American Academy of Religion

Rejecting Sita: Indian Responses to the Ideal Man's Cruel Treatment of His Ideal Wife
Author(s): Linda Hess
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 67, No. 1 (Mar., 1999), pp. 1-32
Published by: Oxford University Press
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 Journal of the AmericanAcademyof Religion67/1

AR ARTICLES

Rejecting Sita: Indian Responses

to the Ideal Man's Cruel
Treatment of His Ideal Wife*
LindaHess

THIS ARTICLECOULDALSObe called "TheMysteriesof Normative

Texts."Who decides what'snormative?Who decide who's normal?Who
benefitsand who suffersfrom declarationsof normality?In the inevitable
flow of time and change, how do people manage both to cling to norms
and to alterthem?
Pardon me if I sound monolithic, but for 2,000 years the god-king
Rama'has been way in front of all contendersfor the title of OfficialIdeal
Man in Hindu India. In the opening lines of the Sanskritpoem that is
fountainheadto all laterRamayanatextualtraditions,sageand soon-to-be
First Poet Valmikiquestions sage Narada:"Is there a man in the world
today who is truly virtuous?Who is there who is mighty and yet knows
both whatis rightandhow to act upon it?Who alwaysspeaksthe truthand
holds firmlyto his vows?Who exemplifiesproperconduct and is benevo-

LindaHess is a Lecturerin the Departmentof ReligiousStudiesat StanfordUniversity,Stanford,CA

94305.
* TheresearchforthispaperhasbenefitedfromsupportfromtheAmerican Institute
of Indian
StudiesandtheAmerican Academy I amgrateful
of Religion. to friends
whogavecomments on
drafts, PhilipLutgendorf,
especially PaulaRichman,andJackLlewellyn.
sake,I usethespelling
1Forsimplicity's "Rama" though"Ram"
throughout, vernacular
reflects
usagebetter.
Diacritical
marks arenotusedwithnamesof peopleandplaces;
inmostcasesspelling
reflectsactualEnglishpronunciation(thus Kamban,not Kampan;pariksha,not parikda;Ramcharit-
mdnas,not Ramcaritmanas;chhaya,not chaya).

1
2 Journal of the AmericanAcademyof Religion

lent to all creatures?Who is learned, capable,and a pleasureto behold?

Who is self-controlled,having subduedhis anger?Who is both judicious
and freefrom envy?Who, when his fury is arousedin battle,is fearedeven
by the gods?"(Valmiki1984:121).2Naradareplies:"Themanyvirtuesyou
havenamed arehardto find. Letme think a moment, sage,beforeI speak.
Hearnow of a man who has them all. His name is Rama....."Naradacata-
logues Rama'schief virtuesfor the next twelveverses.
Since then, most Ramayanacomposers and commentatorshave not
had to stop and think for a moment. They knew right awaywho the ideal
man was, and the ideal woman, the ideal kingdom,the ideal set of broth-
ers, and so forth.3One examplecan be taken as emblematicof thousands
of opening statements in books and speeches. Inauguratingan inter-
national conferenceon the Ramayanain Delhi in 1981,SupremeCourt
JusticeHidayatullahquotes a Hindu scholar:"TheRadmyanais a mirror
of the highestidealsof Hindu cultureand civilisation.Hereinis described
the idealhero SriRamachandrawho is not only the exemplarfor all living
and dutiful sons, but who is the ideal husband and king.... Sita is the
noblest flower of Indian womanhood, devoted to her lord in thought,
word and deed ... Therecan be no bettertext-book of moralswhich can
be safely placed in the hands of youths to inspire them to higher and
nobler idealsof conduct and character"(Iyengar:27).
Speakingforhimself,then, JusticeHidayatullah,a Muslim,says:"Rama
and Sita ... are exemplifiersof right thought, right speech and right
action underall circumstances.Sitarepresentscompassionand grace.She
suffers most but preserves herself with heroism, love and devotion.
She is the ideal wife and is the model for our womanhood ... Rdmdyana,
one of our classics,gives to our youth the fundamentalsof our culture"
(Iyengar:28).
But in anotherwelcomingaddressto that sameconference,Umashan-
kar Joshi remarks:"If the moves one to the depths of one's
it is due to Rdmdyana
the rawdeal meted out to Sita"(Iyengar:24).
being, perhaps
This juxtaposition of ideal and raw deal provides the irritationthat
moves us, like oysters,to createsomething here. Sita'srawdeal is drama-
tized primarilyin three episodes that have remained controversialover
the centuries.Firstis the agniparikshaor fire ordealin which Sita, at the
end of the greatwar between Ramaand the demons, must undergoa test
of chastitythat requiresher to throw herselfinto a blazingfire. Secondis

2 Versenumbers
havebeenomittedhere.
3 Onereaderhassuggestedto methatRamais notheldup asanidealequallyin allpartsof India
andthatmygeneralizations
maybe moreapplicableto northIndiathanto thesouthernandeastern
regions.
 Hess:RejectingSita 3

the abandonment of Sita, recounted in the final book of the Valmiki

Some years after returning to his capital, Ayodhya, Rama
decides that-despite her having passed the fire test with flying colors,
Ramdyan.a.
despite personal certaintythat she is innocent, and despite her being
his
in an advanced state of pregnancy-Sita must be banished from the
kingdom because suspicions about her chastity are proliferatingin the
countryside. Not only banished, she is deceptively taken to the forest
by Lakshmanand abandonedwithout a word of farewellor explanation
from her husband. The third moment of rejection, a repriseof the agni
parfkshawith a variation, occurs at the end of the ValmikiRamayana.
Ramamakesa final attemptto bring Sitabackaftershe has lived for years
in the forest, raisingtheir sons to young manhood without him. He sug-
gests that she endure one more fire ordeal before being allowed to stay
with him in Ayodhya.Sitarejectsthis offerand callsupon motherearthto
open and receiveher.Earthopens, Sitaenters,earth closes. Sitais gone.
These episodes have disturbedIndian poets and audiencesfor many
centuries. How do I know that? For one thing, many devotional Ra-
mayanasfrom the twelfth centuryon eliminatethe episode of Sita'saban-
donment. Kambanand Tulsidas,for example,end the storywith rdmrajya,
the golden age of Rama'sreign, iconized in the image of Rama and Sita
sitting together on the throne with gods, family,and loving devotees all
around.Thosewho havereasonto attackthe Ramayanaarelikelyto single
out these episodes to provethat Ramais no hero and the story'smessages
arepernicious.'Creativealterationsof the fire ordealin textualtraditions
reflect anxious discomfort with the scene (cf. n. 10 below). I have often
heardpeople suggestthat the abandonmentepisode is inauthentic,a later
additionto the text. "Ramacouldn'thavedone that,"some havesaidto me,
or more poignantly,"MyRamacouldn'thavedone that."An elderlyBrah-
min priest,interviewedin a documentaryfilm, eloquentlyconveyedby his
sparse words and strained expression the difficulty that these episodes
cause to religious Ramayanaenthusiasts.When askedwhy Rama spoke
cruellyto Sitaand made her undergothe fireordeal,he replied(in Hindi):

4 B.R. Ambedkar'sRiddlesin Hinduism, vol. 4, contains an article, "The Riddle of Rama and
Krishna,"that sharplycriticizes these popular deified figures as they appearin the and
Mahabhdrata.The posthumouspublicationof the volume by the Maharashthragovernment in 1988
Rdmayan.a
caused a furor and protractedpolitical struggle.An exampleof Ambedkar'scriticismsas reportedin
a 1988article:"Ramawas not an ideal husband.His treatmentof Sitawas in fact extremelycruel.He
even puts her through an agniparikshaand later abandonsher in the forest,with no thought of the
fact that she is pregnant"(Balarama:28).The author notes: "Interestingly,Ambedkaris not the first
social reformerto make such a critical appraisalof the Hindu epics and scriptures.In Maharashtra
itself MahatmaJyothibhaiPhule, BhaskarraoJadhav,PrabodhankarThackeray(fatherof Bal Thack-
eray)and leadersof the Satyashodhakand Lokhitwadimovements,were no less criticalof theseworks
than Ambedkar."
4 Journalof the AmericanAcademyof Religion

"Itwas only for show.Do you understand?Thereare some episodes about

which answerscan'tbe given. It'sbest if you don't ask about them. It is
very... [using the English word] objectionable.There are two or three
things that cast dark spots on the ideal man [maryaidapurushottama].
Pleasedon'taskabout these..." (Benegal).
In this articleI will examine receptionof the agniparfksha,mainlyby
Indianaudiences,over a long period. I can only touch on some landmark
moments and a few vivid examples.Fromthe completion of the Valmiki
thereissuesan endlessstreamof literary in poetic
and dramaticforms,in Sanskritand vernacularlanguages.
Ramayan.a, Ramayan.as,
They creatively
engagewith the tradition,alteringplot points, shifting emphases,adding
and dropping episodes, bearing the marks of regional cultures and his-
toricaldevelopments.
As our scholarlystudies have widened in recent years,we have gone
beyond attending merely to literaryhistory and and regional diversity.
We have also begun to document the vibrancyof performancetraditions
as well as noticing class, gender,and ethnic differencesin the treatment
of this inexhaustible narrative.5We can't interview people in the first,
twelfth, or sixteenth century.But the literaryrecorditself gives evidence
of reception; changes in plot and emphasis show changes in comfort
levels,values,imaginingsof the characters.
Studyingreceptionin our own time throughinterviewsand fieldwork
is possiblebut difficult.It is difficultto know whom to interviewand what
claimsto make about the representativenessof the voices we bring forth.
It is difficultto framequestionsand to listen in a way that will evoke per-
sonal thoughts, feelings, and experiencesas they relateto texts and reli-
gious figures.The best work I have seen on currentreceptionof Sita and
Ramais MadhuKishwar's"Yesto Sita,No to Ram!The ContinuingPopu-
larity of Sita in India."A short version of the essay was published in the
journal Manushi (1997); a longer version includes extensive interviews
with women and men of diverseclassesand communities (forthcoming).
These interviews and the author'sanalysisare very revealing.Revealing
in another way are Steve Derne's interviews with middle class men in
Banaras(1995a). Both sets of interviewswill be discussedbelow.
My surveyof receptiongives glimpsesof five moments in the history
of Sita'sfire ordeal,touching on the followingexamples:

1. Valmiki'sversion,roughly2,000 yearsold.
2. The approximatelytwelfth-centurydevotionalRamayanaof Kamban,
one of the greatestand most popularworksof Tamilliterature.

