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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00051 Apr 2003

 
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Sri Soundararajan,

I believe that the first time this is encountered is in Tulsidas' Ramayan;
although references to it can are also found in popular stories surrounding
the sthala purAnam of Thirumalai, indicating that the story had been around
long before this work.

The need for a Maya Sita came about to assuage the pain of Sita's having to
undergo agni pravEsham within minutes of her release from her long
imprisonment. How else could one explain Rama's strange behaviour towards
his wife, other than by simply saying that the woman who was rescued from
Lanka was not his true wife?

Using this example, it was believed that that the Maya Sita, who was the
reincarnation of the sagely Vedavathi (who cursed Ravana for his advances
towards her by cursing that a woman would cause his downfall) and who went
through all the suffering, was the creation of agni dEvatha, who brought her
to Panchavati to replace the real Sita just at the moment that Ravana was
about to kidnap her. By entering the fire, the Maya Sita would return to
her abode, and the real Sita, who had remained in the care of Agni all
along, would be returned back to her Rama.

Along with its lack of authenticity in light of Sri Valmiki Ramayana, this
notion also dilutes the level of sacrifice and suffering that the Divine
Couple had to endure in order to redeem not only the rishis of the forests,
but the rAkshasas of Lanka, as well.

By the way, the connection to Thirumalai was established by saying that Sri
Rama, recognizing all the suffering and that Vedavathi/Maya Sita underwent
for in Service to Him, consented to marry her in His future AvAthAram as
Srinivasa. This is why the Lord has two consorts residing on His Chest.

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan
Mohan

----- Original Message -----
From: "vimalkumar ranganathan" <panardasan@xxxx>
To: <ramanuja@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 3:29 PM
Subject: Re: [ramanuja] SriRama


> Sri: Sri Nappinnai, Thanks for the nice article. I
had gone to the ISKCON temple for Sri Rama Navami yesterday, and according
to Gaudiya Vaishnavism, the Sita that was kidnapped and incarcerated by
Ravana was not the original Piratti, but Mayadevi. I would like to know from
the adiyaars in this group, if they had ever heard of this version of the
story of Lord Rama and if so, the origins of it, could it be Srimad
Bhagavatham for GVs give maximum importance to SB??
Now, lets not attack the GVs in the process, they are another Vaishnava
Sampradaya. I just thought that that piece of information was rather
interesting to share it with the group, and want to know what the Adiyaars
in this group think of the understanding of the GVs. Dasan, Kidambi
Soundararajan
>





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