Sita fell to her knees and cried out to Rama, "Please let me prove my innocence for the sake of our children, so that they may grow up with a mother and father. Let my mother, Bhumi, come forth and bear testament to my innocence."
Rama considered her proposal and then replied, "Your innocence is not disputed. However, nothing has changed. You must leave this place until the festival has ended. My sons will return to the city with me, and you will spend the rest of your days here with Valmiki."
A statue of Bhumi. Source: Wikipedia
Upon hearing this Sita collapsed to the ground in despair. She could not bear the thought of losing her children. She cried out to Bhumi and appealed to her for help. As Rama's men came to take Sita out of Rama's sight, Bhumi burst forth from the ground and demanded the men release Sita. Rama's men looked to their king for approval, and he only nodded at them. Everyone stood in silence and stared at Bhumi, who walked to her daughter and picked her up from the ground. Once Sita was back on her feet, Bhumi turned her attention to Rama. "You sent my daughter away after she had remained faithful to you. Now you seek to take away her children. I will not allow this," Bhumi proclaimed. Several Nagas came out of the ground and tried to take Kusha and Lava. Rama took out his bow and shot each Naga in the heart. Rama then turned to Bhumi and said, "Leave with your daughter now and you may live."
Author's note: This story was inspired by Buck's Ramayana: King Rama's Way. I wanted to write a story where Sita ends up leaving Earth the same way, but where her path is different. Here Sita's mother becomes angry at Rama and tries to keep him from taking Sita's children.
Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.
This a really interesting retelling in that it takes many of the major plot points from Buck's Ramayana and turns many of them on their head. I mean, when you read the story in the epic, you see Sita once again loses everything, even though she has been repeatedly proven innocent. But here, you have someone else standing up for Sita, someone else fighting for her. And that's kind of fantastic, even if there is still no happy ending for her. So great additions to the story! Fantastic job!
ReplyDeleteHey Braclay! This was a really great story. I really like the character of Bhumi and how you made her Sita’s mother. She played a really great role and the way you created this character keeps the readers interested. The word choice was also great and made sure never to bore the readers. I can’t wait to read more stories by you.
ReplyDeleteGreat story! If you look at my blog, you'll see that I actually wrote about how Rama mistreated Sita. I found this part of the story to be incredibly frustrating. The entire epic is devoted to Rama trying to get Sita back. Then out of nowhere, ten thousand years later, Rama decides to doubt her loyalty and banish her?! I really liked that somebody actually stood up for Sita in your story. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting version of this story. I like that you took a risk and changed the story up, and I think it paid off. I really hated reading this part of the story because I felt for Sita. She had been nothing but devoted to Rama and was still a victim of his mistreatment. I feel like your story gave her back some power by having someone stick up for Sita and support her. I feel like your version would have stirred up quite a bit of controversy had it come out that way in the original epic.
ReplyDeleteBarclay, I really loved this story! I loved that you focused on Sita's emotions and feelings in this story. I definitely feel like you gave Sita some power in this story, by having her stick up for herself, and by having her mother stick up for her as well. Even though it was a failed attempt, it still goes to prove that she will do anything to show she is innocent. Overall, I think you did a great job! I look forward to reading more of your stories in the future!
ReplyDelete