Week 4 Story: The Husband Trial

It was Sunday afternoon and Sita knew Rama’s flight would be landing soon. She ran through the house throwing toys into their proper bins and vacuuming the carpet. She had gone to great lengths to ensure that Rama would return to a clean home after his month-long business trip in Germany. Sita could not wait to be back in her husband’s arms and Rama was just as excited.

After the final minutes passed that felt like hours to Sita, it was finally time to meet Rama at the airport. She loaded up into the car and sped to get him. When their eyes met it was like the first time they had laid eyes on each other. Rama’s face lit up with a smile and Sita’s heart fluttered. They ran to each other and in a deep embrace they hoped the moment would never pass.

Once they got home, Sita began to help Rama unpack his suitcase so she could start the laundry. As she was grabbing the dirty clothes from his suitcase and piling them up in the basket, a tube of lipstick rolled onto the ground.

Not wanting to jump to conclusions immediately she took the lipstick to Rama and calmly asked, “Rama, how did this lipstick get into your suitcase?”  She was hoping for a valid excuse but knew that was unlikely. Rama began to stutter. “Uh, Uh… I don’t know where that could have come from,” he said uneasily, guilt pouring from him eyes.

Sita was a reasonable woman and decided that rather than accuse her husband of lying, she would simply demand that he prove his loyalty to her.

“Rama,” she stated, “since you have been gone for a month's time, I ask that you prove that you remained loyal to me in your time away.” Rama looked down nervously but felt confident his strength and abilities could overcome any challenge Sita could throw at him, so he agreed.

“You must pray upon the God of Water as your purity will only be proven if you are able to swim up the river to the nearest bait shop from the entrance by our home,” Sita declared. “If you are able to swim this distance upstream, I will know you have been loyal.” Rama nodded his head in agreement, certain his strength would be able to overcome the strength of the rushing river.

Word of the trial spread and a crowd lined the river from the entrance to the shop. All were eager to witness Rama attempt the trial but most doubted his loyalty to Sita. Rama waded out toward the center of the river where he would begin.

He prayed to the God of Water and dove in. He was a strong swimmer with impeccable form. He moved his arms with as much force and as quickly as he could with his feet kicking behind him.

After what felt like a lifetime, Rama lifted his head for a brief moment to monitor his progress as he felt himself becoming fatigued. He caught a quick glimpse of Sita watching from the side and looked back upstream only to catch sight of a wave forming right in front of his eyes.

“A wave? How could this be?” Rama thought shocked. His eyes widened and the wave crashed into him throwing his body downstream far past where he had originally started.

The crowd booed and Sita crumpled to the ground in tears. She had been doubtful of Rama’s purity but a part of her on the inside hoped he was telling the truth. However, the Gods had spoken and made it painfully clear to her what she needed to do and she did not see or speak to Rama ever again.

Wave crashing down on Rama
Source

Author's Note: For this story I took the concept from the PDE Ramayana in which Rama tested Sita with fire after Ravana had held her captive.  I took the general concept of a couple being forced apart for an extended period of time and placed it in a slightly more modern setting. I also reversed the roles between Sita and Rama and had Rama be the one whose loyalty had to be tested.

For the test, I really wanted to use a similar concept in which there was a god responsible for the element used. In the Ramayana, Sita called upon the fire god, Agni for protection and he protected her. I chose to use water because I have read about Varuna the Hindu god of water and the goddess Ganga. I liked the idea of a specific god being in charge of determining Rama’s fate and the outcome of the test. In the story a wave comes crashing down on Rama and I wanted that to be a direct sign and action of a god.

In my portfolio, I have included stories of romance. While this story isn’t a happy ending, it still involves the conflict and relationship between two people. I think this addition to my portfolio will give a unique storyline compared to typical happy ending stories. 

Bibliography: PDE Ramayana, Authors: M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.