5 For example, Richman 1991, forthcoming; Thiel-Horstmann;Kapur;Lutgendorf 1991, 1995;

Mankekar;Blackburn;Schechner1985,1993;Schechnerand Hess;Hess 1983, 1988, 1994.
 Hess:RejectingSita 5

3. The devotionalHindi Ramayanaof Tulsidas,written in the 1570sand

still immenselypopularand influential.
4. The serialized television Ramayanaproduced by Ramanand Sagar
on Doordarshan,India'sgovernment-ownedtelevision network, in
1987-89.
5. A set of "protesting"examples-mostly but not entirely from the
twentieth century-including folk, feminist, low-caste, and other
materials.

WOMAN IN FLAMES
At the end of the war in Lanka,when the long battle between Rama's
armyand the demons culminateswith Rama'skilling of the demon-king
Ravana,Sitais finallyinformedby Hanumanof her liberation.Through-
out the ordealof abduction,attemptsat seduction,imprisonment,terror,
and threatsto her life, she has fearlesslydefied the demon-king and fixed
her attentionon her husband-lord,to whom she bearsunwaveringdevo-
tion. Now all she wants is to be united with him again.In Valmiki'spoem
she wonderswhy he has sent Hanumaninstead of coming himself. Every
moment's delay is a new agony for her. Rama has ordered that she be
bathed,perfumed,deckedout in beautifulclothing and jewelry,and even
that her hair be curled, before she is presentedto him. This dismaysher,
but she complies.When finallyshe is broughtbeforehim, a stunning dis-
playof crueltyis enactedby the ideal man.
Showingaffectionfor his clamoringsoldiersbut none for his wife, he
orders,againstcustom and expectation,that they all be allowedto look at
her face.Sheapproacheshim "confusedand shrinkingwithin herself"but
still open and vulnerable,casting aside anxiety and gazing at him with
undisguised love. Rama now gives a long blusteringspeech, celebrating
his own valor and prowess, proclaimingthat he has won her back and
defeatedhis enemy,expunged the stain and avengedthe insult causedby
the abduction.He dwells on the achievementsof his leadinggeneralsand
repeatedlyrefersto winning her backin termsof wiping out an insult and
preservinghis own honor. In case she misses any part of the message,he
specifies:"Letit be known that this arduouscampaign,so gloriouslycom-
pleted throughthe supportof my friends,was not undertakenwholly for
your sake."But the worst is still to come:
A suspicionhasarisenwithregardto yourconduct,andyourpresenceis
as painfulto me as a lampto one whoseeyeis diseased.Henceforth,go
whereyou like,I giveyou leave,oh Janaki.Beautifulone,the ten direc-
tionsareat yourdisposal.I'llhavenothingmoreto do withyou.What
manof honorwouldindulgehis passionso farasto takebacka woman
6 Journal of the AmericanAcademyof Religion

who has dwelledin the house of another?Youhavebeen takeninto

Ravana's lap,andhe haslookedlustfullyatyou.HowcanI, whoboastof
belongingto anillustriouslineage,reclaimyou?Mygoalin reconquering
youhasbeenachieved.I no longerhaveanyattachment to you.Gowhere
you like.... Go to Lakshmana or Bharata,Shatrughna, Sugriva,or the
demonVibhishana. Makeyourchoice,whoeverpleasesyoumost.Surely
Ravana, seeingyourravishing,celestialbeauty,didnotrespectyourbody
whenyoudwelledin hishouse.6
Sita weeps bitterly,then wipes her face and gives a spirited speech. It
includesa passionaterebukeof his crueltyand a rationalanalysisof where
moralresponsibilitylies in the case of violence againstwomen. Not minc-
ing words,she says,"Whydo you talkto me like that, oh hero, like a com-
mon man talking to an ordinarywoman? ... You,lion among men, by
giving way to wrath and passing prematurejudgment on a woman, have
actedlike a worthlessman."
She showsa healthysense of her own worth, even at a moment of such
crushing injury:"I receivedmy name from Janakabut am the daughter
of the earth. You have failed to appreciatefully the nobility of my con-
duct. ... Youhave no reverencefor the joining of our hands in my girl-
hood and my affectionatenature.All this you have cast away."Then in a
voice "strangledwith sobs,"she demands that Lakshmanraisea pyre for
her. "Theseunjust reproacheshave destroyedme, I cannot go on living.
Publiclyrenouncedby my husband,who is insensibleto my virtue, there
is only one recourse-the ordealby fire."
A pile of wood is assembled and set ablaze. Circumambulatingher
husbandand then the fire, declaringher innocence and purity,callingon
the "witnessof all beings"to protect her, likened to "goldthat has been
melted in the crucible"and "astreamof butterhallowedby the recitation
of mantras,"she throwsherselfinto the flames.Ramaremainssilent.
The fact that the fire god himself steps forth to save Sita from being
burnedis ratherbesidethe point. That deusex machinais irrelevantto the
human drama,which is all that can be normativefor the human audience
of the text. In the human dramaa livingwoman'sbody is consignedto the
flames, as culmination of her careerof perfect devotion to her husband
and as finaltest of her sexual and psychologicalpurity.
Modernpictorialrepresentationsof Sita'sfire ordealalwayscall to my
mind the other (in)famousexampleof woman-burningdescribedin cer-
tain prestigious Sanskrittexts: the sati-literally, true woman or good

6 Valmiki1959:335-336.This episode occurs in sargas115-120of the Yuddhakarda. The new trans-

lation,vol. 6 in the Princeton is not yet available,so I relyon the Shastritranslation.I have
Ramayania,the
taken the liberty of slightlymodernizing language,especiallychanging "thee/thy/thou"to forms
of "you."
 Hess:RejectingSita 7

woman; in social history,usually understood as a widow immolated on

her husband'sfuneralpyre. In both casesthe key markersof the woman's
characterare purity and extremedevotion to husband.In both casesthey
are iconized as resting with divine serenity in the blaze, smiling as the
flamesenvelopthem.'
Fromthe sixth century,bhakti,or ferventdevotionalismfocused on a
personalform of God, flourishedin south Indiaand beyond.When Kam-
ban composed the first greatvernacularRamayanain Tamilaround the
twelfth century,Rama was a fullblown incarnation of Vishnu, Sita was
taken to incarnateVishnu'sconsort Lakshmi,and the text was soaked
from beginning to end in devotional feelings and exhortations. Bhakti
came forth in many languagesin the centuriesthat followed,
and, while presentingan intriguingarrayof differences,they all had one
Ramayai.as
tendency in common: as the whole point of life was to love Rama,Rama
had to be made as lovable as possible. If there was anythingproblematic
about his characteror actions, that thing tended to be muted, explained,
or made to disappear.Bhakti Ramayanasshould be so composed as to
invite the audiencein, encouragetheir emotional identificationwith the
story,and build to a crescendoof love and fulfillmentin the triumph of
Ramaand ramrajya,his ideal reign over the ideal kingdom.
Havinggeneralizedin this way,I have to say that Kamban'streatment
of the fire ordeal does not prove my point. It is true that the poem con-
stantly celebratesthe divinity of Rama, affirming love as his essential
nature and as the inevitable response he calls forth in others, showing
Rama and Sita sharingmany moments of idyllic mutual love. But when
the time for the fire ordealcomes, Kambandoes not soften the harshness
of Valmiki'sversion. In fact, he makes it worse. Amazingly,Kamban's
RamaaccusesSita of abandoninghim. He twists her miraculousbirth in
a furrow of earth into the nasty remarkthat she was born like a worm
from the soil ratherthan from a decent familyline. He invertsthe univer-
sal assessmentof Sita as the embodimentof chastityand perfectwoman-

7 Sati as widow-immolation is not a common occurrence,but Satimdtas-goddesses believed to

have been human satis, apotheosizedafter their heroic self-sacrifice-are widely worshiped.Recent
studies of sati include Mani; Hawley;Harlan.See McKean,plate 17,for a photo of a recentlyestab-
lished, politicallychargedSatiicon. An unforgettablevisual image is availablein AnandPatwardhan's
1994 film Father,Son and Holy War,in which a woman domestic workercomments on her under-
standingof a devotionalposter representingthe 1987immolation of a young widow, Roop Kanwar,
in Rajasthan.A group interviewwith male supportersof sati, includingsome of Roop Kanwar'srela-
tives, is also very interesting.In a slide lecture at the Sita Symposium,ColumbiaUniversity,May 1,
1998,VishakhaDesai showedthat paintingsof the agniparikshapriorto this centurytended to show
Sitain a much more activeposition, stridingtowardthe fire and standingin it ratherthan sitting on a
pyre in sati-fashion.
8 Journal of the AmericanAcademyof Religion

