Farewell to Sita
(One spotlight rises on SITA,
opposite, and above, stage left, and another shining
on RAMA follows him as he walks across the stage to SITA, saying these words:)
--RAMA—
Crowns and
castles, gold and gems, lands
And cattle I can give up gladly keeping
The promise of a king and father,
But how can I,
How ever, say—
Say farewell to Sita?
As though half my heart and mind is she.
But I must. I must speak to her
To keep the promise of the King.
(He reaches SITA. She rises and touches his
feet.)
--SITA—
My Lord, your feet bless the
earth, my life
--RAMA—
My lady, my
heart is heavy with great sorrow.
Kaikeyi, the Queen, demands my fourteen-year
Banishment and Bharat's coronation
As fulfilling father's promise to her years
Ago. My lady, all I easily drop
Save your sweet self, the smile of my own mind.
How can I walk away from my love, my life?
--SITA—
(Rising:
)
What does my
Lord say? As the sun’s in the sky,
As the leaf is on the tree, petal on rose,
A wife is with her husband. When I took
The seven steps behind you in our wedding
Rite, I showed that I would walk with you
Whether uphill or down, or well-paved paths
Or none at all. I stand and walk with you
And you alone. I come with you, my Lord.
--RAMA—
(Turning away from her and walking to the left.)
Sita, we'll not be in a place of comfort.
The stony ground will be our bed. No castle
Walls protect us from the wind and weather.
No matter how you call, no servant will come.
--SITA—
What good is a silken bed
for me without
You? If you are gone, what can a thousand
Servants do to lift my heart? I'll envy
The wild beast who can lie beside my Lord
While I must wait, full of tears. Oh no!
(SITA walks up and stands beside RAMA)
I am coming too. With
you beside me,
A bed of leaves, a hut of twigs and grass
Is castle enough for my happy heart and all
Living beasts will be my friends and guardians.
Together, we'll delight in every twig.
Sunlight falling on the forest floor
Will dance for us. The creaking of the branches
In the wind, the twitter of the birds,
Call of crickets, our musical performance.
I am coming to stand with you.
--RAMA—
(Crossing in front of SITA and walking stage right.)
Ah, my Queen, in that wild
place to which
I go, no prince, no princess, king or queen,
No noblemen, gentlewoman, none
Are there. But few are well brought up; few
Know even a rumor of kingcraft--urban planning,
Government, diplomacy or law.
Few know even language or logic, my Queen,
And less of literature, music, drama...
In all these matters, My Queen excels and more.
In fair Ayodhya, you're without a peer.
There you're but a new-fangled human.
To whom
Could my Queen converse as an equal partner?
Who appreciate refinement of her mind?
Who understand her training to be Queen?
--SITA—
Will not my Lord be there,
Your Majesty?
Although I go before you first to clear
The path of thorns, won't you be there with me?
(Crossing to RAMA, SITA takes his hand.)
See? First, I will go
to ease the way;
Then can come Your Majesty. Come. Try.
Follow me.
(She leads RAMA toward stage left and down.)
I keep away your sorrow.
Follow me. I lighten your heart each day.
Follow me Your Majesty. You know
All fine things you wish to know about me.
No one else needs to know but you.
What time have I for empty talk with others?
--RAMA--
(Hand on his heart, RAMA steps back from SITA.)
My Queen, my Sita, my
life's sunlight,
What a job you give to me today!
(Advancing again to SITA, he takes her arm and leads
her further left and down.)
Full of wildness, darkness, sudden danger
Is a forest. Sickness, injury, even
Death await. No doctor with herbs, no caring
Nurse to cure you; what would happen my darling...?
--SITA—
(SITA stops, turns and faces RAMA so he can walk no
further.)
My Lord can never go to
such a place
Alone! I can't permit it! Exile's enough!
You shall not die of a common ill unnursed!
--RAMA—
(Holding his head with his backstage hand and shaking
his head, says:)
Loyal Lakshman comes.
