Sita and parrots

6/27/08

This is a story from Padma puranam. Heroine is our little Sita Devi of Mithila. She was about seven years old and was playing with her friends in her beautiful garden. Then two green parrots came there and started singing beautifully. It was not mere chirping of parrots, but they were singing Ramayana story as if somebody had taught them. They sang that part of the story where Rama came to Mithila and married Sita by breaking Siva's bow. Songs of the parrots were very clear and sweet. Sita fell in love with those parrots and asked where they learnt this song and who was this Rama and Sita. They said they learnt it from Valmiki Maharshi himself because they stayed in the same forest. Then they explained that Sita is the little girl in front of them asking questions and charming Prince Rama would come one day to marry her.

 

Sita requested them to stay back so that she could listen to them everyday. Then the female parrot told Sita that she was pregnant and she would like to go back to her own forest and would come back after she delivered the children. But Sita could not resist the temptation of owning her and enjoying her sweet music and did not allow her to go. Female parrot was captured and was put in a beautiful cage. Sita told the female parrot: " I shall release you when that charming Rama you described come and marry me".

 

 Male parrot also begged Sita to free his wife, but Sita told him to come back later. This parrot who was pregnant was very sad to be separated from her beloved husband. She refused to eat and cried and cursed Sita, "Since you separated me from my beloved husband during  pregnancy, you also will have to experience the same fate" .

 

Having spoken thus the miserable female parrot uttered Rama naamam and died. Seeing this the male parrot was extremely sad and distressed and fell in to the Ganga and drowned himself. His last words were : "You killed my beautiful pregnant wife by separating her from me. I will take janma in Ayodhya and will cause your separation from your husband during your pregnancy".

 

Later Rama married Sita. Ravana kidnapped her and Rama defeated Ravana and brought her back to Ayodhya. This  male parrot was born as Krodhan, the washerman in Ayodhya  and because of  his harsh words Sita was exiled to the forest. Sita was pregnant at that time and she had to face separation from her husband living alone in the forest. Padma purana says that everybody has to experience the results of each and every karma we do. Either the results will be experienced in the same janma or in the subsequent janmaas.

 

Rama and Sita being Purusha and Prakrithi, acted as if they were going through the suffering to show us that karmaphalam will always follow karmam. This story tells us to be considerate to other fellow creatures' feelings and pain.

 

According to Njaanaananda Saraswathi Sukritham and Dushkritham are like bouncing balls. If we throw the ball of sukrutham, only the ball of sukrutham will bounce back. If we throw ball of Dushkrutham, only ball of dushkrutham will bounce back. But what about the balls of dushkruthum that we threw in the previous janmaas? We do not know how many balls we played with. Scriptures say, sankeerthanam and satsangam will change the direction of the ball of dushkrutham or at least lessen the force with which it will bounce back on us.