Jain Journal 1971 01

SR No.: 520021
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 1971
Total Pages: 54
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 3 MB

Page 38

132
JAIN JOURNAL
But if Rama is human, Sita is real divinity, the ideal of Indian womanhood. Her whole life is one of suffering, dedication and sacrifice which rarely has a parallel. Brought up in a royal household and married to a prince, she is marked by destiny for a different kind of living ; for, she has a mission to fulfil. She voluntarily courts the hazardous life in the forest in the company of her husband ; she is forcibly carried away by the demon king and confined in a palace garden at a place which is separated from the mainland of India ; she is recovered at a gap of six months but these six months are of severest torture and temptation for her, in which her preference courted the former ; and at the moment she is about to be happy, she is discarded by her dear husband for a public scandal which she knew as much as he to be baseless. Such is her life and such life is deserving of the highest adoration which the Acarya has rightly bestowed on her. Here are a few lines from the work :
Praise be to Sita's chastity great. (p.1)
Mountain may stumble, but not Sita
from her determination Every particle of dust at Lanka may be asked
about her good deeds. (p. 51)
Such lines can be quoted in abundance ; for the Acarya is full of high praise and esteem for Sita. And that is but just. What is more, in this high esteem for Sita is mixed up the Acarya's esteem and adoration for the entire woman-hood which he feels has received less than justice in society dominated as it is by men. Here is a part of his outburst for the cause of woman :
Full of insult is the life of woman Full of torture is the life of woman Full of fear is the life of woman Full of sacrifice is the life of woman.
The very existence of woman is in the hands of man The very personality of woman is in the hands of man The very own-ness of woman is in the hands of man All that is woman is in the hands of man. (p. 72)