hood,hurlingthis condemnation: "Womanhood, greatness,/highbirth,

the power/knownas chastity,/rightconduct,/clarityandsplendor/and
truth:/all haveperishedby the merebirth/ of a singlecreaturesuchas
you."Finally,he saysplainlythat she shoulddie-"or, if you won'tdo
that,/thengo somewhere,/anywhere,/away." Thishas,asDavidShulman
observes,andas Kambanhimselfsuggests,the tasteof madness.8 At the
endof thisexerciseRamadoesnot evensay,ashe doesin Valmiki,thathe
had to go aheadwith the fireordealfor the sakeof publicappearances,
thoughhe alwaysknewthatSitawaspure.Ramasaysnothing.
Shulman's analysisof the episodeis profoundandsubtle.It opensto
thosewho do not readTamilsomeof the astoundingbeautiesof Kam-
ban'spoetry,the complexityof Kamban's studyof love andof relations
betweenthehumananddivine,thecontinuityovera millenniumof clas-
sicalTamilrepresentations of loveandpassionin poetry.It alsoprovides
a lucid comparisonof the agniparfkshain Valmikiand Kamban.But
Shulmanfinallyis contentto focushis attentionon "Kamban's protago-
nist ... a godwhodiscoversrepeatedly, oftento his ownamazement, the
painfulcognitiveand emotionalconsequencesof beinghuman"(109).
It is not thatShulmanfailsto notethe insanelycruelinjusticeof Rama's
behaviorandthe passionateintegrityof Sita'sresponse(articulating her
devotion,suffering,fury,anddespair,Shulmanfeels,"thepoetis largely
speakingfor himselfthroughher mouth")(103). But Shulmanis not
interestedin pickingup the gendertheme.Sitais a tokenforthe devotee
in the conventionsof bhaktireligion.Sheis a lover/victimof Godwith
whomit is convenientforanydevotee,maleor female,to identify;in fact,
sheis usedas a mouthpieceforKamban, whopositionshimselfas a mad-
foolloverof Ramain hispoem.'Shulmandoesn'tseemto mindherbeing
usedthisway.Thespecificityof thehusband-wife relationship,therelent-
lessremindersof thehusband's the
superiority, horrifying abuse inherent
in the modelof thehusband-lord andtheworshipfulwifewholivesonly
to guardherpurityandsurrender to his will,thesacralizingof the whole
arrangement the
by making perpetrator an incarnation of God-none of
thisbecomesnoteworthyin Shulman's essay.'o

8 Thetranslations,
andin facteverything I knowaboutthetheKamban episode,comefromShul-
man'sfinearticle.
9 Similarlythegopisin thestoriesof Krishna bhaktiarefemalecharacters emblematic of alldevo-
tees.Mennotonlyfeelfreeto identifywiththemasloversof Krishna but,in fact,tendto takeoverthe
enjoyingtheintimaciesof feminization
territory, in theirreligiouslife,maintaining malepowerand
statusin theirordinarylife,andnot hesitatingto excludeandsubordinate womenin bothreligious
andworldlyactivitiesandinstitutions.
10In 1972R.K.Narayan, thewell-known English-language Indiannovelist,published a "shortened
modernproseversion"of the Ramayana basedmainlyon Kamban.It is intriguingto me that
Narayan pointedlyexcludedKamban's versionof thefireordeal,thoughhe didnoteffacetheepisode
 Hess:RejectingSita 9

If Kamban in the twelfth century did not feel any compulsion to

mitigate Rama'scrueltyin the agniparfkshascene, Tulsidasin sixteenth-
century north India did. In his Ramcharitmanasthe scene is still there,
but an elaborateplot device explainsit away.Tulsidasgot the idea for this
device (along with a number of other ideas) from a fifteenth-century
devotionalRdmayania in Sanskritcalledthe Adhydtma In the
third of the epic'sseven books-Aranyakanda, the book of forest exile-
Ramayan.a."
the train of events that will lead to full-scale war with the demons gets
rolling. A violent encounterbetween Lakshmanand Ravana'ssister (ini-
tially an erotic advanceon her part) brings her two brothersand a host
of demon warriorsto attackRamaand Lakshman.Justbefore this battle
starts Rama takes Sita aside and secretlytells her that she is going to go
awayfor a time, while he acts out a charminghuman ild ("play,"the di-
vine dramaand sport). Rama summons Agni, the Vedic god of fire, and
asks him to protect Sita during this sequenceof events. Firetakes her in,
and from fire emergesa false Sita, calledin the text chhayaSita (chhdyd=
reflection or shadow)."'She looks and acts exactlylike the real Sita. But
she is not the real Sita. Tulsidasmakes a point of sayingthat even Laksh-
man had no idea this was going on. Three books later, when the agni
parfkshais prepared,it looks as if Sita'spurity is being tested in the fire.
But this is not the case.All that is reallyhappeningis that the chhaydSita
is re-enteringthe fire whence she came, and the fire god is showing up to
restorethe realSita,who has been under his protectionfor a year or so.
This deviceseems transparentlyto reflectthe discomfortthat has built
up around the episode in a devotional environment where everyone
knows that the Sitaof the story is innocent and long-suffering,and every-
one is supposed to love Rama in a rising tide of fervorand surrenderin
which all resistancesare dissolved.The fire ordealis shockinglyunjust;it
sticks in the heart.As if the mere spectacleof Sita'sbody enteringthe fire
were not enough, Rama'scruel speech in the older texts jacksup the level
of pain almost incredibly.Tulsidasomits the cruelspeechentirely,though
buried in one verse is a fleeting referenceto some "harshwords" that

entirely.He entitleshis chap. 13 "Interlude," suggestingthat it is not integralto the story.Beneaththe

title is this heading:"ToLinkUp the Narrative,an Extractfrom Valmiki."Narayangives a very mild
one-page summary of the Valmikiversion (comparedto seven pages in the Shastritranslation).He
also dismissesthe story of the abandonmentof Sita,sayingat the end of his "Epilogue":"Iam omit-
ting a sequelwhich describesa second partingbetween Ramaand Sita,with the latterdeliveringtwins
in a forest ... [T]his part of the story is not popular,nor is it consideredto be authentic,but a latter-
day additionto Valmiki'sversion"(171).
11W.L.Smith,in Traditionsin EasternIndia,informs us that the traditionof a falseSita
createdby Agni goesRamayania
backto the Kurmapurdna and is also featuredin the Brahmavaivartapurana (92).
Smith'ssection "TheProblemof Sita"(91-99) bringstogethermuch interestinginformation.
12Tulsidas, do. 23 to following ch. 5. ChhayaSita is sometimes called maya (illu-
Aranyakadnd
sory) Sita.
10 Journal of the AmericanAcademyof Religion

Ramaspoke.As thereis no cruelspeechby Rama,thereis no outraged

rejoinderby Sita.Shehasbecomemoresilent.
The sceneproceedsquietlyandconcludesquickly.Sitaspeaksmini-
mally.First,afterthe mentionof harshwords,she ordersLakshmanto
builda fire.Whenthe fireis lit, she is saidto rejoiceinwardlyand feel
no fear.Sheeitherthinksor says(thetextis ambiguous):"Ifin thought,
word,anddeedI haveneverallowedanyonebutRamato entermyheart,
thenlet this fire,whichknowseveryone's truestate,be likecool sandal-
woodpasteto me."Finallysheentersthe fire,concentrating on the Lord
andcryingout,"Victory to theLordof Kosala,whosefeetareadoredwith
puredevotionbyShiva!" Thus,thepoetcomments,boththefalseSitaand
theworldlystain(of herabduction)wereburnedin thefiercefire,butno
one reallyperceivedwhattheLordhaddone.
Tulsidashas it both ways:he has the appearanceof a fireordealto
removetheworldlystain,andhe hasan alibiprotectingRamafromaccu-
sationsof crueltyandinjustice,Sitafromthepainof rejectionandpublic
trial.Unfortunately,Ramadoesn'tbotherto tellthepublicaboutthedeep
mystery of his doings.Soto theireyesit is justa fireordeal.Whatwould
be thepointof concealingthisimportantinformation? If thereis a prob-
lemaboutthrowinga goodwomanintothefire,wouldn'tthegreatexem-
plarof moralperfectionwant to communicatethis?Here,as in many
otherplaces,poetsandcommentators assureus thattheLord'smysterious
are our
ways beyond comprehension.
WhileRama'scruelspeechon the occasionof the agniparikshawas
excludedin Tulsidas,it was not forgotten.Evidencethat it was verymuch
presentin the minds of nineteenth-centuryTulsiRamayanaenthusiastsis
availablein the scriptof the Ramlilaof Ramnagar,the month-longannual
performancein Banarasthat has been abundantlystudied by scholarsin
the last two decades."4The Ramlilais a North Indianpeformancetradition
whose origin is popularlytracedbackto Tulsidashimself, in the sixteenth
century.Ramlilasare closely identified with Tulsi'stext, and the monu-
mental annual production sponsoredby the Maharajasof Banarassince
the earlynineteenthcenturymeticulouslyrepresentsthe Tulsidasversion
of the epic in verbaland visual detail. The entire epic poem of Tulsidasis
sung out by a group of recitersin the course of the thirty-day outdoor
performance;each passageof sung text alternateswith actorsperforming
the scene and speakingin a prose that closelyparallelsthe originalpoetry.
The script of the RamnagarRamlila underwent revision in the late
nineteenthcentury,new speechesand songs being addedunderthe direc-
tion of the famous writerHarishchandraand a distinguishedcourt guru,

