lets talk: URMILA

hey frns i m back again 😳with another interesting character from ramayana - URMILA😛

Perhaps the most neglected character in the Ramayana is Urmila. Valmiki's text mentions her only once, in two lines, to tell us that she was married to Lakshmana. We don't hear of her again. Neither does she have a role in any of the Sanskrit tellings of the Ramayana by poets such as Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti and a number of others that follow all theway up to the nineteenth century. The only hint that the epic gives about Urmila is that she is the biological daughter of King Janaka and is a learned woman.according to other sourcse Urmila was one of noble qualities. She was such a great painter that she could draw anything in no time. She was extremely beautiful Tulsidas in ramayan has mentioned her as epitome of beauty According to one telgu legend wen Urmila came in the ayodhya kingdom the first remark that Shanta (sister of lord rama) made was about Urmila's beauty. According to her it was so seductive that jealous people may cast an evil eye on her she was indeed the beautiful lady of her times'after marriage ..with the blessings of lord rama and sita and a husband like lakshmana ...urmila spent her life blissfully in ayodhya she cooked she painted she completely engrossed herself in serving lakshmana...but her happiness was short lived..destiny had different plans for her.. she was destined to bear the pain of separation she was born to sacrifice... When Ram, Sita and Lakshaman were leaving for the forest, she too wanted to accompany her husband like Sita. But Lakshaman is supposed to have said that he is going to serve his brother and sister-in-law and likewise she should stay back to serve his parents. Urmila obeyed him sliently and before leaving he took the promise not to shed tears until he return'.. Urmila stayed back to serve her father-in-law (who died soon) and three mother-in-laws. While all the brothers (Ram, Bharat and Shatrughan) had their wives with them, she was the only one who did not have her husband by her side for fourteen long years. Some versions mention that she did not step out of her room for fourteen years and some say, that she slept for fourteen long years. Some versions says she didn't blink her eyes and she not only spent the fourteen years alone serving her mothers-in-law Sumitra, Kaushalya and Kaikeyi, but also painting a resplendent piece on Rama's wedding to Sita. Fourteen long years she yearned carved for her lakshmana but she did not cry nor shedded a single years for she wasn't even permitted to grief as it was her husband's wish... she lived her life in seclusion she gave up all the pleasures of the palace and lead a life of a ascetic as she couldnt enjoy the delicaicies and luxuries of the palace wen her husband was in exile... she lived her life in silent pain... in seclusion This seclusion is viewed by many as leading a life of extreme deprivation of worldly life in the absence of her husband. last detail we get of Urmila's life is that she had two sons, Angad and Chitraketu. And then she fades into the crowd of minor characters that populate the Ramayana, living out the rest of their lives unseen to readers. A number of scholars have attributed small episodes to her, but they all depict her as a person whose existence was to follow instructions and not opine... The famous Hindi poet, Maithili Sharan Gupta was so disappointed with Valmiki's treatment of Urmila, that he wrote his own epic by the name of Saket, based it on Ramayana, whose heroine was not Sita, but Urmila! The Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore too is supposed to have lamented this treatment (or mistreatment) of Urmila by Valmiki. How can any description justify Urmila's character? Suffice to say that even Valmiki has mentioned that Urmila's sacrifice was unparalleled. That says it all...

What are ur thoughts about this character?

Due u believe her sacrifice is unparalleled?

Due to think lakshmana has done unjust to her by not taking her with him?

Was lakshmana a unfair husband?

Do u think tulsidasji should mention urmila's prespective too in the Ramayana?

What do u know about this lady?

do chirp in and share ur views healthy discussions as always

lets talk...🤗

Originally posted by: sanjh11

thanks arti for a informative post i never knew she was a painter...she was a tragic herione she rendered her whole life serving her MIL and without any complains definetly she is epitome of sacrifice without urmila and lakshman there could be no ramayan and i think it wasnt fair to not take urmila alongwith them this young bride must have been shattered... how did she lived 14 long years without lakshmana... and yes i think tulsidasji should have given sapce to urmila too rather to limit her in two lines if i go by tulsidas ramayana i would say i was highly disappointed by lakshmana ji who didnt bid adieu to his grief stricken wife and left without meeting her it was really not done...but the telgu literature depicts the emotion and trauma of these character so i assume lakshmana loved her wife alot so he wasnt unfair husband he was protector of lord vishnu and lakshmi so he had to go with them as karma is greater than any other thing in the world...but he loved his wife unconditionally as he never looked at any other woman in exile and remembered her throughout...urmila is great heroine from the epic truly a unsung herione of this saga

Originally posted by: nneeiill

thanks arti for giving insight to Urmila's character.

Yes, I do feel its little injustice to the character Urmila being not given prominent place in Ramayan. Whatever stories exist is from frolk ramayana.

After Neil took the role of Lakshman I have been crazily googling about Lakshman and Urmila..

I read the version of nidra devi's boon. Lakshman had asked nidra devi to leave him for 14 years. Nidra devi told that somesone should take his share of sleep. it is said that Urmila slept for 14 years so that Lakshman dont feel the fatigue . He wanted to serve Ram ji and Sitaji day and night. Meghnath was invincible only a person who had not slept for 14 years could kill him. It was coz of Urmila's sacrifice that Laskhman attained the strength to Kill meghnath. As piu said it could be a symbolism. But nevertheless, her sacrifice cannot be ignored .

