Week 2 Storytelling: How Rama Won Sita

How Rama Won Sita 

It was a chilly Saturday evening at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All of the students were in their respective houses’ common rooms. The ladies of Gryffindor were all sitting together in front of the fireplace. There was a dim glow in the room from the bright orange flame that Ginny conjured up. Hermoine Granger and Lavender Brown were taking up the seats on the couch. Standing in front of the fireplace were the twin sisters, Padma and Parvati Patil. Tonight, the girls decided to tell stories of their native countries. The Patil sisters decided to talk about the Ramayana.

(Gryffindor common room. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Padma explained to her peers that the Ramayana was an epic Sanskrit poem that was written by the Hindu sage, Valmiki. The Ramayana is one of the most well-known epics of India. The Ramayana tells the story of Rama, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, and how he goes about trying to save his wife, Sita. Sita was abducted by the evil king of Ayodhya, Ravana. At this point, Parvati cuts in and corrects Padma. “Ravana was the evil king of Lanka, Padma. You should know this by now. Mom and Dad would be so disappointed in you.” All the girls laughed at Padma’s expense. “Anyway, as I was saying, Sita was abducted. But girls, we want to tell you how cute Rama and Sita’s love story was,” Padma announced. All the girls were particularly intrigued at this point and couldn’t wait for the Patil sisters to tell them the story.

Parvati began by explaining to the girls that Sita’s father was Janaka, King of Mithila, and he set up a challenge for any guy that wanted to pursue his daughter. There was this mighty bow that was in Janaka’s possession. Many warriors and rajas tried to bend the bow, but their attempts were unsuccessful. Janaka claimed that whoever was able to bend the bow would be able to have Sita’s hand in marriage.  This feat seemed next to impossible for every guy that showed up for Sita. Janaka began to think that know one was worthy of marrying his beautiful daughter, Sita. Then, suddenly, Rama comes in. With respect, Rama asks Janaka if he may lift and bend the mighty bow. “Guys, OMG, this is the best part. Listen up!” exclaimed Padma.

(Rama breaks the mighty bow. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Parvati goes on to tell the girls the rest of the story. She excitedly tells them how Rama lifted up the bow with great ease, like lifting up a feather. With almost no force at all, Rama was able to bend the mighty bow. She made sure to tell them that before the competition started, Rama and Sita laid eyes on each other in the garden and instantly fell in love. Padma buts in and says, “Janaka was extremely impressed by Rama’s success and almost instantly accepted Rama as his Sita’s husband.”

“Aww, that was quite possible the coolest way to win someone over,” Lavender whispered. All the girls were intrigued by the story. They couldn’t wait til the Patil sisters gave another installment of the epic love story, Ramayana.  

Author's Note. I decided to write about when Rama wins Sita. I remained very close to the actual story of when Rama broke the bow. I have always loved this story of how Rama was the only raja who was able to lift and break the mighty bow of Lord Shiva. I touched on the part of the story before Rama wins over Sita through the competition. I briefly mentioned how Rama and Sita had already seen each other before the competition. But my spin on the story was to make it seem like Padma and Parvati Patil were telling the story to their friends at Hogwarts. I was browsing the random storytelling site generator and the Harry Potter style really stuck out to me. I have read and seen all the Harry Potter books and movies so it was easy for me to write a story based on the characters.  I love Harry Potter so it was fun for me to incorporate it into the Ramayana. I obviously chose an image that showed Rama breaking the bow and surprising all of the bystanders. This was the climax of the story, in my opinion. I hope anyone who reads this enjoys the mix of the Patil sisters and the Ramayana. I wanted to write a fun, light-hearted story about Rama and Sita.

Bibliography. PDE Ramayana. Part A, Section 9-10. Various authors.