Love at First Fistfight

It had been ten years since Sita had discovered Pinaka, and her combat training had expanded to include sword-fighting, hand-to-hand combat, and horseback riding in addition to her original archery lessons. She was as well trained as any of the princes in the surrounding kingdoms, and had beaten half a dozen of them in matches when they came to visit her father's court. Her teachers were pleased with her fighting prowess, as well as her performance in her lessons in diplomacy, geography, and mathematics. She was becoming one of the most qualified students they had ever had as a candidate for governing.

However, her eighteenth birthday was rapidly approaching, and Sita knew what that meant; her father was going to have to find her a husband in order to strengthen one of the kingdom's alliances. He was reluctant to buck tradition completely, and he couldn't risk offending all of the neighboring kings by implying that his daughter was too good for their sons. So Sita and her father hatched a plan. Sita was the only person in known history to lift Shiva's bow; it seemed only fitting that her husband also be up to the challenge. If no man could meet the challenge, then he could declare that none of them were worthy, and Sita would remain a free woman, next in line to his throne.

The plan seemed foolproof, and for the next five years, no man, prince or otherwise was successful in winning Sita's hand. Sita was officially named heir to King Janaka, and was taking over more and more responsibilities, when one day, a young prince named Rama appeared in court. He had, most unwillingly, come to try and earn Sita's hand in marriage on the orders of his father, and thus presented himself to King Janaka as a potential suitor.

Rama had yet to meet a potential wife who was allowed to care about anything practical, and his expectations were very low when he arrived in Mithila. He happened to pass by the archery range on his way through the palace, and joined the crowd surrounding an archer with a long, dark braid who was putting on quite a performance. The archer emptied their quiver, and turned around to leave, and Rama was startled to realize that the star marksman was actually a young woman. When he asked the person next to him, he was informed that he had just witnessed the heir apparent, Princess Sita at her daily archery practice. His heart beating a little faster, Rama started to wonder if this proposal he had been dreading so much was really such a bad thing after all.

As was customary, the entire court gathered in the throne room for the challenge. First, Sita stepped up to the pedestal lifted the bow, strung it, and fired three quick shots into a target. Then, the prince in question would step forward, fail to move the bow an inch, and concede to Sita. At least that was how it had always gone before. Only this time, Prince Rama stepped forward and actually managed to lift the bow. Alarmed by his progress, Sita leaned forward; he still had to successfully string and fire the bow. There was still time for him to fail and for her to preserve her freedom. He placed one foot on the bottom of the bow, reached for the string and...

CRACK

Pinaka snapped right down the middle. Horrified, Sita leapt to her feet and grabbed the bow from his hands, but the damage was done. She threw Rama one withering look and then stormed out of the room amidst murmurs from the king's counselors trying to decide if the challenge had been completed. King Janaka calmly dismissed everyone and then beckoned to Rama. Rama knelt before King Janaka and said, "Your Majesty, I still hope to ask your daughter for her hand in marriage, and I hope that I have demonstrated that I equal her in strength, if not dexterity."

King Janaka nodded, and said,

"You must put the question directly to my daughter. I don't think she is entirely happy with you at the moment."

So together they walked silently out to the archery range where Sita had grabbed her second-favorite bow and was rapidly firing arrows into every available target.

King Janaka cleared his throat, and she whirled around, tears of fury still streaming down her face.

"Child, you should at least hear out Prince Rama's proposal. He has traveled a long way, and he was nearly successful. I am growing old and I wish to see you happy with someone."

Without responding Sita marched up to Prince Rama, drew her fist back, and punched him so hard that his nose snapped just as loudly as Pinaka had just minutes before.

"You broke my favorite bow, so I broke your nose. Now you may make your offer," said Sita, her arms crossed, as she stared him down.

Rama had never met a woman like her before, and he was becoming increasingly convinced that they would make a formidable team. The alliance between their kingdoms would be invaluable, she was clearly a skilled archer, and it didn't hurt that she was also quite pretty. Besides, his father had made it clear that he was going to have to marry eventually. So once again Rama knelt and asked for Sita's hand in marriage.

Sita was still angry, but the rational part of her brain knew that the smart thing to do would be to accept. The entire court had witnessed him lift Pinaka. She had to keep her end of the bargain, or risk losing her people's respect. She looked down at Rama, who was waiting expectantly, even as blood poured down his face and sighed.

"The harvest will be in after two months time. We'll be married then."

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana

Author's Note: This is a retelling of Rama and Sita's first meeting and subsequent marriage as described in the Ramayana, in which Sita is already poised to become Queen, and Rama interferes with her plans. I wanted to tell this story in such a way that Rama and Sita were on more equal footing, and that Sita was not just a prize to be won. In the Introduction I wanted to hint at the fact that even as a young child, Sita was extremely precocious and adventurous. In this section, I wanted to make it even clearer that Sita is a highly competent warrior and decision-maker. I've essentially tried to present her in the manner the heroes in old folktales are presented: strong and capable and respected by those around her. It can be very frustrating to read stories that were written centuries ago that glorify the kings and princes and praise them for being tough and adventurous and commanding, and then for the women in the story to exist simply to be their wives. The highest praise that a woman in these stories usually receives is being "a dutiful wife" as if her only function of existing is to serve the men around her. I wanted to tell a version of this story in which the woman was on the upper end of the power dynamic, so that's exactly what I did with this version of Rama and Sita's engagement. That being said, I also wanted to hint at the fact that Rama and Sita will end up being equal partners both working together for the good of their two kingdoms. Just because Sita has the upper hand in this situation does not mean that she cannot learn to share her responsibilities.