Passage 1
from “Sita’s Honor”
from Ramayana: Divine Loophole
by Sanjay Patel
The blue prince [Rama] rejected Sita for having spent so many nights in another man’s home. The princess felt so disgraced and heartbroken that she asked Lakshman to build her a cremation fire. (1)
1 cremation fire: A fire that burns a body into ashes
Patel, Sanjay. Ramayana: Divine Loophole. Chronicle Books, 2010, p. 114.
Passage 2
from Valmiki’s Ramayana
Translated by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari
Sita looked at Rama. Her eyes flashed fire.
“Unworthy words have you spoken!” she said. “My ears have heard them and my heart is broken. The uncultured (2) may speak such words but not one nobly born and brought up like you. Your anger, it seems, has destroyed your understanding. My lord does not remember the family from which I come. Janaka, the great seer, was my father and he brought me up. Is it my fault that the wicked Rakshasa seized me by force and imprisoned me? But since this is how you look at it, there is but one course open to me.”
Then turning to Lakshmana, “Fetch the [sticks], Lakshmana, and kindle (3) a fire,” she said.
2 uncultured: People without good taste, manners, or education
3 kindle: Light
Valmiki. “Book 6: Sita.” Ramayana. Translated by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1951, pp. 196–197.
Passage 1
from “Sita’s Honor”
from Ramayana: Divine Loophole
by Sanjay Patel
The blue prince [Rama] rejected Sita for having spent so many nights in another man’s home. The princess felt so disgraced and heartbroken that she asked Lakshman to build her a cremation fire. (1)
1 cremation fire: A fire that burns a body into ashes
Patel, Sanjay. Ramayana: Divine Loophole. Chronicle Books, 2010, p. 114.
Passage 2
from Valmiki’s Ramayana
Translated by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari
Sita looked at Rama. Her eyes flashed fire.
“Unworthy words have you spoken!” she said. “My ears have heard them and my heart is broken. The uncultured (2) may speak such words but not one nobly born and brought up like you. Your anger, it seems, has destroyed your understanding. My lord does not remember the family from which I come. Janaka, the great seer, was my father and he brought me up. Is it my fault that the wicked Rakshasa seized me by force and imprisoned me? But since this is how you look at it, there is but one course open to me.”
Then turning to Lakshmana, “Fetch the [sticks], Lakshmana, and kindle (3) a fire,” she said.
2 uncultured: People without good taste, manners, or education
3 kindle: Light
Valmiki. “Book 6: Sita.” Ramayana. Translated by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1951, pp. 196–197.
Read these sentences from Passage 2.
“Sita looked at Rama. Her eyes flashed fire.”
How does the phrase her eyes flashed fire impact the meaning of Sita’s words?
This item has two parts. Answer PART A; then answer PART B.
PART A: What conclusion does Sita make about Rama in Passage 2?
PART B: Which piece of evidence best supports the answer to PART A?
How is Sita’s response to Rama’s rejection different in Passage 1 than it is in Passage 2?