Posted:
Dear Cool Purvi, I've been reading this debate for awhile now, and I think everyone is presenting a good point. As for your original article, I think it's very nice and you did a wonderful job spreading the message! However, the debate about Chaya Sita or not, I really don't know what to say, because it could be correct or not. As for me, I would like to think it was the real Sita kidnapped, because like someone said, it makes it seem like Ram really suffered, as per Lord Vishnu's curse. Don't get me wrong, I don't enjoy the suffering part, as I'm not a sadistic, but I'm just saying that it would sound more (what's the word) romantic? No, that's not the right word for a purana, but you know what I mean. However, it is written in the Adhyatma Ramayana, that the Chaya Sita story is true. And this is the reasoning for it according to that book...
Ram knew that if Ravan really touched Sita when kidnapping her, his hands would burn off, so he asked Agnidev to keep Sita safe with him unitl Ravan was killed. And the whole point of AgniPariksha was to get the real Sita back. However, as some people ask why Ram just didn't do it in private, the reasoning is that he also wanted to prove Sita's chastity in front of people. Other than himself, Sita, and Lakshman, no one knew that the real Sita didn't get kidnapped, and even if Ram did tell them, would people have believed him? Okay, let's say they did believe him, but then they would know he was God, and that would contradict the purpose of his avatar. So...he made everyone believe Chaya Sita was the real Sita, and so the Agni Pariksha to everyone else seemed like a test of purity for Sita, when in fact it was only to reclaim the real Sita.
This is what it says in the Adhyatma Ramayana. I don't know which one is true, but isn't the gist of the story the same?
Anyway, I have just one doubt. I read in the Adhyatma Ramayana, that when the real Sita was reclaimed, Chaya Sita, who was an incarnation of Mayadevi, came to Ram in private and asked him to marry her, since she had posed as his wife for one year. However, Ram said he couldn't in this life, because he had made a vow to have only one wife. Instead, he granted her a boon saying he would marry her in his next life as Shri Krishna. So when he became Shri Krishna and Sita became Rukmini, Chaya Sita became Satyabhama.
But all these puranas are so confusing, because in another book, I read that the first 8 wives of Shri Krishna were incarnations of Goddess Lakshmi. So I guess that means Mayadevi is also an incarnation of Lakshmi. Grrr, this is so confusing! Anyway, Great Article!
Kumkum Bhagya