13 The lines are in Lankakanda,

from dohd108throughthe following chhanda1.
14Hess 1983;Kapur;Lutgendorf1991:248-349;Schechner1985, 1993;Schechnerand Hess.
 Hess:RejectingSita 11

poet, and scholar,Kashthajihvasvami.'5 It is not clear when various ele-

ments of the present script were written, but we can say with reasonable
certaintythat everythingwas in placeby 1885,the yearof Harishchandra's
death. A short but hard-hittingversion of Rama'sharshspeech is written
back into the Ramlilascript, even though it is not present in Tulsidas:"I
have undertakenthese deeds so that you would be liberatedand returned
to me, your husband,and would not growold in the house of the demons.
This is why I destroyedthe demons. Now you can go whereveryou please.
Who would accept a woman who had been in the hands of another for
even a moment?Certainlynot a man of dharmalike myself!Whetheryou
are righteousor unrighteous [dharmse, adharmse], hear me oh Janaki,I
have no desireto be with you."16
Why did the writers reinsert this problematic speech? No doubt
because they felt it was dramaticallynecessary:otherwise, how would
Sita'scall for a fire be motivated?In a number of other cases the Ramlila
scriptwriterscomposed dialogue where Tulsidasonly indicated vaguely
that somethinghad been said.We can observethat, howeverproblematic,
they still felt it was acceptableto use the speech.
It was not so with the TV Rdmayanza. There was anticipatorycon-
troversy in 1988 as the serial approached the agni pariksha episode.
How would director-writerRamanandSagarhandle it? Would he show
Sita enteringthe fire?More pointedly than everbefore, the very presence
of this scene was understoodto be provocative,sensitive,likelyto arouse
protest.
Sagarhandlesit, as he handlesotherpotentiallycontroversialpoints in
the epic, with extremekindnessto Rama.Thereis no hint of a harshword
or thought from him. As the scene approacheshe is brooding, troubled.
He elicits sympathy.The order to build a pyre is issued privately,just
beforeSita'sarrival,inside a hut whereRamais alone with Lakshman.It is
Rama,not Sita,who ordersthe fire.In this, as in other matters,Sagarfeels
compelledto rewritethe scene radically,makingup eventsand wordsthat
are unprecedentedin previousRdmayania texts.
Tulsidasstatesexplicitlyin Aranyakandathat Lakshmandid not know
about the chhdydSita, never suggestingthat the secret was later revealed

15 Lutgendorf(1991:266-267)and Dalmia (79, 82) give brief accountsof this revision.They differ
on the nature of the Ramlilabefore the revision. Lutgendorfsays that earlierdialogues in Bhojpuri
were modernized "into a modified Khari Bholi, the dialect of Delhi that [Harishchandra]had
adoptedfor prose writing."Dalmia assumesthat the actorshad previouslymimed their performance
to the recitationof Tulsidas'spoem and that in Harishchandra's
time prose dialogueswere composed
for the firsttime.
16 In 1976, when RichardSchechnerand I were doing fieldwork together in the Ramalila,the
Maharajagraciouslyarrangedat our request to have a copy of the Ramliladialogues made for us.
They were writtenout by hand in small copybooksthat arethe sourcefor this translation.
12 Journal of the AmericanAcademyof Religion

to him. Sagar,in contrast,has Ramatell his brotherthe whole story just

before the agnipariksha,completewith flashback.Buildingon the tradi-
tional portrayalof Lakshmanas angryand painedbut helplesslyobedient
in the face of Rama'sorders regardingSita in the last two books, Sagar
puts into Lakshman'smouth wordsthat haveneverappearedin any previ-
ous Ramayania.Lakshmanvoices the outrage that might come from a
conglomerationof modern speakers.I seem to hear in his protestsbits of
nineteenth-century British moral legislators, Hindu reformists, and
Hindu revivalists,and, in one or two lines, bits that might be associated
with feministsand other politicalactivistsof the presenttime."
L:Brother! Whyareyouso troubled? Bhabhi's comingis delayed-is that
it?But why didn'tyou send me to bring Bhabhi?Youcouldn'tgo into the
city,but I could. [Bhabhi= elderbrother'swife]
R: Lakshman!Arrangementsmust be made for a fire.
L:Arrangementsfor a fire?Why?
R:Won'tSitahaveto arriveby passingthroughthe gate of fire?
L:Bhabhi?Arriveby passingthrougha gate of fire?
R:Yes.
L:Mother? MotherSita?No,brother!Thisis an atrocity,aninjustice.
R:Lakshman!
L:Brother!I'veunderstoodwhatyoumean.YoumeanthatMotherSita
willbe forcedto go througha trialbyfireto proveherpurity.
R:Lakshman!
L:[hisvoicebreaking]Thatsati'"who,cleavingto the dharmaof devo-
tion to herhusband[pativratadharma], refusedthe splendid,luxurious
palacesof Ravana,conquerorof thethreeworlds,andchoseto situnder
theopensky,enduringcoldandheat,sufferingfromsunandrain?
R:Lakshman!
L:A king'sdaughter, anemperor's daughter-in-law,whowanderedbare-
footbehindherhusbandthroughthe forest-insteadof worshiping her,
youputherthrougha trial?Forwhatfault,brother? Forwhatfault?
R:Lakshman! Listento me.

17 Forinstance,the use of the word

"atrocity"(atyachar)and the rhetoricalquestion as to whether
women who arevictims of male violence should be calledcriminals.
18The broadmeaningis a perfectwoman, a woman embodyingtruth (sat), an idealwife; the com-
mon specificmeaning, and probableassociationfor most listeners,is a widow who sacrificesherself
on her husband'sfuneralpyre.
 Hess:RejectingSita 13

L:No, brother!I won'tlistento anythingon thissubject.If a powerless

womanwithno oneto helpheris takenawaybyforce,hasshebecomea
criminal? I amthe criminal,whogot angryatwhatshesaid,andagainst
yourcommandleftheralone.Becauseof me,thatgoddesshadto suffer
so muchpain.I amtheonewhoshouldbe punished.Sheis no criminal,
I am a criminal,I who failedto protecther.Andis thatfaultlesswoman
to be burnedin the fire?Therecan be no greaterinjusticeagainstall
womankind.Willyou do this injustice?Remember, I regardBhabhias
mymother,andbeingrelatedto herasa son,I canevenfightagainstyou.
Ramathen also gives a speech that has no precedentin Valmiki,Kam-
ban, or Tulsidas:
Whatevergaveyou the ideathat I am testingSita,or that I haveany
doubtabouther?Sita,whois neverout of myheartevenforan instant,
whomI am watchingeverymomentwith my divineeyes.Cananyone
else give me proof of her purityand sati-hood?Lakshman! If a man
doesn'ttrusta womanin hisheart,canhe attainfulltrustfromanyexte-
riorproofs?AndwhenwereRamaand Sitaevertwo separatebeings?
Theyareone.If I testher,it meansI amtestingmyself.WhatI amdoing
hasnothingto do withdoubtortesting.Youdon'tknow-if Ravanahad
laida handon therealSita,hishandwouldhavebeenburnedupbythat
supremesati'sglory.19
Now Lakshmanis confused. She'sgoing to pass through the gate of
fire, but it's not a test? Rama speaks to him in intimately affectionate
tones, explainingthe profound mysteryof the chhayaSita. Herein Book
6 of the Rdmayaniathere is a full flashbackon screen to these events that
took place in Book 3. Rama tells Sita about the upcoming Mllawith the
demons and calls upon the fire god Agni to hold her in his protection
until demonkind is destroyed.Agni appearsand takes her in; the false
Sita emerges.None of this was shown when the TV serialwas presenting
Book 3. It was savedfor this flashbackin order to maximize its power to
explainthe fire ordeal.
Now we havereachedthe chargedmoment when Sita (or the falseSita,
who exactlyresemblesthe real Sita) must actuallyenter the fire.The situ-
ation has alreadybeen substantiallydefused by Lakshman'simpassioned
speech on the intolerableinjustice to Sita and to all womankind,capped
by his readinessto fight with Rama;by Rama'stenderexpressionof eter-
nal love for, oneness with, and trust of Sita; and by the flashbackfrom
Aranyakdnda.Still, depicting the woman in flames is a sensitive matter.
19Smith cites a in which Sita is literallytransformedinto fire. Agni assuresher that
Ravanawill not be able to touch her:"(Ravana)will not be ableto seatyou upon his lap ... he will be
Ramayai.a
killedby the heat of the fire;if he graspsyour hand he will be burnt"(93). Smith also mentions other
texts in which Sita'sblazingheat or light preventsRavanafrom touchingher.
14 Journal of the AmericanAcademyof Religion

Sagarslides through the scene, as he later does in the case of Sita'saban-

donment, by means of a long musicalbridge.The fire itself is depictedas
an unrealisticcircleof small flameson the flat ground-no pile of wood,
no roaringblaze.20The entryinto fire,the appearanceof Agni, the restora-
tion of Sita, all occur as alternatingmale and female voices, with instru-
mental accompaniment,sing lines from Tulsidas.The tunes are familiar,
the music soothing and sweet. The poetry of Tulsidashas an enfolding
and completing effect. It raisesthe sense of sacredness,of rightness.It is
comfortable.

COMMENTARIES ON TULSIDAS
In a half-dozennineteenthand twentieth-centurycommentariesthat
I checkedthereis virtuallyno sign that traditionalexegeteswere troubled
by the agnipariksha.21In Shankavalfs,collectionsof "doubts"wherepar-
ticularlines or issuesaresingledout as rich or problematic,this episode is
never discussed (see Hess forthcoming). In standardcommentariesthat
go over everyline this section is handled like any other. The expounders
(all male) speak unhesitatinglyin the voice of brahmanicalorthodoxy,
praisingSita as a perfectembodimentof pativratya,pure devotion to her
husband-lord.Thus the
Manas-piyiush:
The attractive(ramanfya)qualityof womenis shownhere.Even
whenthe motherof the universeis in anguishoverthe lordof the uni-
verse'sextremestatement,she does not saya singlesharpwordto her
husband.Throughherdutifulaction,sheshowsthatdoingherlord'swill
is dearerthanlife for a woman.... Fora womanhusbandis god,hus-
bandis friend,husbandis guru.... See,evenin thiscalamity,evenafter
hearingherhusband's bitterwords,shedoesnot forgetto do obeisance
to him and reverentlyconcentrateon him [beforeenteringthe fire].
[Neverfor an instantwaveringfrom utter devotionto her lord in
thought,wordanddeed]-beyond this,thereis reallyno otherpurpose
fora womanto takeon a body.... (Sharan:552)
In Valmiki,SitaansweredRama.Understanding thatthis conflicts
withpativratadharma andis harmfulto theeducationof thepeople,the
Manaspoetdidnot includeit. Thespeechwasputthere[inValmiki]for
literaryreasons.(Sharan:549)

