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this is something I found and have never heard before, can someone please elaborate more on this interaction...thank you😊
18. When Sita met Surpanakha
This is an excerpt from Devdutt Pattanaik's Sita : An Illustrated Retelling Of The Ramayana. The chapter 'Sita weeps as Surpanakha gloats' talks of what happens after Lakshman abandons Sita in the forest on his brother's orders and then she meets Surpanakha
Under the berry tree, Sita found Surpanakha, full of hate and rage, gloating. 'They rejected you as they rejected me. Now you suffer as I do, stripped of status as I was stripped of beauty.' Sita smiled, and offered Surpanakha a berry. 'These are really sweet, as sweet as the berries in Mandodari's garden.' Surpanakha was surprised.
She had expected to derive pleasure from Sita's pain. But Sita was not in pain. 'Surpanakha, how long will you expect those around you to love you as you love them? Find the Shakti within yourself to love the other even when the other does not love you. Outgrow your hunger by unconditionally feeding the other.' 'But I want justice,' said Surpanakha
'How much punishment will be enough? Ever since the sons of Dashratha disfigured you, they have known no peace. Yet you rave and rant relentlessly. Humans are never satisfied with justice. Animals never ask for justice.' 'I am not an animal, Sita. I will not be treated as one, said Surpanakha. "Then be human. Let go and move on. They who hurt you cannot expand their mind. But surely you can, "reasoned Sita.
'I refuse to submit,' said the demon princes. Sita warns her, You trap yourself in your own victimhood. Then be like Ravana. Stand upright while your brothers die, your sons die and your kingdom burns, imagining your own nobility. Who loses, but you? Cultures come and go. Ram and Ravana come and go. Nature continues. I would rather enjoy nature
Surpanakha picked up the berry offered by Sita. It was indeed sweet, sweeter than any lover's impatient, lustful gaze. She ate another berry and smiled. 'Now I will race you to the river,' shouted Sita as she ran for the stream. Surpanakha giggled as she jumped into the waters. Once again she felt beautiful.
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