A story · Ramayana · The Exile

Anasuya's Gifts

Valmiki Ramayana 2.117 · read aloud in the app

The story · English

Rama could not settle in that lonely place the hermits had left behind. "I met my faithful Bharata here," he said, "and the people of the city, and my mother. The memory still hurts, and it stings me with a regret that does no good. Bharata's army camped on this ground. Horses stamped here, and elephants trampled this quiet retreat with their heavy feet." So he set out to find another home, with Sita and Lakshmana beside him. They came to the pure hermitage of the sage Atri, and Rama bowed at his holy feet. The old saint welcomed him the way a loving father welcomes his son. He took Rama in as a dear guest, with real joy, and gave Lakshmana and Sita every kindness and courtesy that was their due.

Then Atri, who wished good to every living thing, called for his wife, Anasuya. She was blameless and greatly honoured, and she delighted in her holy vows. She came out of her room to his side, and he said to her, "Please welcome this lady, a daughter of the kings of Mithila, as a friend." Then he turned to Rama and spoke of his wife. "For ten thousand years she has kept the hardest disciplines. Once the clouds held back their rain and drought burned the land for ten years. She made roots and fruit grow, and she brought the Ganga to flow here, so the saints were freed from their troubles and their rites went on. To help the gods, she made one night stretch into ten. Let holy Anasuya be an honoured mother to you, Prince."

"Let your wife from Videha come close to her," Atri went on, "to the one every living creature reveres. She is old now, and her heart is loving, slow to anger, and always kind." Rama agreed, and he looked at Sita. "Princess, you heard what the sage said. Go to her now, so that her touch may bless you. Go to the honoured lady whose name, Anasuya, is known far and wide. The great things she has done have won her glory in the world." Sita went to her. The saint was very old and frail, with white hair, and she trembled like a plantain tree in the wind. Sita bowed her head before her and said, "Lady, I am Sita." She joined her hands and asked whether all was well with her.

The old woman looked at Sita, who kept so faithfully to what was right, and said, "You are fortunate, for your thoughts always lean toward goodness. You gave up your family, your rank and your wealth to follow Rama, forced as he is to walk through lonely forests. Women who go on loving their husbands without change, whether they live in a town or a forest, whatever their husbands are like, reach the high worlds. To a noble wife, her husband is like a god, even if he is cruel or poor or strays. I know of no closer or holier bond, and every penance looks dim beside the joy of serving him. But a woman whose mind is clouded by whims, who makes the one she should follow obey her, loses her virtue and her good name."

"Women like you, good and true, who see both the present and the future, will rise to the happy heavens by their goodness, just as men rise by holy deeds," Anasuya said. "So keep yourself clear of wrong, stay true to your husband, and fame and merit will come to you." Sita bowed low and answered softly. "It is no surprise, best of women, that you should teach a wife her duty. But I know it too. If my husband were the lowest of men, with not one good quality, I would still never leave him. How much more, then, a husband like mine, whose virtues shine so high. He is compassionate and great-souled, master of himself, faithful in love, righteous, and as kind as a dear father and mother."

"He treats every queen of his father with the same respect he shows his own mother, Kaushalya," Sita said. "He shows a son's reverence even to those the king glanced at only once. I keep in my heart the words his mother spoke to me when I left home for the frightening woods. I keep my own mother's counsel, given when I stood by the sacred fire and Rama took my hand. And I never forget what my friends told me: a woman's holiest offering is to follow her husband's wish. Good Savitri obeyed her husband and was raised to heaven, and for that same virtue heaven is yours now. Lovely Rohini, the Moon's dear queen, now a bright goddess in the sky, is never seen without her lord."

When Sita finished, a soft joy filled Anasuya's saintly heart. She kissed Sita's head and said, "Through long rites and hardships I have gathered a great store of merit. From that wealth I will give you a blessing before you go. Every word you spoke was right and wise and true, and I love you. Let it be my pleasure to grant whatever you ask." Sita was amazed, and a gentle smile played on her lips. "Everything has already been done for me, holy lady," she said. "There is nothing left to wish for." Her humble answer made Anasuya happier still. "Sita," she said, "my gift today will repay your sweet contentment. Take this precious robe of heavenly cloth, these jewels, and this fragrant ointment."

"This gift will make you shine with beauty," Anasuya said, "and its pure fragrance will last. Spread on your skin, this ointment will bring new radiance to your husband, just as Lakshmi's beauty graces the face of Vishnu." Sita accepted what the lady gave her in friendship: the ointment, the jewels, the heavenly robe, and garlands of flowers. Then she sat down respectfully at Anasuya's feet. The old woman turned to her and asked to hear a pleasant story. "Sita, they say Rama won your hand from among a gathering of suitors. I would love to hear you tell how it all happened. Tell me everything, from beginning to end." Sita answered, "Then listen, lady," and she began.

"King Janaka rules Videha. He is just, brave and strong, loves what is right, and knows the warrior's law. One morning he was guiding the plough to mark out ground for a sacred rite, and as the ploughshare split the earth, I sprang up. He saw me covered in dust and stared at the baby in wonder. He had no children, and he held me to his chest and said, 'She is my daughter.' A voice came from the sky, like a human voice: 'Yes, great King, let this child be called yours.' He rejoiced over me, and gave me to his chief queen, who raised me with a mother's love. But as my time to marry drew near, he grew anxious. 'Every man scorns the father of a girl,' he said, 'even one equal to Indra.'"

"He knew I was not born of a human mother, and he could find no husband anywhere fit for me," Sita went on. "At last he decided to hold a bride's choosing, with all the old rites. Long ago, at Daksha's great sacrifice, Varuna had given my father's grandfather a heavenly bow, with a quiver and arrows. No mortal king could bend or even lift it, not even in dreams. My father, who always keeps his word, told the gathered lords, 'Whoever can handle this bow will marry my daughter.' The suitors looked hopelessly at that bow, huge as a mountain, said goodbye, and left humbled. Then Rama came with Vishvamitra, and Lakshmana beside him, to see the sacrifice. Vishvamitra told my father the princes longed to see the bow, and it was laid before Rama."

कथा · हिन्दी

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• Before: The Sandals · Valmiki Ramayana 2.111
• All of Ramayana · Ask Krishna about it

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