Ramayana and Maintenance for Women
Written by Sakshi Verma
The two holy books of Hindu jurisprudence Ramayana and Mahabharata enshrines the imperishable ideals of womanhood. The Ramayana which is treasured and communicated to every successive generation of Hindus mainly describes the story of Rama and his wife Sita who is also known as the Earth’s daughter. While Rama was the son of King Dasharatha, Sita was the daughter of King Janaka. Sita was obedient and followed her husband’s commands. She can be depicted as saha-dharma-charini which indicates her status of wifehood as an equal partner in man’s code of conduct.
According to Ramayana the husband and wife are known as ‘Bharta’ and ‘Bharya’ respectively. Here ‘Bharta’ means the protector and ‘Bharya’ means the woman who nurtures the husband with all the resources for the family. As a wife Sita served her in-laws in Ayodhya remained faithful to her husband, and obeyed every parental as well as matrimonial duty. Even Sita went to the forest with Rama to fulfil her duty towards her husband and resided in various places like Panchavati, and Citrakuta. The livelihood (vritti) of Rama and Sita is known as forest life, as among the nine different means of livelihood they survived from the forest produce, that is fruits, trees, and grasses.
The shastras narrated that, a righteous woman and sahadharmini is known by her devotional work and sacred duties towards her husband. Sita due to her submissive and deferential duty towards Rama also known as Raghu becomes an impeccable instance of womanhood. On the other hand, it is also the duty of Rama to give her shelter and protection including all the comfort of her life. When Sita went to the forests with Rama, she expected Rama to take care and look after her in every aspect, including her right to maintenance which includes food, clothes, and shelter.
Even while leaving Ayodhya for fourteen years in the forest, Sita assured Sumitra, the second consort of King Dasharatha by saying that, “Mother, do not worry for your sons. In summer, I shall find shady trees under which they can rest. In winter, I shall light fires to keep them warm. During the rains, I shall find caves where we can stay dry. They are safe with me.” It shows the duties of Sita as a wife of Rama in the forest. As she is the dharma patni of Rama, she has the duties towards her husband to perform the marital duties. All these conceptions give a crystal view of the rights and duties of Sita and Rama towards each other. Rama took every care of Sita including her maintenance when she resided with him in a forest.
Another important aspect that relates to the maintenance right of a woman and which can be traced from the holy Ramayana is, that the wife retained the property of her husband even after the death of her husband. It is clear from the text of Ramayana that, the Vanara ladies who came to Ayodhya with Rama from Kiskindha were very much eager to behold the wealth and richness of Kausalya the chief Queen of Dasharatha and Rama’s mother. King Dasaratha also conferred many villages to her as maintenance.
This Holy Scripture depicts another notion of the obligations and responsibilities of the wife when Rama said to his mother Kausalya, “So long as she lives, a woman’s one deity and master is her husband”78 and “a woman must show her husband obedience and earnestly strive to please and benefit him. Such is the way of righteousness discovered long ago, revealed in the Veda and handed down in the world.” The holy epic Ramayana also describes the status of a mother having a great influence over the child. It is only due to the wish of Kaikeyi, the daughter of King Kekaya and the third consort of King Dasharatha, Rama went to the forest. The holy text also mentions that a mother is superior to the father when it comes to responsibility. But, when the mother of Rama, Kausalya came to know about the Rama’s vanavas, that is banishment, she expressed her heartache and told Dasaratha that, her husband is the main support of his wife, then son is her second support, kindred is her third support, and there is no fourth support for her.
Here, Kausalya depicted her grave and spoke of her support throughout her whole life. When Kausalya, the mother of Rama and the daughter of King Kosala wishes to go to the forest with Rama, he reminds his mother Kausalya about her duties and responsibilities towards her husband which is pati dharma. Ramayana being one of the greatest epics of Hinduism narrated all the aspects of human life.
