Chapter 4 - The End of the Journey - Sita's Death
After the celebrations had ended and all the dead had been honored, my heart longed for home. I was exhausted from all of my adventures. I heard the mumblings of the humans and was ecstatic to hear we were headed back towards home. I had no way of knowing if I'd ever see our lovely forest again but I had hope. What I also did not know was that our huge entourage would not be heading back home on foot. We climbed into what looked like a palace, children, though it was hard to see from my perch on my human's shoulder. I overheard some of the squirrels explaining that we were in some kind of airborne chariot! Can you believe it? I wished that I could grow in size to walk around and understand where I was, but of course I could not. Though I didn't fully understand it, I knew we were not on earth. There was no dirt or grass so I had to find scraps of human food to eat. It was very strange! We were in the air palace for months. Even though I grew tired of it, I was happy that we had not walked all that way. What a long journey THAT would have been! Eventually, we felt a thud and all of us got out of the large chariot. I was so happy to feel the earth under me and the sun above! To my elation, I saw some nearby Baico leaves! Though they are disgusting, they confirmed that I could not be too far from home. Oh, dear ones I missed you so! As anxious as I was to go and try to find the way on my own, I decided to wait and see which way Rama's crowd went. However, Rama's crowd did not move for days. After we arrived in Rama's city there was a celebration that lasted for hours and hours. Then, one morning, the celebration had ended, and everything had changed. I could tell from watching the humans that there was something big stirring. I jumped on my human and watched as a circle formed in the middle of our camp. I asked a nearby dragonfly to fly around and see what he could hear from all the humans and animals. He quickly returned and told me everything: "Well, it seems the beautiful Sita is with child, and many people in the camp believe the father is the evil king Ravana!" "What! How could that be? Surely Rama's wife would never betray him!" I said, shocked. "Well, no, she is claiming she is innocent and the child is Rama's but Rama is not sure what to believe, so today there is a trial!"he panted. "A trial? What do you mean?" I couldn't believe my ears. But before the grasshopper could begin to explain, the trial started right before our eyes. The beautiful Sita stood strong and silent in the middle of the circle. She was crying, but she held her head up high. I could see in her eyes her love and admiration for the mighty Rama. My sons, I hope that you find a lovely beetle who will be your queen and look at you that way. Dear daughters, I hope that you find strong beetles who you love and admire and remain faithful to, just as Sita loved and admired and remained faithful to Rama. You see, she was innocent. She was asked questions and accused and on and on right in front of all of us in the circle. Then, finally, she screamed up into the sky for the earth to take her if she was telling the truth. You would not believe what happened next. I thought she was just trying to make a point, but, dear ones, she was not. The whole ground shook beneath us. Thunder roared and the wind picked up. Then with a crack the earth split open right where she was, and without a scream or a whimper, she was gone. Children, I had never seen anything like it. Rama was distraught, the whole crowd went rushing towards the chasm, and I almost fell off of my human's cloak. Dear ones, my point in telling you this tragedy is that a marriage that lasts must be a marriage built on trust. Not only that, but both parties must earn trust by staying faithful to one another. Sita died with such dignity and grace, because she knew she had done no wrong. I could see the anguish on Rama's face because he had doubted her and been willing to let her go. I don't know why he doubted her. He must have let the grumblings of others affect his judgment. I did not understand this mistake by this mighty king. There is so much more to tell you but I can feel myself growing weaker by the hour. You all know of course how I came home because you heard the humans stop through our forest when I finally made it back. Just remember these lessons, precious children. Remain strong and honorable, make me proud. With all of my love,
Author's Note: For this story I told the death of Sita from Buck's version of the Ramayana. I chose this death because it brought closure to the beetle's journey with Ramayana. I felt like departing from the Ramayana would take away from my storybook as a whole. In the original story, there was a trial right after Sita's release but I wanted to simply focus on Sita's "death" so I left that first trial out of my story. Also, in the original text Sita is in exile for 10,000 years before becoming pregnant. I chose to make it a few months from her release to help tie her story with the beetle's journey home. I also left out any mention of her twins because their purpose in the original story was to learn and tell Rama's story. I had already told the stories in my beetle frametale, so the mention of the twins was not necessary. I wanted to show Sita's dignity and strength in death. I also wanted to show a hint of weakness in Rama. I felt like the story easily led to some lessons about marriage. The old beetle tells his children to look for a mate they will really admire and love and also talks about the necessity of trust in a solid marriage. The story of Sita's death also led to a natural, though sad, ending of the beetle's letter, given that the beetle, too, like Sita, is facing the end of a long life after a long journey, it makes sense to have this be the final story.
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After Rama had defeated the horrible Ravana there was great celebration! Mighty Rama was finally reunited with his beautiful Sita and it seemed all of Lanka rejoiced. It was such a fun time! There was singing, dancing, eating and drinking. Even though Ravana had been a detestable creature, Rama still honored him with a proper funeral. Rama was honorable in all circumstances, my young beetles, and I want you to have such character.