Who's The Fairest Of Them All?
Now before I start reading this story, I want you to
think of the story of Snow White. She was beautiful and kind, her
mother became jealous of her and tried with all her power to get rid of
her so that she could remain Queen and continue being the fairest in
the land. When you hear the story I am about
to tell you, you might notice that our princess deals with some of the
same things that Snow White went through.
Once upon a time in a far away land, there was a
beautiful kingdom called, Mithila. In this kingdom there was a mighty
King named Janaka. The King had a daughter, she was known for her
remarkable beauty and grace. Suitors had come from all around to ask
her hand, but none of them was worthy. None, expect for a great man
named
Rama; he was worthy from first glance. He took Sita's hand in marriage.
They were
completely in love and had the whole world at their fingertips. They
went back to Rama's kingdom of Ayodhya and prepared to live their
lives. But Rama faced a challenge. His father sent him to exile in the
forest for fourteen years. Sita, being the kind, loyal wife that she
was, offered to give up everything and go with him.
Their lives changed dramatically once they entered
exile. Sita did as Rama had done. She left behind all of her worldly
possessions and took a vow of poverty and hardship. Rama's brother
Lakshmana came with them, because he too felt a loyalty to his brother.
They set up a fairly comfortable living arrangement in the forest, but
were
constantly on alert because demons, called rakshasas, could be lurking
nearby to harm them.
One day while they were out tending to their chores,
Rama noticed a woman. She was beautiful, almost ethereal. Rama knew
that she had to be magic, for no normal woman of that immense beauty
would be roaming
the forest. He spoke to her for awhile, finding out who she was and why
she was there. Her
name was Surpanakha, she was a rakshasa demon and the sister of the
evil demon king Ravana. She was becoming completely infatuated
with Rama. She
tried to plead with him to become her husband. Rama, however, remained
loyal to his princess Sita, telling Surpanakha that she should try his
brother Lakshmana
instead. Rama made it very clear that he would never leave his wife or
betray her.
After hearing this, the evil woman became horribly
angry. She saw a beautiful woman standing in the front of Rama's house
and thought that surely she had to be a demon also, for no real woman
could be so perfect. She told Rama this assumption about Sita being a
demon woman. He continued to
play along with her and poke fun at her. She decided to attack
the "demon-woman" to show that she would be suitable for Rama by
proving that she would protect him and remain loyal to him only. As
Surpanakha went for the attack, Lakshmana intervened. He stopped her
from harming the princess and in the process he cut off the evil
Surpanakha's nose. She ran away from the scene in despair and anger.
Now Surpanakha's brother, Ravana, was a powerful
King. He controlled the entire world, the heavens, and the underworld.
He was unstoppable by the gods and never thought twice about harming
humans.
Surpanakha ran straight to his kingdom, she wanted her brother's help
to get Rama, for she still desired him more than anything. She thought
if her brother would steal Sita then she would be able to convince Rama
to love her. She told Ravana an elaborate story of how she had been
attacked for no reason and that these men were evil. She described
Sita, knowing that her brother could not resist such a magnificent
beauty. She told him about Sita's wondrous radiance and her perfect
figure. She
convinced Ravana that Sita was the perfect wife for him.
Ravana sent Surpanakha away to rest from the horrors
of her ordeal. He was immediately intrigued by Sita and had to have
her. He set out to see her and claim her as his own. Ravana devised a
plan to steal Sita from Rama, by distracting Rama with a decoy so he
would leave Sita alone. He sent a jeweled deer to the forest near Sita.
When she saw it she became enthralled by it and wanted Rama to get the
deer for her. After telling Lakshmana to stay behind and guard Sita,
Rama set off to chase the deer
for his wife, because he loved her and would do anything to make her
happy. As soon as he was far enough away, the deer spoke out in Rama's
voice, crying for help. When Sita heard this, she sent Lakshmana to go
save her prince. As soon as she was alone, Ravana came to her in the
form of an old man. She was kind and wanted to give the old man some
water. He changed back into his frightening true form and begged Sita
to come with him and be his Queen. Sita refused to
go with him, insisting that she was devoted to Rama. So Ravana decided
to take
her by force.
Sita was forced to live in Lanka, Ravana's kingdom.
She was attacked by evil demons, who tried to persuade her to go to
Ravana and be his wife. Sita always refused, knowing that one day her
prince would come and save her. Rama came to the place she had been
taken and waged a horribly violent war. He fought all of Ravana's men
and eventually came to face Ravana. Ravana had underestimated the power
of one mere human being. He thought that Rama would be an easy defeat.
However, Rama
possessed many great powers. He fought with just as much strength as
Ravana. The battle went on for quite some time. Eventually Rama was
victorious and Ravana was wiped out, along with all of his kingdom.
Rama saved Sita and they finally went back to Ayodhya, to live as king
and queen.
Now you see how Sita is like Snow White? She was
beautiful and kind, and she encountered a jealous woman who decided to
harm
her to get her out of the way. Although the stories have many
differences between the stories, Sita finally got to be with her prince
in the end.
Cover Page
Introduction
The Strength of Queen Tara
Author's Note:
In the original story, there are many more events that happen.
Surpanakha's scene does not take as much of a spotlight as it does
here. However, I thought that by portraying Surpanakha as a "wicked
witch" type of character it would enhance the fairy tale story feel. I
also
thought that by comparing Sita's story to that of Snow White's it would
help the reader make the connection that it is much like a fairy tale.
I had to leave out large parts of the story due to the fact that Sita's
ordeal covers most of the book. I tried to keep most of the plot in the
story while shortening it and focusing more on Sita and Surpanakha. In
Disney's Snow White, she meets the prince one day and then is taken
away from him, I made sure to show that Sita had been with her prince
and then was taken from him.
I remember in all of the princess movies that the prince was kind of a
perfect fantasy that rarely spoke or came around until the end when he
saved the day. I tried to incorporate more thoughts of jealousy
towards
Sita from Surpanakha, correlating the story to one like Snow White and
how she deals with the jealous Queen.
This story is important in my story book because it is a fantasy
tale. It shows the hardship that the princess went through and that she
overcame it.
Image Information:
Ravana abducts Sita to Lanka.
By : Nina Paley
Web Source: Sita
Sings the Blues
Bibliography:
Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.
Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of
the Indian Epic.