20 Thisstylizedcircleof flamesis verysimilarto the presentation

in the Ramnagar Ramlila-
anotherexampleof Lutgendorf's thesisthatRamlilaconventionsstronglyinfluencedSagar(1995).
21 TheManas-prlyfsh is a seven-volume anthologyof excerptsfromprestigiousnineteenthand
earlytwentieth-century commentaries. Inninepagesdevotedto theagnipariksha episode,onlythree
lines suggestdoubtaboutthe authenticityof Rama'sharshspeechas foundin Valmikiand the
Mahabhdrata: "Whatharshwordshe spoke-this hasneverbeenrevealed bytheManaspoet.... See
Valmiki115andMahabhdrata Vanaparva.Thereadershouldknowthatthereis doubtconnectedto
thesewords.. ."(Sharan:548).
 Hess: Rejecting Sita 15

Notice that the commentatorshere pay no attentionto the difference

between the illusory Sita and the real Sita. They treat the chhyadSita as
fully exemplary.I have learned over years of watching the Ramlila and
later the TV Radmyanawith audiences in Banarasthat the story of the
chhayaSita, buried in a few lines of verse in Tulsidas'sAranyakanda,is
little known and easily forgotten. When Ramanand Sagar inflated its
prominenceby showing it as a flashbackjust before the fire ordeal,many
people in the audience were amazed. They didn't know about Tulsidas's
chhayaSita, and some thought that Sagarhad made up the whole thing.22
SteveDerne reportsthat middle-classmen in Banaras,like the commen-
tators of the Mdnas-pifysh, are likely to construe the fire ordeal literally
as a model of how the ideal wife should behave: "GopalMishra, who
says that he always undertakes a ritual bath before watching the TV
Rdmayania, says that Rama gave Sita the test of fire 'to show people that
Sita had remainedvirtuous.... If Sita had been unpure ..., she would
have burned instantly in the fire. But Sita didn't burn. She was saved,
provingthe rightnessof her character'"(1995a:192n. 3).
Dern6 also reports that his interviewees regularly appeal to the
Ramayaniaas a model of husband-wiferelations:
Men can easilymarshalevidencefrom [Tulsidas's] Rdmcharitmanas,
to justifyarrangedmarriages, restrictionson women'smovementsout-
side the home,andthe imperativethat a wife obeyher husband.The
men I interviewedrespectthe Ramcharitmanas as a sourceof moral
directives.... As AshokMitrasays,"whenit comesto marriage,it is
importantthatwe followthe exampleof him whomwe call bhagwan
[God]Rama." ... NathuramMishraquotesa versefromthe epicto sug-
gest that chaosis the resultof grantingwomenfreedom23.... Gopal

22 TheIndianExpress saidthatthe mayaSitastorywas"arevelation to mostviewers.... While

manyfeltthiswasa palpablebit of fictionaddedto Sagar's multiple-source myth,others,vigilant
women's groupsamongthem,whohadkeyedthemselves upfortheagnipariksha episode,feltthatthe
producerhadchosenthisdeviceto avoidgettinginto anysati-typecontroversy....'Howcanyou
showRamayanwithoutshowingSita'sagniparrksha?' asksSonalShuklaof the ForumAgainst
Oppression of Women... 'ThemayaSitadestroysthecharacter of Sitaasweknowit andweakens
the story.It is plainlyan escapedeviceusedby the producer"' (Sadasivam 1988).Thearticlethen
explainsthatthe mayaSita,unbeknownst to mostviewers,is basedon TulsidasandtheAdhyatma
Evenwith this explanationviewersinterviewedfor the articledismissthe deviceas
absurd,
Ramayan.a. "Howdoesa mayaSitaconveythe conceptof purity?... Why
illogical,an interpolation.
wouldRamatakethattroubleto recovera mayaSita?"Sagar's elaboratespeechwriting effortsdidnot
quitetakeawaythestingof thevisualimage.According to onewoman,"Although thesequencewas
not verballyoffensive,it wasvisuallyverymuchso. Sita'sunquestioning attitude,herfoldedhands,
herbeatificsmileassheenteredandemergedfromtheflames-allthisbotheredme."
23 Dernedoesnot citetheverse,butI knowwhatit is becausemyownfemaleresearch assistant,
NitaPandey,told me in 1989thathermotherhadfrequently quotedit to heras a warningnot to
aspireto independence. I wasamazedatthetimethata half-linethatseemedutterlyobscureto to me
couldactuallybe a potentweaponof socialization. Dern6'sreferenceconfirmsthatmy assistant's
experience wasnotidiosyncratic butthattheverseis widelycitedwithproverbial force.It occursin a
16 Journalof theAmericanAcademyof Religion

Mishrasays ... that Sita ... is the ideal woman because"shedoesn'ttry

to do anythingotherthan what her husbandhas ordered... the customs
and traditions[of India] arebased on the relationshipof bhagwanRama
and Sita.BecauseSitaalwaysobeyed ... Rama'sorders,all wives of Hin-
dustan must do what their husbandstell them to do."(1995a:129)24

REJECTING SITA, REJECTING RAMA

"No More Sitas":this headline introduces a letter published in a 1983
issue of Manushi:A Journalabout Womenand Society.The writeris Saroj
Visaria, a Banaras woman whose letter has been translated from Hindi:
The ideals, ethics and morality heaped on women since time imme-
morial are suffocatingand killing. The adjectivesused to praiseus have
become oppressive.Calling us loving, they have locked us in the closed
room of culture, calling us gentle, they have reflectedus in a mirror of
helplessness, calling us kind they have tied us in cowardice,they have
handcuffedus with modesty and chained our feet with loyalty ... Now
we must refuseto be Sitas.By becoming a Sitaand submittingto the fire
ordeal,woman loses her identity.This fire ordealis imposed on women
today in everycity,everyhome. Our exclusionfrom the scriptures,from
temples, from smritis, is also our strength.We can be fearlesssince we
have no models ... Todaywe are not Sitasbut Saritas[rivers],flowing,

long lyricalset piece in Kishkindhakainia, whereRamadescribesthe rainyseason. In a repetitivestruc-

ture, the firsthalf-linegives a descriptivedetail,and the second half-lineprovidesa moralizingsimile
relatedto the first. The line in question says:"Greattorrents smash embankments[in the farmer's
fields]/ just as independenceruins a woman"(mahavrishticaliphuti kiari/jimisutantrabhae bigarahi
nari (4.14.7).
24 In chap. 2, "MakingGender Culture:Men Talk About Controlling Women" (Derne 1995a:
22-23), men state unabashedlythat it is normal and in their own self-interestto enforce obedience,
subservience,confinement, self-effacement,and denial of their own experiencein women, particu-
larlywives. Examples:
"Mywife will haveto mold herselfinto my form. Shehas to makeher dailyroutineas mine is. I will
not haveto make my routineto conform to her."
"Themost importantqualityof an idealwife is that she obey her husband.She should do whatever
the husbandsays."
"Thebiggestthing for the ideal wife is that she acceptwhateverher husbandwants... She should
alwayswear red clothes if that is what pleases him. If the husband wants her to wear jeans and
T-shirts,then she should dressthat way."
"Somewives startto complainas soon as they come to their [husband's]house. The parentswill tell
them two things and they will tell their husbandsfour things. Thereare some wives, however,whose
fathers-in-lawand mothers-in-lawmay even beat them and they will not say anything. The woman
who remainssilent is the idealwife."
"Evenif there are difficulties,the women of India will not say anythingto anybody.In the sasural
[husband'shouse], whateverhappensis right.Evenif it is dirt, she understandsit as gold. [This]is the
most wonderfultradition."
See also Dern6 1995b for a discussion of Hindi movies set in modern times but modeling their
leadingcharacterson Sitaand Rama.
 Hess:RejectingSita 17

free,ableto crossrocks,capableof generatingelectricity.... (Kishwar

andVanita:298-299; orig.Manushi3/3 [Mar.-May 1983]:24)
Visaria'sdeclarationshows one extremeof a nascent attitude towardthe
Sita of brahmanicaltradition:we don'twant her.No more Sitas,no more
rigid, male-fashioned ideals. Feminists, political activists, artists, and
writershave increasinglyfound ways to say "no thank you"to the ortho-
dox model.25
But many responses to the tradition have been more complex than
straightforwardrejection. Research has uncovered counter-traditions,
subversive,ironic, and criticaltreatmentsof Radmryania themes in wom-
en's,folk, low-caste, and dissenting literarycultures.26New poems, plays,
and danceshavesought to imagine a Sitawho was not robbedof her voice
and personhoodby patriarchaltradition.27 Thereareenough hints of Sita's
power,passion, and couragein the traditionaltexts to stimulateimagin-
ings of a very differentkind of heroine.BinaAgarwal's1985poem begins,
"Sitaspeakyour side of the story.Weknow the other side too well. .." She
highlights injustices to Sita in the conventional narrative,including the
agnipariksha:
Withyourhusbandyou choseexile;/sufferedprivation,abduction/and
thenthe rejection-the chastityteston the scorchingflames/thevictim
twicevictimised./Couldthoseflamesturnto flowers/withoutsearing
the soul?
Agarwalconcludes:
Thepoetswhowroteyourstory/saida womanis notworthyof hearing/
theRamayana :likea beastsheis fit/forbeingbeaten./Couldsuchpoetry
everbringyouglory?/Yettheyspoketheirverseswithoutchallenge/and
gotawaywithsuchfalsehoods./Sitaspeak!/Youwhocouldliftthemagic
bow in play/ with one hand,/ who could commandthe earthwith a
word,/howdidtheysilenceyou?
In 1919 a male Malayalampoet, KumaranAasan, published The
BroodingSita. "Aasanshowsher criticisingRamafor his injusticetowards
her, and demolishing all the justifications put forward in his defence.
When she thinks of the possibilityof returningto her husband,she cries
out: 'What?Does the emperor think that I should once more go into

25 There are many examples of such rejection in the twentieth century;the more one looks, the
more one finds. I am gratefulto an anonymousJAARreviewerof this articlefor mentioninga famous
Teluguwork by MuppalaRanganayakamma,RadmyaniaVishabriksham, "RamayanaIs a Poisonous
Tree,"written from a Marxistperspective.
26 See, for example,Richman 1991 (especiallythe articleby V.NarayanaRao);Richmanforthcom-

ing; Rahejaand Gold (especiallychap.4, "Onthe Uses of Subversion:RedefiningConjugality").

