Sita and Ram After the War

After Ravana's funeral, Vibhishana was crowned king of Lanka. Ram sent Hanuman to the Ashoka grove. Hanuman told Sita of Ravana's death, the safety of Lakshman and Sugriva, and the victory. For a while, Sita could not speak. Then she said no gift could equal the news he had brought.

Hanuman asked permission to punish the rakshasi guards who had threatened her. Sita refused. Many had acted under Ravana's command, she said; revenge against them all for another person's crime would not be right.

Vibhishana arranged for Sita to bathe, dress in royal clothes, and travel to Ram in a palanquin. When rakshasa guards pushed the crowd away, Ram stopped them. In danger, war, and public ceremony, he said, a woman's true protection was her own character, not walls or curtains. Sita walked before him.

The reunion everyone expected was not simple. Before the assembly, Ram said he had fought to answer the insult to his honour and family. Sita had lived for a long time in another man's house; she was now free to go wherever she chose. The words struck her deeply. Why, she asked, did Ram speak to her as though she were an ordinary guilty woman? Ravana had touched and imprisoned her against her will; her mind and loyalty had never gone to him. If Ram meant to reject her, he could have said so when Hanuman brought the message, and so much war need not have followed.

Sita asked Lakshman to prepare a fire. Lakshman was grieved and angry, but at Ram's silent indication he built the pyre. Sita walked around the flame. If her heart had always remained true to Ram, she declared, let Fire protect her. She entered the burning fire, and the gathered people cried out.

Agni emerged carrying Sita in his arms. Neither her body nor her clothing had been harmed. Agni testified that she was innocent in mind, word, and deed and must be accepted. Brahma and the other gods reminded Ram of his divine nature. Ram replied that he had known Sita's truth but had wanted it witnessed before the world. He received her again.

Dasharatha also appeared in a heavenly form. He spoke affectionately to Ram, Sita, and Lakshman, withdrew the harsh final words he had spoken about Kaikeyi and Bharat, and blessed his children. Indra offered Ram a boon. Ram asked that the vanara companions who had fallen in the war be restored to life and health. Indra granted it, and many warriors rose as if waking from deep sleep.

It was now time to return to Ayodhya.