Janaka Maharaja was the wise and learned king of Mithila. He
was known to be a just and able ruler. Once when the king was on a mission, he
heard the cry of a child. He discovered a girl child in a furrow under a
ploughed field. He lifted her up and finding nobody to claim her, took her home
to his queen Sunaina. Believing her to
be the child of Bhumi Devi, (Mother Earth) they adopted the child and named her
Sita. Janaka and Sunaina adored Sita and brought her up with great love and
care. In time, they had another daughter named Urmila, who was even more
attached to Sita. Janaka’s brother had two daughters called Mandvi and
Shrutakirti. The four cousins grew up together happily.
Once, when Sita was playing with her sisters she discovered
a beautiful bow placed ceremoniously on a table. Being curious, she lifted the
bow. Janaka, who was watching the entire incident, was stunned. Sita, a young
girl had lifted the divine Shiva Dhanush, which no one had ever been able to
do. He knew that his daughter was not an ordinary child. To lift the divine
bow, she had to be divine too.
Years later, when Sita grew up to marriageable age, Maharaja
Janaka remembered this incident and decided to make that the backdrop of her Swayamvaram. In those days, Swayamvarams were held by royal families, and kings and princes of
various regions were invited, to allow their princess to choose the man whom
she wished to marry. Likewise, Janaka, realizing that only a divine and strong
person could string the Shiva Dhanush, pronounced a condition for Sita’s swayamvaram.
“The man who lifts and strings the Shiva Dhanush will be
offered Sita’s hand in marriage,” he announced.
Sita’s beauty was incomparable and every king or prince in the
nearby kingdoms wanted to marry her. Since invitations for the Swayamvaram had been sent far and wide,
all the Kings and Princes were expected to assemble in Mithila. The same
invitation had been given to Sage Vishwamitra. He accepted the invitation and
went to Mithila with Rama and Lakshmana. He was received with great respect and
humility by the Janaka Maharaja, who personally led him to the dwelling
allotted for the Sage. In the evening Sage Vishwamitra sent Rama and Lakshmana
to collect flowers for his nitya puja.
While they were plucking the beautiful flowers in the pushpa vatika, Sita and her sisters were
going for worship at the nearby Gowri Mata temple. Rama’s glance fell on Sita
and at once he was attracted by her incredible beauty. Lakshmana noticed Rama’s
attraction and realizing that Sita was an incarnation Goddess Lakshmi, he
folded his hands in humble prayer. Sita’s eyes too fell on Rama and she knew at
once that Rama (the incarnation of Lord Mahavishnu) was the man she wanted to
marry. She ran towards the temple and
prayed to Goddess Parvati to bless her and grant her wish that only Rama should
be her husband.
The next day dawned. Kings and princes from many lands were
present at the swayamvaram hall in
Janaka Maharaja’s palace. It is believed that the powerful king of Lanka,
Ravana, too was in attendance. One by one all the great kings and princes tried
their hand at lifting the Shiva Dhanush,
but failed. It was the turn of Ravana. Ravana was a devout Shiva bhakt, and the other kings expected him to life the bow. But
he too tried and failed. Seeing the powerful kings fail one by one, Sita was
happy. Her heart was with Rama, who was seated along with Lakshmana and Sage
Vishwamitra watching the scene. But Janaka Maharaja was sad. He was wondering
whether Sita would remain unmarried because of the condition that he had laid.
“Is there no one in this Sabha who can fulfill the condition
for winning my daughter’s hand?” he lamented. “Is this world bereft of strong
men?”
At this Lakshmana could not contain his anger. “When my
brother Rama is in this Sabha, how can you even think or say such a thing?” he
thundered.
“Calm down Lakshmana,” said Sage Vishwamitra.
He then spoke to the Janaka Maharaja. “These two boys with
me are sons of Maharaja Dashrath of Ayodhya. They are learned, strong and wise,
and have protected our yagna from
terrible demons like Tataka, Subahu and Marich. So with your permission, dear
Maharaja Janaka, let Rama try to string the Shiva
Dhanush.”
 |
| Rama breaks Shiva Dhanush (Raja Ravi Varma [Public domain] via Wikipedia) |
Janaka Maharaj looked at the Sage and nodded. Vishwamitra
looked at Rama and asked him to try.
Rama took Sage Vishwamitra’s blessing, and walked up to the
table where the Shiva Dhanush was
placed. He gave a quick glance to Sita, who was praying to Goddess Parvati.
Then Rama humbly and respectfully prostrated before the Shiva Dhanush. Lifting the divine bow with ease he strung the
thread to the bow, but the force broke the bow into two with a huge sound.
At last there was a relieved smile on the face of Maharaja
Janaka and his Queen Sunaina. Sita flanked by her sister and cousins, walked
towards Rama with the Varmala and
garlanded him shyly.
But there was a thundering voice which stopped them. They turned to see Lord Parashuram angrily asking "Who has the temerity to break the Shiva Dhanush?"
Rama calmly answered, "I broke it."
#Ayodhya #stories_for_children #Vishwamitra #Rama #Lakshmana #Sita #Swayamvaram #Sita_swayamvar #Janaka #Sunaina #Mithila #Shiva_dhanush
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