27 Manyclassicaldancershave
reinterpretedSitain recentyears.The most high-profileexampleis
MallikaSarabhai'sSita'sDaughters,which toured in Indiaand North Americain the mid-1990s.
18 Journalof theAmericanAcademyof Religion

his ... presence and once again prove myself...? Do you think I am a
mere doll? ... my mind and soul revolt at the very thought.. .' Aasan's
poem generateda fiercecontroversybecauseit showed Sita assertingher
selfhood, not perishingin despair"(Shreekala:7).
SnehalataReddy'sone-act play Sita, written in 1973,radicallyrevises
the fire ordeal scene, allowing an angry Sita to rejectRama,his dharma,
and his trialby fire.
SITA:I am not afraidof death,Lakshmana, but I'mafraidof the fraud
that will be perpetuatedin the name of Ramarajya! In the name of
dharma!I'mafraidof this awesomemaledominationandthe helpless,
patheticandunblievablemartyrdomof women.... Thiskingyou all
worshipis a cruel,heartlesstyrant.Forthe sakeof his glory,he wantsto
sacrificeyourqueen.... (turningto theaudience)I begallof youto fight
thisinjusticeandnot submitto it. Wewomenhavebeenkeptunderthe
yokeforcenturiesin thenameof dharma.Pleaseremember mypain,my
rejection,myhumiliation-fortheywillburyit allin silence.Remember
me not as a goddessof virtue,but as a defencelesswoman,fightingfor
herself-respect.Historyhasneverrecordedthewholetruth... neverthe
downtrodden-always thepowerful... Theywillglossovermysuffering
andcamouflagetheirsins with my submissiveness anddevotion... I
knowthattheworldwill not changeovernight.... if I darenow,more
womenwill dare... I hopeandpraythat,by exposingyourmasculine
pomposity,absurdity andinjustice,whoknows,I maybe ableto sowthe
firstseedof revolution.
RAMA:... Cometo yoursenses!... Mywordis law!... I cannottakeit
back!... If youdo not do yourduty,I mustrejectyou!
SITA:(fiercely)Howdareyou!It is I whorejectyou!(Reddy:40-41)28
An audiotapeof Hindi songs and stories producedby a communica-
tions centerat St. Xavier'sCollegein Bombaygivesnew interpretationsof
femalecharactersfrom Hindu myths,juxtaposingtheir storieswith those
of modern Indianwomen in a male-dominatedsociety.The tape is called
Stri kathd:purant naye sawdl-"Women's tales: old stories,
new questions."Sita, Kaushalya,Ahalya,Amba, and others are imagined
kahdniyam.,
as present in an intimate space with women who ask about their experi-
ence. The mythic heroinesand the contemporarywomen sharequestions
and storiesof loneliness,oppression,abuse,ideals,strugglesto keep their
children.Kaushalyasings:"TodayI will tell my own story.Forsuch a long
time I have kept quiet. I was queen in Ayodhyabut couldn't speak from
28Reddywasa womanwhoputherbodyon thelinewhenit cameto protesting againstinjustice.
Lockedup by the IndiraGandhigovernment forherprotestsagainstthe totalitarian"Emergency"
imposedin 1975,shediedin prison.Thisreprintof Sitamentionsthatit wasfirstpublishedin Enact,
theDelhiDramaMonthly.
 Hess:Rejecting
Sita 19

my heart. I was taught to keep silent, confined in the cage of ideals"

(Astha).29
As in BinaAgarwal'spoem (above), Stri katha'srepresentationof Sita
uses the device of letting her true voice, so long silenced, come forth.
Youngwomen from the twentieth centurysing, coaxingher:"Sita,friend,
speak a little, so many years have passed while you remainedsilent, now
open your heart,tell your own story,speaka little, Sita.. ."Describingher
as courageous,ableto leap beyond the limits of palacewalls, they askwhy
she finallybeggedthe earthto takeherin. Sita'sanswerbegins:"Topatience
too thereis a limit. Againand againthe same insult,the samedoubt. Once
I took the trial by fire.Now againhe demandedthe same trial, in front of
my young sons, in front of the whole court. 'Proveyour purity,because
some people still havedoubts about you.'Youtell me, was thereany other
way to save myself from this? No. If I spoke out, who would listen?No
more. I went backwhereI had come from,to the lap of my mother."
Theyoungwomencontinue:Sita,whatdidyou think,howdidyou
feel,whenafterallthoseyearshe showedup,learnedLayandKushwere
his sons,andsaid,"Comeon, you'regoingbackto Ayodhyawithme"?
Afteryou'dbroughtthemupalone?Yougavehimconstantloveanddevo-
tion,andwhatdidhe giveyou?Doubts,fromthefirstordealto thelast.
Sita:That first trial-so long ago. Therein Lanka,whateverdoubt
had arisenin Rama'sheart,how could I removeit? It was the Aryan
custom,sisters.If I didn'tsubmitto thetrial,he wouldn'ttakemeback.
HowcouldI go on livingalonein Lanka? Itwaspainful,butI thought-
afterthis everythingwill be all right.Theycanbreakmy bodybut not
myspirit.Well,thebodycanbe saved,butthespirit'swounds,theheart's
wounds,don'tgo awayso easily.
At the end, having spoken of the futility of all her efforts to live as an
ideal daughterand wife, Sita suggestsa new ideal:by returningto mother
earth, she shows daughtersan ideal of unity with their mothersand with
the earth.
Is it only highly educated,English-speaking,urbanfeministslike Sne-
halataReddy,Bina Agarwal,and activistsat St. Xavier'sCollege who put
forth such radicalcritiquesand reinterpretationsof the traditionalSita?
The most direct and blunt critiques do seem to come from such sources.
But as we learnto dig deeper,to look and listen more inclusively,we con-
tinue to find evidence of revision, subversion, and protest in disparate
social, ethnic, and economic groups.A few examplesfollow.
In 1981 Manushipublished a folk song from Uttar Pradeshin which
Rama, hearing that his sons are living in the forest, sends Lakshmanto
29 I am gratefulto KamalaBhasin,who gaveme this tape in 1988.
20 Journal of the AmericanAcademyof Religion

bring them and Sita back to Ayodhya. Sita refuses to go. When Guru
Vashishthaasksif she has takenleaveof her senses,she replies:"Guru,you
who know each one'sstate,how is it you speak/As if you know nothing?/
Guru, that Rama who caused me such sorrow,how can I see his face?/
The Ramawho put me in the fire,who threwme out of the house,/ Guru,
how shall I see his face?/ Guru ... I will walk with Lakshmana step or
twain/ But I will nevergo backto Ayodhya,/And may fate nevercause us
to meet again"(Manushi:22-23).?
A documentaryfilm presentsa performanceby a MaharashtrianDalit
singer who rejects the entire Ramayania.In his song Rama represents
India'sworst ideologies of domination and oppression on the basis of
caste,ethnicity,gender,and religion.He begins:
Therulerswhocontrolallknowledge claimedtheRamayaniato be India's
historyandcalledus manynames-demons,low castes,untouchables.
Butweweretheaboriginesof thisland.Listento ourstory.Todaywe are
calledDalits-the oppressed.Oncethe Aryanson theirhorsesinvaded
thisland.Thenwe who arethenativesbecamethedisplaced.OhRama,
oh Rama,you becamethe Godandwe the demons.Youportrayedour
Hanumanasa monkey,oh Rama,yourepresentative of theAryans.You
enslavedus to form a monkeyarmy.Thoseyou couldnot subjugate
youcalledrakshasa-demon.Butwe aretheforestrakshak-protectors.
Youinventedthehierarchy of castethroughyourlawsof Manu,thefirst
man,oh Rama,you representative of Aryans.Andyou trampledon the
rightsof women.Youmadeyourwife Sitaundergothe fireordealto
proveherchastity.Suchwereyourmalelaws,oh Rama,oh Rama,you
representative of Aryans.(Patwardhan 1993)3"
A third examplecomes from an Assameseversionof the Uttarakaiinda.
In this text, as in Valmiki,Rama demands a second fire ordeal and Sita

30 Manushiwas far aheadof academicscholarsin recognizingthe liberatingpotentialof oraltradi-

tions and the diversepossibilitiesof representingold heroesand narratives.Only in the 1990shavewe
academicsproducedour ManyRadmyanasand QuestioningRdmayanias(Richman 1993,forthcom-
ing), our internationalSita Symposium (held at ColumbiaUniversity,May 1998). In 1981Manushi
introduced this folk song text with the following observations:"Though women have often been
excludedfrom the traditionof writtenliterature,their worksdevaluedor deliberately'lost,'they have
alwaysbeen chief though anonymousparticipantsin a veryrich oraltradition,expressingtheir expe-
rience and point-of-viewthroughsongs and stories,which developand changeovergenerations,thus
representinga collectivecreativity.We need to exploreand preservesuch literaturewhich often pre-
sents far more positive imagesof women than do better-knownliterary'classics.'The need to do this
is particularlyurgentnow that the media,particularlythe films, arepickingup and distortingancient
mythology in a violently anti-women way.We need to point out that there are many possible Sitas,
Savitris,Draupadis.Do send us folk songs, stories,legendsfrom your region, particularlyin dialects,
so that they can be translated,sharedwith all the readersof Manushi,so as to stimulatethe imagina-
tion of women"(Manushi:22).
31In a conversationwith the filmmaker,Anand Patwardhan,in October 1998, I learned that the
words to the song had been composed collaborativelyby the Dalit singer,the well-known Dalit poet
DayaPawar,and Patwardhan.
 Hess:RejectingSita 21