That's not the issue.
--SITA—
What does Lakshman know of forest herbs
For healing? Does he know the furry leaf
That heals a bone? The clear and sour berry
That shrinks a swelling? Does he know the flower
That brings a sweat or leaf that cools a fever?
--RAMA—
(Nodding his head)
He knows! When we
were boys, our guru taught us,
When he taught us all the arts of war.
My lady digresses. This is not the issue.
(Turning away from SITA)
You, my lady, you in the forest face –
(Turning
back to face SITA)
How did you learn herbal
remedies?
--SITA—
Such medicine's
the natural heritage
Of womenfolk. From wise woman to wise
Woman in mandalas and kingdoms I traveled.
Every woman taught me secrets of herbs,
My birthright as a child of Mother Earth.
In the den of danger you describe
I am a prize then, an expert on pharmaceuticals,
A resource, certainly not to be left at home.
--RAMA—
My Sita, my
life's breath, my Queen,
What a job you give to me today!
To leave you, to loose you, to send you away--
What greater pain is there for me than this?
These words can never pass my lips again!
(He takes a deep breath and continues but talks to
space, not SITA.)
But Sita, most precious! I will be
busy,
Busier than a Crown Prince in a palace.
Those few human beings living
In the wilderness never have peace.
Mind beings in every conceivable form and color
Hassle the forest humans without end.
Forest sages cannot study or pray.
Even their kindness to others is undermined.
It may be right to say, as sages see,
To destroy the forest demons I took birth,
Whether, as some pundits love to say,
I am Vishnu, Preserver of Good,
Is for others to recognize. I know only
This minute I am the King of forest sages—
The intent to guard the good.
(He turns
to face SITA again.)
When Sita, will
I talk to you?
You think I'll be companion and forest friend,
But when? Please, you must remain at home
Surrounded by love and care. That's what I want.
--SITA—
Other than the
king's opportunity,
Intent, mission, skill and devotion to bless
The earth, what companions exist for a Queen?
If you were staying here, if Kaikeyi never
Defined the boon owed by Dasharatha,
Dear king and father to me and all,
You would wear his crown and your minutes
Would belong to any and all but me.
Sages, diplomats, rich or poor,
Trickster and honest people would have your ears,
Not I. This I knew when we were wed.
You flatter me with the enumeration
Of my queenly resume and then
Talk to me as though I am a spoiled
Maiden who has never looked at life,
Who never thought her life through at all.
Honor me now as you say you want me honored.
Do not talk of any picture but how
Our journey will now begin together.
What is our first step? We walk together.
--RAMA—
As a true Queen,
You lead this King
And heal his heart
Sita, scriptures tell the duty of wives
Is to see the husband as God in their lives.
Knowing God's wishes for them, who
Does not comply? I say "Stay here, my Queen,
Surrounded by peers, by love and proper care."
--SITA—
True, a
wife sees God in her husband, they say,
Even when he acts the fool. Doesn't scripture
Say as well that husbands shall protect
Wives, guarding their virtue and faithfulness?
A time will come when women need not fear
But now a woman is booty!
Abandoning me here in times of tumult
And unnatural change, when women's fortunes
All may be revised, your duty as well
Is abandoned even as your wife.
Can he be king who make a model such
As this for people? Will there be a country
Of which to be king where, on a word,
Husbands fail their faultless spouses, leaving
Them to whatever fortune force provides?
--RAMA—
Oh Sita,
Never did I see a danger here.
You are a prize for anyone.
I cannot leave you.
Oh, Sita,
if you are with me, I'm serene
If you're with me, I'll not miss the royal
Style. Let us begin distributing all
Our wealth: jewels to the poets, priests and teachers;
Cattle to holy men and scholars;
Let us be done with it, don our hermit's
Garb and go with Lakshman, delaying not a day.
(He takes her hand and they exit out of the spotlight, stage right.
Copyright, 2000, Aikya Param
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