Intro

Agni Pariksha

Agni Pariksha. Trial by Fire. The Indian Fire God Like a coin, Agni has two sides. The Fire God shows attributes of both benevolence and the other, power.

The Original Tale of Sita's Trial is told like so:

Rama finally rescues Sita from Ravana, but he is unsure if her virtue has remained untouched. What no one knew, was that he was doubting Chaya Sita, Shadow Sita. Legend has it that just before Sita was abducted, she prayed to Agni, and the creation of Shadow Sita ensured her safety. While the real Sita was under Agni's protection, Shadow Sita was the one abducted by Ravana.

After waging war, and defeating Ravana to get his Sita back, Rama explains to her how he has high doubts about her loyalty. In front of a crowd of people, no less. She argued back, though. She reminded him that Ravana took her against her will and that she was untouched by Ravana's hands, but Rama would not see it her way.

Of course, Chaya Sita felt like she had no choice. She pronounced that she would walk through flames in the notorious Trial by Fire, to prove her loyalty to Rama. And so she did. Chaya Sita walked into the flames, and those who surrounded the event watched in horror. Moments later, she appeared from the crackling fire with no harm done unto her. Out with her came Agni, there to defend her virtue. It is explained that Chaya Sita has been destroyed in the fire and that the real Sita has returned.

Of course, Rama declared he knew her virtue. However, he knew that as king, his subjects would have questioned Rama's strength as a monarch. And with that, Rama had largely betrayed Sita. He betrayed their trust by not believing in her.

But,

What if Sita's story was different? What if, instead of Agni emerging from the fire, it was a different deity? What if there was not a God by Sita's side, but a Goddess? Beyond here, lies Sita's story, retold with a different Goddess at her side. Durga, feminine energy. Saraswati, wisdom. And none other the Lakshmi.

Stay Tuned...

image: Sita's Walk into the flame

Author's Note:

I have actually been a huge fan of Sita since the begining. I mean... she willingly followed Rama on a 14 year exile. She's a rider! From what I understand, Rama is such an ethereal concept in the Ramayana, and his character is pretty much untouchable. To me, pride is his single greatest flaw. And it definitley showed after her defeated Ravana and watched Sita as she walked into the flames. Chaya Sita or not, I don't think Rama really knew the difference. This really breaks my heart. I chose this story because I wanted to revise it completely, and make Sita out to be a heroine. I also thought it would be a neat idea to include some of my other favorite Goddesses, and feature their strengthd. Durga, Feminine power (+lion--which is like a double). Saraswati, wisdom. Ganga, water. I am particularly excited to use Ganga and see how well I can work with the contrasting fire and water. Also, strength in numbers, am I right? Plus I really like the theme of women empowering other women, so throwing that in here should be a really cool project. In this Intro, I felt as if I needed to incorporate a chunk of the real story, so that my readers can see the differing points of view. Thank you all so much for reading!

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