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71
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE RAMA-STORY
commissioning of any Rākṣasa by Ravana to kill Rama and Lakṣmaṇa or Mahāpārsva's intervention to help Sītā. In other respects it (5.9-11) agrees with the VR.
The PCR and the PCS agree with the accounts of the PCV. The RPS mentions that the motherly love gushed forth from the heart of Mandodari when she was trying to persuade Sītā to yield to Ravana. Sītā also felt in her heart as if she was the daughter of Mandodari. The latter then promised to safeguard the chastity of the former (Here she is the abandoned daughter of Ravana and Mandodari). In other details the RPS agrees with the PCV. The TSP agreeing with the PCV additionally mentions Trijatā1 (IV. p. 245) attending upon Sitā.
According to the Vasudevahindi which follows the VR, Rāvana approaches Sītā in the disguise of a Tapasa. Jat yu is referred to as a Vidyadhara. It tells us in short that Ravana crossed the Kişkindhi hill and went to Lanka.
According to the UP when Rama goes away to hunt the golden deer, Rāvana in the disguise of Rāma asks Sītā to go to her palace in a palanquin (really the Puspaka-vimāna) telling her that the deer had already been sent to the palace. Thus by deception he removes her to Laikā. (There is no mention of Jatayu in the UP). When he reveals his real form, Sītā gets frightened. He does not dare touch her with the fear of being deprived of his 'gaganagāminī vidyā' (68.213). He puts her under the guard of some Rākṣasīs. They try to allure her but in vain. When many inauspicious omens are observed, ministers persuade Rāvana to release Sită but he does not (68.235). The Mahā purăṇa agrees with the UP. In both these works Vibhīṣaṇa's efforts to get Sītā released have not been referred to.
Further the UP mentions Ravana persuading Sītā to accept him as her husband. He goes to her along with the ladies of his harem and appoints Mañjarikā (Mandodari in the PCV) for the same (68. 321). Rāvana himself tries with various temptations. At his failure he gets furious but Mandodari" prevents him from using force (68.340). There is a new element which differs both from the PCV and the VR. The UP mentions that Mandodari and Sita both feel,
1. In the VR Trijatā interprets her own dream to Sita, consoles her and saves her from committing suicide (5.27-28). The PGS also mentions at another place that Trijață guarded Sita and she had seen a dream (50.8).
2. In the VR Dhanyamālini (5.22.30) does the same thing but at another. place Hanumat tells Rama that Mandodari (5.58.77) prevented Rāvana from using force.
