{|Siya ke Ram - Episode Distortion & Frustration Thread 1|} - Page 17

Originally posted by: .Vrish.

I have seen some Ramayan clips - mainly southern w/ subtitles - that have had Sita as Ravan's daughter, and some w/ Ravan @ Sita's swayamvara. That was before the 90s, when the trend of making up your own mythos started.

While Ravan @ Sita's swayamvara might be a part of some literature, it does defy logic in one big way. At Sita's swayamvara, all of her suitors got to see her - it's not like she was hidden someplace only to be revealed to the winner of the contest. In any swayamvara, the bride was the prize, and one got to see her first before participating.

So had Ravan been at that Swayamvara, he would have seen Sita and known how she looks. Her beauty wouldn't have been a surprise to him when Shurpanakha came to him w/ that suggestion. The epic - no matter whose version - clearly has it that when Ravan along w/ Mareech saw Sita, he was enchanted and decided to put his abduction plan into action. Sita's beauty totally possessed him and he did everything that he did.

But had he been at the swayamvara, he'd have seen Sita as well, and then the same reaction would have happened. He would have tried to capture her even if he failed to lift the bow. There is no logical reason why he should have exercised restraint out there: he could easily have defeated all the kings there, and he did not know about Rama's power, so there was no deterrent there, the way there was when he heard of Khar and Dushan getting killed, along w/ the entire rakshasha clan in Panchavati.

I understand different stories and different versions, and usually have no issues digesting them, although stories that look anachronistic don't play well w/ me. But even worse than anachronistic is when they defy logic. The stories about Ravan being @ Sita's swayamvara are clearly illogical, as they fail to address the above issue. That's my main problem w/ it.

Originally posted by: Astoria

I have a doubt.Is the version of Sita being Ravan's daughter present in the Valmiki Ramayan or the Ramacharitramanas by Tulsidas?

Originally posted by: Astoria

I have a doubt.Is the version of Sita being Ravan's daughter present in the Valmiki Ramayan or the Ramacharitramanas by Tulsidas?

Originally posted by: ..RamKiJanaki..

One other point I would like to clarify - people keep claiming Lakshman rekha was not in Valmiki Ramayan, and I agree that it is not described in Aranya Kanda, but in Yuddha Kanda isn't it mentioned by Mandodari? When she speaks to Ravan, she accuses him of not being able to cross "Lakshman's line", and yet he thinks he can win a war against Ram.

So two things are possible. Either that dialogue of Mandodari's is a later interpolation, or Lakshman rekha was removed from Aranya Kand in recent translations, but is there in the original written version, which is probably not even available to us.

What is everyone's opinion regarding this subject? Do you think Lakshman rekha really happened or not?