The Liberation of Sita, by Volga

The Ramayana is not a singular text; multiple versions exist across different periods. The Liberation of Sita is one such retelling through a feminist lens, sympathizing with the characters oppressed by the more popular versions of the Ramayana. Going against the traditional setting, Volga presents Sita as the protagonist, following her path to liberation from her husband Rama who betrayed her love for him.

The book is divided into five chapters, the first four discussing four different phases of Sita's life where she was wronged, and the collective sisterhood of four women - Surpanakha, Ahalya, Renuka Devi, and Urmila - that taught her of a life beyond the disgrace imposed on her and escape the patriarchal cage. Each of these women has overcome the same hurdles that Sita faces when they meet. The knowledge they impart and the solidarity they provide help Sita break free from her shackles, reinforcing the powerful image of collective womanhood. The philosophical nature of the conversations extends beyond the book; the characters are vessels that promote the author's politics.

Surpanakha's case is the most intriguing. To have her converse with Sita with mutual respect is to place her in the same social standing as the latter, which debilitates the rigid Brahminical nature of the popular versions of the Ramayana. Like Sita, her only crime was to love Rama, and her punishment was disfiguration. Rama and Lakshmana attacked her with another intention in mind; to provoke Ravana, making her a pawn in a war they sought to start with the ambition of expanding the Aryan empire. This led to the same fate befalling Sita, whom Ravana kidnapped in retaliation. No matter who the victor is, women on both sides are victims of war. Surpanakha learns to love herself again, understanding that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. She teaches Sita the value of being independent in relationships, especially one with a man.

Ahalya reflects on the dialectics of truth, and more importantly, the distinction between truth and trust. When Sita insists that her husband 'would enquire into truth and untruth,' Ahalya asks, "But he does enquire, doesn't he?" Men are obsessed with truth, but rarely does it matter to them. It is the idea of truth that they find appealing. Here, it is inherently associated with authority, while trust is free of the same. The chastity test that Sita was forced to undergo was not conducted in the quest for truth but as a show of authority on the pretext of optics. Pollution, purity, honour are all concepts that have no meaning in the human condition, yet occupy the annals of Brahminism.

Renuka Devi, a victim of the Arya Dharma herself, insists on the importance of being free from the pre-determined roles of being a wife and mother in the house. She explains that a woman must have an identity of her own, and be able to exist outside the attachments that bind her to her husband and sons. Sita, raising her sons only to be heirs of Ayodhya, is advised so as she struggles to detach herself from motherhood.

Urmila helps Sita with the final step of liberation. "Power is the root cause of all sorrow. We must acquire this power. And then give it up," she tells her sister. As the trials Rama set plagued her, Urmila helped her understand that each trial would help her get closer to liberation from him. Thus, once her duty of raising the heirs of Ayodhya was complete, she was finally free from being a wife and a mother, from everything that held her back.

When Sita initially received the advice with scorn, insisting that her husband was not like other men, the women she spoke to never judged her for it. Rather, they stood by her throughout, as the spirit of their sisterhood was strong. They always accepted Sita for who she was.

The final chapter shows Rama as a defeated man. By doing so, Volga dismantles his aureole and presents him as a man bound by the very patriarchy and caste hegemony of which he was appointed warden, suffocating as he realizes that he has lost the woman he loves. Instead of indulging in the dichotomy of good and evil that mythological texts often use, Rama's case is presented with complexities and treated with sympathy. In today's political climate, as mythology (particularly that of Rama's) pervades real life such interpretations bulldoze the fundamental ideas propagated by the Hindutva.

The book speaks the language of liberation, and the language of liberation is universal. As Patricia Yaegar puts it, "As women play with old texts, the burden of tradition is lightened and shifted; it has the potential of being remade."* And this is exactly what Volga has done, tearing down the hierarchical structures that torment and bringing justice to the characters that deserve it.

* - PATRICIA YAEGAR'S QUOTE IS TAKEN FROM PAGE 91 OF THE BOOK.