Originally posted by: minizz

Arti,Thank you once again for this wonderful post.These posts help ignorant people like me who do not know much about the characters apart from the prominent ones.Coming to your post I do think the authors have done a great injustice to Urmila's character.I would have loved to know a little more about this character.According to me she was not a weak woman but a very determined,strong person because the sacrifice she made is not so easy...granted she stayed in a palace with all the luxuries around but what use is material pleasures if you don't have that special someone to share it with.Sita Devi endured a lot but at least she was with her husband Ramji and when your spouse is with you any hardship can be overcome.The support and companionship of a spouse is so important and Urmila had to live without it for fourteen years.It is certainly not a small thing and on top of that Lakshmanji's promise...awww she needed to shed those tears...just imagine all her emotions and feelings just bottled up inside of her with no way to let them out.wow and she remained normal.I would have gone crazy for sure

oh wow minizz👏 👏i hate u how do u write so well❤️ and yes u said all she was the young bride with hopes dreams and love in her eyes and all her dreams shattered she went thorugh the hardship for which she wasnt made...destiny truly tested her but her patience was rewarded ...all wells that ends well

.I can understand Lakshmanji's stand too about not taking her along.He was not going for a picnic right.He needed to take care of his brother and sister-in-law.He feared he would get distracted if she would have come with him because then he would be responsible for her well being too.I feel Lakshmanji's love for his brother outweighed his love for Urmila,his wife but whatever the case maybe he too did sacrifice a lot na.I feel sorry for both of them.

actually the reason for not taking her along wasnt that he will be distracted but it was lord rama lakshmana was the shadow of lord rama...lord rama knew his brother loved him so much that lakshmana couldnt survive for the single day without him...besides lakshmana had faced the demons and darkness of the forest so taking him along wasnt that issue...sita was lord rama wife they have to be hold each other, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do them part but urmila was daughter like to lord rama under no circumstances lord rama would have allowed to take urmila with her...he was her father how can he see her daughter forsaking the pleasures of palace and facing the hardship for him certainly not and if urmila had cleared herself before rama that she couldnt live without lakshmana ...lord rama would have left lakshmana too and maybe lakshmana would have died in shame and distress ...for the sake of every one this lady decided to suffer in silence... isnt she a great lady

For this very reason I would love to go by the theory that she slept for fourteen years and woke up only when her husband came back after the vanvaas...sounds kind of romantic na.

I would like to make it clear that these are my personal opinions and I have no intention of hurting the sentiments of anyone.

to me this is a perfect lovestory any person can have...like everyone they too had a fairytale life but they chose sacrificed for their own ppl and attained the ultimate meaning of love...love means sacirfice but proof they can give to tell how much they love each other wen one didnt blink his eyes for 14 years he didnt sleep nor ate not ever looked at any other lady and the other never sheded a single tear lead a life of ascetic and cried only wen her husband was standing infront of her...i totatlly love them😳

Arti🤗Do keep coming up with more posts about the lesser known characters.I am enjoying these posts a lot😃

aah i think its a bad post noone talks with me😭

Originally posted by: manzilmukul

Haila😆 Chotu Govinda*rubs eyes* Ye kaisa ghor kalyug hai..Paap lovers turned all saints..Hey Lakshman tune ye kaisa kaam kiya..hum sab paapiyon ko jogan bana diya😆 haan yaar he finally sudhoryofy us do u know yesterday i accompanied my mom to a satsang coz they were giving sermons on ram and lakhanji we are nuts😆

Anyways jokes apart...I must salute you and above all Thank you for enlightening us with such wonderful insights about the characters .If I liked your insight about kaikeyi..I cannot hel0p but applaud for the wonderful descriptive details about Urmila and her sacrifice..Very well echoed...⭐️ awww thanks a lot i love layered and tragic characters

IMO her sacrifice was way undermined in Ramyana..although it becomes difficult to talk about each and every character in such a detailed narrative such as Ramyana..BUt I would have loved if thyere were more details about Urmila..though I am in awe with Saket which I have read in tids and bits where Kavi raj talk about Urmila and her sacrifice.

i have read saket i liked it alot though i wanted more insight of her... her pain her dilemma but again its depicts ramayana journey its just one or two poem in which her grief is mentioned i wish i could read a whole literature on this lady and i think valmiki and tulsidas cant write about her as the subject wpuld have grew complex then ramayana is about glorify tale of ramayana if they mentioned urmila's suffering perhaps things would have become complicated

.Wow!! I never knew Urmila was a painter ...!!Wonderful lady indeed...Though falling into a bigger scheme of things ,yet her sacrifice is heart wrenchingI think the legends which say that she slept for 14 yrs may be more of a symbolic interpretation..which indeed symbolises that she had taken burden of her husband's duty in his absence so that he could serve his brother and bhabhi without blinking his eyelids...that means he could serve them without any worry for his family and other responsibilities...PAINFUL !!Aint it?She could not shed those tears ..coz shedding tears would mean she could have shown her weaknessAhhh One strong lady👏The level of her sacrifice cannot be merely quoted in words..actually i dont agree with the theory that urmila slept for 14 years as lakshmana had took the promise to serve his ageing parents infact there is legend that wen bharat and all the mothers have come to meet ram and lakshmana and then they had to return empty handed sumitra (mother of lakshmana) asked wht is the mssg for urmila..he said ask her to plz look after kakeyi mother,i know bharat will not accept kakeyi mother till lord rama return... other ppl in ayodhya will condemn her besides her self guilt may kill her... wen no one is present for kakeyi mother... plz ask urmila to take special care of kakeyi maa ask her to be her daughter like and see she doesnt feel lonely...in such scenario is difficult to accept that she slept leaving her responsiblities aside i go by the theory she didnt blink her eyes like lakshmana and served whole heartedly to her three MILS and yes one glorified lady that we ever found in any other literature who for the sake her love ... let him go to serve his brother and loved him every single day unconditionally