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INTRODUCTION does not mention her in his brief reference to Sila's visit to the battlefield in Canto 14 of the Setubandha; but the part played by Trijatā on that occasion in the Rāmāyaṇa serves as a model for the role assigned to her in the episode of the magic head in our poem.
It is noteworthy that Kālidāsa also mentions Trijatā in connection with the magic head in a passing reference to the episode in the Raghuvamsa 12.74. It is probable that the poets here follow a tradition slightly different from that found in the Rāmāyaṇal. Pravarasena deals with the topic in his own manner, and gives an appealing picture of Trijatā's friendship and affection for Sītā. Particularly touching is his reference to the mingling tears of the two women as Sītā in her grief reclines on Trijatā's bosom (11.101)?. Love for Sítā is at the root of the patient humility that finds expression in Trijatā's words of consolation. She asks Sītā not to disregard her affectionate words because she is a Rākşasa woman. Fragrant flowers, she says, are welcome whether they grow in a pleasure garden or in a wood (11.119). No less remarkable is her candour which prompts her to tell Sītā that she is not so much aggrieved on her account as at the change in Rāvana's character, as seen in the mean trick played by him while Rāma is alive (11.127). A noteworthy trait of Pravarasena's Trijatā is that he makes her a mouthpiece of his religious views. Her argument that Rāma cannot die is based on the clearly expressed idea that he is the Supreme Being, the mainstay of the universe, on whom depends the functioning of the forces of nature (11.89-91). In the corresponding scene in the Rāmāyaṇa Saramā calls him only a powerful hero, who will vanquish the demons with the
1 Trijatā appears also in the Rāma story in the Mahābhārata which does not,
however, refer to the episode of the magic head. 2 See Extracts 11.101.
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