I think there is no doubt in anyone's mind that a grave injustice was done to Sita. Even Ram did not disagree that Sita was unjustly punished.
Ram has always had very different personal views about how women should be treated than the people of his time and even his own ancestors. For example, Ram had great sympathy for Ahilya, and even after being warned he went out of his way to not just free her from her curse but also free her from the contempt of society.
Ram also treated Tara and Mandodari with great respect even though they were spouses of his enemies and after his victory he made sure of their comfort and safety. Even though polygamy was a common practice by his contemporaries and even with his ancestors, Ram practiced monogamy and kept his word to Sita to have just one wife. Ram never questioned Sita's purity because his love for her was immense and he only cared about spending the rest of his life with her. Sita's Agnipariksha was done for society not to give proof to Ram about her purity.
As the king of Ayodhya, Ram had to uphold the laws and values of his kingdom and to prove that the king and queen were not above the law. If he had not done so, he would risk losing respect to his authority and even result in chaos and loss of law and order in his kingdom. Even though he felt that the law and society were unjust, he could not have changed it then because it would seem he was doing so to meet his own personal benefit. Hence, putting aside his personal views and for the greater good of his people, he meted out an unfair punishment to Sita. Sita was also crown queen of Ayodhya, and even though as a wife, she must have felt the she had been betrayed, but as a queen she knew she had to accept this punishment as per the laws and rules of her kingdom. It is unfortunate situation that Ram and Sita were caught between two wrong choices and chose the road which would be least harmful to society even if it causes a lot of controversy for years to come.