refuses,callingon motherearthto open and takeher in. But the Assamese

poet shows a Sitawho does not go quietly.Beforeenteringthe earth, Sita
"poursout her angerwhile Ramastands,head bowed in shame, not dar-
ing to look her in the eye":
... I know that my husband is the highest god for me ... (Yet) he sent
me into exileby trickery.Look,look,whyis thisa husband's honor?...
He wantedto kill the two boys in my womb.Whentheyspeakof my
husband's virtue,mybodyburns.Hesoughtto takethelivesof myboys
andme. His "devotion" wasto killme alongwithmy unbornchildren.
TherewasnothingmorethatRamacoulddo.Allspeakwellof Ramabut
I knowthatformehe is likeDeathitself.Tellmewhereelseis theresuch
a cruelhusband? (Smith:99)
Is this anotherexampleof twentieth-centuryrevisionism,perhapsinflu-
enced by Euro-Americanfeminism? No, it is the work of the famous
Assamese(male) poet Shankaradeva,who flourishedaround 1600.
Numerous recent studies that highlight folklore and
women's expressiveculture are
Rdmayan.aradicallyaltering our understandingof
the narrativeand its reception. NabaneetaDev Sen, for instance, writes
of the sixteenth-centuryBengaliwoman poet Chandrabati,whose version
of the is rootedin women'soraltraditions.Chandrabati's Rama
Ramayania
is "atraitorin love, unjustlybanishinghis pregnantwife ... a poor king, a
poor elder brother who bullies his loyal younger brother into acting
against his own conscience, a poor father who does not carry out his
parentalresponsibilities. . . most of all a poor husband-sending Sita
into exile partly as a result of his jealousy of Ravana"(Sen:172). That
Ramawhose epithetsareusually"saviorof the fallen"and "oceanof com-
passion"is describedby Chandrabatias a "sinner"and a "stone-hearted"
man. Visiting the poet's birthplace in Bangladeshin 1989, Sen found
women singing Chandrabati'ssongs of Sita, though they didn't identify
their songs with this poet.
As researchersincreasingly shed the assumption that brahmanical
male discoursesmust obviouslyand naturallyrepresentHinduism and as
they turn their attention to previously dark spaces, previously silent
voices, a stunning reality presents itself. Those spaces were never really
dark,those voices never silent. It is we, the scholarlycaste,who have had
our eyes and earscovered,just like the professionalmale singer
who was questionedby Sen in Bangladesh:"Iasked... whether Ramayania
he would
use such words in connection with Rama.He bit his tongue, touched his
ears and shut his eyes, saying only illiterate,ignorantwomen could utter
such blasphemouswords"(Sen:173-174).32
32 Senhas alsowritten"LadySingsthe Blues:WhenWomenRetellthe
Rdmayania," a studyof
villagewomen'sRamayatna songsin Bengali,Marathi,Maithili,andTelugu,presentedat Columbia
22 Journal of the AmericanAcademyof Religion

REFLECTIONS
ON RECEPTION
Howdo we measurereceptionandinfluence?Theshortansweris-
very inexactlyand inconclusively.How importantand representative
are the protestingversionsof Sita cited here?Thereis plenty of evi-
dencethatthe oppressive,patriarchal viewof Sitaisn'tgoingaway.Steve
Derne's interviewsvividlyillustrate
the unabashedpromotionby menin
the 1980sof old-fashionedmaledominanceandwifelysubmissioncon-
sciouslymodeledon Ramaand Sita.MichaelAllencites a 1966book-
let publishedby the Ramakrishna Missioncalled TheIndianIdealof
Womanhood. Settingforthmotherhoodas the highestgoalof the Hindu
woman, it glorifies woman's divine talent for "self-effacinglove" and
points out that "the culture of the Hindu trains him to look upon all
women, nay, to look upon the female of all species, as forms of the one
Divine Mother,"reveringmothersmore than fathersand gurus (emphasis
added).Allen observes:
Incasesuchadulationmightleadoneto deducea soundbasisforfemale
powerand autonomy,the authorproceedsin the followingominous
terms:
loveandcompassion... to theHindu,is a markof
... self-effacing
high spiritualityand true culture . . . it is this vision that India has
alwaysheldoutbeforeherwomenandwhichherdaughters havepas-
sionatelystruggledto realisein theirlives.Eventheapparentfailings
of herwomenproceedlargelyfromthatpassion.Thepracticeof sut-
tee,forexample,proceedsfromloyaltyto theidealof chastitywhich
founditselfthreatened in a chaoticsociety.
Theidealsof chastityandpurity,unselfishness andservice,sim-
plicityand modesty,havebeen pursuedby our women,drawnby
thatvisionof innatedivinity... TheIndianwomancannotjumpout
of this inheritance of hers. WarnedSwami Vivekananda... "Any
attemptto moderniseourwomen,if it triesto takeourwomenaway

University's1998SitaSymposium andeventually to be publishedin a conferencevolume.Fromthe

introduction to thisrichpaper:"JustastheRamamythhasbeenexploitedbythepatriarchal Brah-
minicalsystemto constructanidealHindumale,Sitatoo hasbeenbuiltup asanidealHindufemale
to helpservethesystem.... AlthoughSita'slifecanhardlybecalleda happyone,sheremainstheideal
womanthroughwhomthe patriarchal valuesmaybe spreadfarandwide,throughwhomwomen
maybetaughtto forbearallinjustices silently.Buttherearealwaysalternative waysof usinga myth.If
patriarchy hasusedthe Sitamythto silencethewomen,thevillagewomenhavepickedup the Sita
mythto givethemselvesa voice.Theyhavefounda suitablemaskin the mythof Sita,a persona,
underwhichtheycanexpressthemselves, speakof theday-to-day problems andcritiquepatriarchy in
theirownfashion.... Inthewomen'sretellingSitais no rebel,sheis stilltheyieldingsufferingwife,
butshespeaksof hersufferings, of lonelinessandsorrow.Inthewomen's
of injustice, folktraditionof
India,nevermindwhereyouare,whichcenturyyoubelongto orwhatlanguage youspeak,youareall
sistersin sorrow."Anotherfinecontribution to thisconference wasUshaNillson's"Grinding Millet
andSingingof Sita,"whichpresented high-casteandlow-castewomen's songsin Hindi.
 Hess:Rejecting
Sita 23

fromthe idealof Sita,is immediatelya failure,as we see everyday.

Thewomenof Indiamustgrowanddevelopin thefootprintsof Sita,
andthatis theonlyway."" (AllenandMukherjee:10-16)
Some claim that there is still a powerful consensus promoting and
enforcing the self-sacrificingpativrata model for Indian womanhood.
Others protest that such a claim wrongly assumes "thatwomen are the
passive assimilatorsof a monolithic set of culturaldiscourseson gender,
in termsof which theirown lives areeitherunambiguouslymorallyexem-
plary in the manner of Sita . . . or morally flawed and reprehen-
sible"(Rahejaand Gold:142). Both sides at this point can probablyagree
that women and men relateto the idealizedfigureof Sitain many wayson
many levels, accepting, negotiating, manipulating, reinterpreting, or
rejectingthe ideals-sometimes doing all of these at differentmoments.3'

BURNING WOMEN
I close with some thought-provokingrecent examples of reception.
EarlierI associatedSita'simage in the fire with the icon of the sati, the
widow who burns herselfon her husband'sfuneralpyre, afterwardsto be
elevatedto goddesshood.'3Wouldit be an unfairstretchto associateboth
with the brideburningincidents that have been increasingin north India
in the last thirty years?We have grown used to seeing news stories that
describe a consistent sequence of events: harrassmentof a young wife
begins soon after marriage,her family is pressuredto contribute more
money and goods for "dowry,"and when demands are not fulfilled the
young woman is found burned to death. The husband'sfamily explains
that it was a cooking accident. In a variation on this scenario, a wife of
some years'standingmay be burnt-because she did or didn't do some-
thing, or simply because the husband wanted to be rid of her. Prosecu-
tions are rare and convictions rarer.In most cases the man can easily
secureanotherwife and anotherdowry.
Some readerswill object that it doesn't make sense to associate the
paradigmof Sita'strial by fire with the current phenomenon of bride-
burning. If the latter has become prominent in recent decades, then we

33 Notice that suttee is describedas a failingof

the women!
34In addition to Rahejaand Gold, a wonderful ethnographicpresentationof such multilevelled
performanceby a woman is found in Jacobson.And Raheja:11-13 offers a stunning accountof a low-
caste woman "performing"her ambivalentrelationsto discoursesof genderand honor in a charged
social context.
35It is evidentfrom examplesgiven abovethat Indiansin the presenttime also use the word sati for
Sita. Lakshmanand Ramause it severaltimes in the television epic'sagniparikshaepisode; Sita uses
the word satitva,translatedhere as "purity,"in the Strikathdtape cited above.
24 Journal of the AmericanAcademyof Religion

must look at currentsocial, political,economic, and legal conditions, not

ancienttexts,to explainit. This is certainlytrue.YetI would arguethat the
hallowedimage of Sita enteringthe flamesunder the conditions set forth
in the texts, kept alive century after century in version afterversion, still
vibrant in popular performancestoday from Ramlila to the TV serial,
lingersdeep in consciousnessand may be takento give a kind of permis-
sion for wifeburning.36
Not long afterthe agniparfkshawas shown on television,a short item
appearedin SundayMagazine:"Takinghis cue from the epic Ramayan,an
educatedman forcedhis wife to test her chastityby burning camphorin
her palm. The man threw his wife out of the house when her palm was
burnt" (Sunday:84).Is this just a weird story,a bad joke, an aberration,
having nothing to do with norms or with mainstreamunderstandingsof
the Rdmayania's message?
Another anecdote came unexpectedlywhile I was writing this paper.
Jeanne Fleming, an American friend of mine, had been married in an
elaborateHindu ceremonyat the KumbhaMela in Allahabad(arranged
by the Hindu guru of her Americanhusband). While showing slides of
this ratherspectacularevent, she told a funny story.A series of vows was
given to her in Sanskrit,with impromptu translations.She told us light-
heartedlythat she would say "OK,fine,"as each one came along. But then
came one that went roughly like this: "Evenif I am in a burning house
and my husbandordersme not to leave the house, I will obey him.""No
way!"was Jeanne'sresponseto this profferedvow. The marriagewent on
despite her demurral.How widespread,how deeply embeddedin sacred
contexts,are these still-currenttexts of women consentingto be burnt up
in orderto demonstratedevotion or subordinationto their husbands?
An Indian woman poet in 1987 also made the connection between
Sita'sfire ordeal and contemporarybrideburning.Half a year before the
first Ramayaniaepisode aired on TV,M. Geethapublisheda poem called
AgniPariksha:

Theysay,Seetathechaste
emergedfromthefire
radiantandbeautiful

36Asof thiswriting,scholarlypublicationson dowryandbrideburningremainsparse.Aneffort

to remedythishasbeenundertaken bytheInternational
SocietyagainstDowryandBrideBurningin
India(P.O.Box8766,Salem,MA01971),undertheleadership of Himendra Thakur. ThisSocietyhas
sponsoredfourconferences since1995,threeat Harvardandoneat theUniversityof London,with
participationbybothactivistsandacademics. A "SouvenirVolume" of paperspresented
at thefirst
conferencewasdistributed privately(Thakur).Thirteenpapers,someof whichoriginatedat these
conferences,areavailablein Garzilli's
editedvolume.
 Hess:Rejecting
Sita 25

Therewas a SeetaI knew

chasteenough, till yesterday,
a foul, charredcorpse today
Her husband'shallucinations
lit the fire that consumed
her throbbingflesh.
This keroseneand matchestest
is somethingthe Seetasof today
invariablyfail. (Geetha:17)

Madhu Kishwar, co-founder and long-time editor of Manushi, has

written on how she became gradually aware of an obsession with Sita,
above all with the agni pariksha, among literate women in India:
Sita forced herself on my consciousness only after I began working
on Manushi.The articlesand poems that came to us, especiallythose for
the Hindi edition, showed an obsessive involvementwith Sita and her
fire ordeal....
My impression is that 80-90% of the poems that came to us for
Hindi Manushi,and at least half of those for EnglishManushi,revolved
aroundthe mythologicalSita, or the writeras a contemporarySita,with
a focus on her steadfast resolve, her suffering, or her rebellion. Sita
loomed large in the lives of these women, whether they were asserting
their moralstrengthor rebellingagainstwhat they had come to see as the
unreasonabledemandsof society or family.Eitherway Sitawas the point
of reference-an idea they emulated or rejected.I was very puzzled by
this obsession, and even began to get impatient with the haranguesof
our modern day Sitas.
And then camethe biggestsurpriseof all.The first(andhopefullythe
last) poem I everwrotewas in Hindi and was entitledAgnipariksha....
Not just me, even my colleague, Ruth Vanita,who is from a Chris-
tian family,wrote many a poem aroundthe Sita theme. (Kishwarforth-
coming)
Kishwar was jolted into realizing that the intense preoccupation with
Sita needed "to be understood more sensitively" than she had previously
thought. Over a period of years she interviewed women and men of
diverse classes, castes, and religions about their ideal figures. As Sita and
Rama came up constantly, she recorded detailed statements about them,
arriving at a nuanced appreciation of how these figures live in and are
interpreted by Indians in real life. Among her conclusions we read:
It has taken me a long time to understandthat Indian women are not
endorsingfemaleslaverywhen they mention Sitaas theirideal.Sitais not
26 Journal of the AmericanAcademyof Religion

perceivedasbeinga mindlesscreaturewhomeeklysuffersmaltreatment
at the handsof herhusbandwithoutcomplaining.Nor doesaccepting
Sitaasanidealmeanendorsinga husband's rightto behaveunreasonably
Sheis seenas a personwhose
anda wife'sdutyto bearinsultsgraciously.
senseof dharmis superiorto andmoreaweinspiringthanthatof Rama
-someonewhoputsevenmaryada Rama-themostper-
purushottam
fectof men-to shame.37

Kishwar presentsa rangeof vividindividualvoicesthat,together,give

a nuancedimpressionof how differentpeopleconstruethe meanings
of Sitaand Rama.Wesee how the meaningsarewoveninto theirlives,
andtheirlivesarewovenintothe meanings.Thecollectionof interviews,
with Kishwar's perceptiveanalyses,compriseone of the greatstrengths
of theessay.Anotherstrengthis theauthor'sinclusionof herownprocess
of learning.Formost of her life she harboredthe "liberated" woman's
stereotyped view of Sita as a slavish and oppressive ideal, which she re-
jectedutterly.She shows how her view graduallyshifted as sherealized the
and
omnipresence multiplemeanings of Sita in the consciousness of
Indians.Then-followingthe advicein herownmemorable1990article,
"Learning to TakePeopleSeriously"-shespenta longtimelistening.Her
articleon Sitapresentstheresultsof thatlistening.
Thesestrengthsalso point to a problemI see in the essay.Kishwar
aimsto overturnthe stereotype,showingthe flexibility,intelligence,and
practicalityof women'sunderstandings of Sita.Butin accomplishing her
in
aim, redressing the imbalance of insensitivefeminist dismissals of Sita,
at timesKishwarleansso farin the otherdirectionthatshe almostsup-
portspatriarchal rationalizations of allthathappensin the story.On the
agnipariksha, sayspopularperceptionseesit as "anact of supreme
she
defianceon [Sita's]partwhichshowsherhusbandto be unjustandfool-
ish in doubtinga womanlikeher."Thereis no mentionof howthisinter-
pretationwould play into the maintenanceof patriarchyin its most
destructiveforms.If a woman'sthrowingherselfinto the firein response
to herhusband's falseaccusations canbe interpreted as an actof supreme
defiance,then God save women from defiance.
Kishwar'sessaydemonstratesthe value of learningfrom ordinary
womenabouttheirreal-lifechoicesandcircumstances; appreciating the
fullnessanddignity of their lives;sympathetically sheddinglight on their
intelligentstrategiesin the midstof oppressivestructures; andnoticing
the distance between the limited range of choices experiencedby less
privilegedwomen and the wide rangeenjoyedby manywriters,scholars,
essay,preparedfor inclusion in Richman
37 Quotationsare from a manuscriptversionof Kishwar's
forthcoming.Theremay be some changesbefore final publication.
 Hess:RejectingSita 27

and theorists. All of us who comment on oppression from a position of

relativeprivilege should continually keep these things in mind. But we
walk a razor'sedge, as the Katha Upanishadputs it. In appreciatingthe
"weaponsof the weak,"we should be carefulnot to valorizeinstitutional-
ized weakness.In steppingback from a certainaggressivefeminist mode
that seems to attackwomen for not fitting some prescribed"feminist"
model, we shouldn'tstep rightback into the backlash.

One evening, after a draft of this article was completed, I went to

the movies in Berkeley.I knew that the director was an Indian woman
and thatthe plot involvedtwo sisters-in-lawwhose rottenmarriagesdrove
them to discoverlove and passion with each other. I had no expectation
that it would be relevantto what I was writing. But something clicked
when I saw the name of the film production company:Trialby Fire.As it
turned out, the film-called Fire-was shot through with images of the
Theyounger,more independentand passionatelycombustible
of the two women was named Sita. Scenesfrom the television Rdmayania
Ramayan.ia.
entered the plot at crucial moments. A melodramaticand comic urban
Ramlilawas shown. The husbandof the older woman listenedto a recita-
tion of Tulsidaswith his guru.And alwaysit was the sameepisode:the agni
pariksha.Here,in a middle classDelhi milieu,was a fleshingout of Sneha-
lata Reddy'sdefiant Sita who rejectsthe fire ordeal and the dharmathat
ordainsit, rejectsRama'srejection.Herewas a full imagining of one sce-
nariothat might unfold in the 1990sif the coaxingsongs of the StrfKathd
audiotape(discussedabove) bore fruit-if Sita spoke with her true voice
afterso manyyearsof silence.And here also was the brideburningtheme.
Not only I, not only the poet M. Geetha, but also the filmmakerDeepa
Mehta,saw a direct connection between the endless, obsessivereplaysof
Sita enteringthe fire and the inspirationa man might feel to set fire to a
wife who didn'tfulfillhis needs and expectations."
Todaymore than ever before, Sita is a site of contestation. The Sita
who clung to the dharmaof worshiping her husband and bowing to his

38 Asthisarticlegoesto press,a newdevelopment is unfolding.In lateNovember1998a groupof

mainlyfemaleprotestors,underthebannerof theultra-rightwing cinemahallsin
ShivSena,attacked
BombayandNewDelhiwherethe Hinduversionof Firewasbeingshown,smashingwindowsand
otherwisevandalizingthetheaters.A malespokesman saidthatthefilmwasan improperrepresen-
tationof "ourculture."
Newscoverage pointedoutthatFirehadpassedtheIndianfilmcensors,usu-
allyquiteconservative
aboutanykindof nudityor sexualdisplay. theydidnotobjectto
Surprisingly,
thescenein whichtwowomenkissedandembraced, buttheyinsistedon onechange:thenameof the
youngerwomanmustbe changedfromSitato Nita!
28 Journal of the AmericanAcademyof Religion

will, evenwhenhe repeatedlyand cruellyrejectedher,is still embraced

as the idealwomanby manyHindusof both sexes.Butothers,increas-
ingly,aredescribingthatidealas concoctedby andservingtheinterestsof
dominantmalesfromancienttimesto thepresent.Whatis it thattheyare
rejecting?In a culturalenvironment whereRamaandSitaarewidelyand
ferventlybelievedto be real,bothhistoricalanddivinefigures,we cansay
that most of themarenot claimingto rejectthe "real"Sita.Swimming
in an oceanof texts,knowingthatalltextualSitasarechhlyaSitas,rising
anddisappearing betweenthecoversof a bookor theopeningandclosing
of a performance, theyarerejectingthe Sitaof patriarchy.

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