Once upon a time, there was a princess named Sita, who was so gorgeous and elegant. She was the wife of a very handsome, strong, and kind-hearted man named Rama. Rama and Sita were so in love with each other that they would die for one another. Rama always wanted the best for his love and gave her anything she asked for. Rama built her a castle with a beautiful garden surrounding the whole place. Right behind their castle was also a dark and ambiguous forest. They never went into that area because there were usually rakshasa, who are demons.
As Sita was walking around in her garden, she saw something in the distance. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It was the most magnificent creature she had ever seen, a golden deer. She yelled for Rama and his brother, Lakshmana, and told them that she wanted Rama to capture the golden deer. Rama then went to get the creature for his wife.
After a while, Sita got a feeling that Rama was in trouble. She insisted Lakshmana go and find him. She started to cry because she knew that Rama was her everything and without him she would rather die. Lakshmana went after him because he too could sense something was odd about this situation. He knew there were some evil people after his family.
On her balcony alone, Sita sat crying and praying that her Rama would come back to her. She was so sad and upset at herself that she sent Rama after the golden deer. It would kill her if anything happened to him. As she was sitting on her balcony, there was a man in her garden. Sita didn’t notice him at first. This man was no other than the King of Lanka, Ravana. However, he disguised himself as a wise old man, trying to get close to Sita. He had his eyes on Sita for a while now. He had never seen someone as beautiful as Sita and wanted her to become his wife.
Sita noticed that there was an old man standing in her garden. He called for her to come down. At first Sita was a little suspicious, but she went down and thought he was just a harmless man. The wise old man asked Sita why she was crying. Sita told him about her husband and the situation. After hearing her talk about Rama, the old man showed his true identity as Ravana, who also had ten heads, because he was mad that she still had feelings for Rama. Ravana told Sita to come with him to be his wife, and that he was better man than Rama.
However, Sita told him no, that she was forever committed to Rama her true love. Hearing this obviously made Ravana more mad. He grabbed Sita and placed her in his chariot. The entire time Sita was yelling for Rama to come save her. Lucky for Sita, Rama was nearby with his brother Lakshmana because they were making their way back to the castle.
As Rama and Lakshmana were walking back, they heard a faint sound. Rama stopped in his tracks to hear the sound more closely. Lakshmana asked his brother what was wrong. Rama looked at his brother and told him that Sita was in trouble. They ran towards the castle, where they saw Ravana trying to take Sita. They took quick action to stop Ravana. Rama went after Ravana, while Lakshmana helped Sita get out of the chariot. Rama managed to wound Ravana enough to where he couldn't keep up in the fight. Ravana was mad that Sita got away. He left and threatened Rama that he would be back to take his revenge.
At last, Rama and Sita were finally reunited. She was so thankful that Rama was safe and both men were nearby to save her. However, she was still worried that Ravana would try to come back to take his vengeance. Rama told Sita not to worry and that next time they would be better prepared. They all were just happy that no one was hurt and Sita got her Rama back.
Author's Note: This story is based on a public domain edition of Ramayana of The Golden Deer and Ravana and Sita. In those stories, Ravana comes up with a plan to take Sita. He orders a rakshasa to take the form of a golden deer so that it could lure away Rama and his brother. That way Sita is left unguarded. When Sita saw the beautiful golden deer, she insisted Rama go capture it for her, even though Lakshmana was against the idea. Lakshmana knew that there were some cunning demons in the woods, so he was more suspicious. However, Rama went to capture the deer anyways and fell for the trap. Sita sends Lakshmana to go save Rama after she hears his cry for help, or so she thought that was him. Then Ravana takes the disguise of a wise man and abducts Sita. However in that version, Ravana was successful in kidnapping Sita. I changed the ending to where he was not successful. Another thing I changed was the setting of my story to them in the castle. In the original version, Sita was staying in a forest. I thought I would change the ending because Rama and Sita loved each other very much and were devoted to one another. I mean Rama in a sense ignored Lakshmana's warning about the deer and still went to get the deer for his love knowing it could have been a trap.
Bibliography:
PDE Ramayana: The Golden Deer by Donald A. Mackenzie and Romesh Dutt. Web source.
PDE Ramayana: Ravana and Sita by Donald A. Mackenzie and Romesh Dutt. Web source.
Banner Image: Ravana reveals his true self to Sita. Source: Wikimedia Commons.