In some adaptations of the Hindu epic Ramayana, Māyā Sīta (Sanskrit: माया सीता, "illusional Sita") or Chāyā Sīta (छाया सीता, "shadow Sita") is the illusionary duplicate of the goddess Sita (the heroine in the texts), who is abducted by the demon-king Ravana of Lanka instead of the real Sita. In the Ramayana, Sita – the consort of Rama (the prince of Ayodhya and an avatar of the god Vishnu) – is seized by Ravana and imprisoned in Lanka, until she is rescued by Rama, who slays her captor. Sita undergoes Agni Pariksha (an ordeal of fire) by which she proves her chastity before she is accepted by Rama. In some versions of the epic, the fire-god Agni creates Maya Sita, who takes Sita's place and is abducted by Ravana and suffers his captivity, while the real Sita hides in the fire. At Agni Pariksha, Maya Sita and the real Sita exchange places again. While some texts mention that Maya Sita is destroyed in the flames of Agni Pariksha, others narrate how she is blessed and reborn as the epic heroine Draupadi or the goddess Padmavati. Some scriptures also mention her previous birth being Vedavati, a woman Ravana tries to molest. The Maya Sita motif saves Sita – the chief goddess of Rama-centric sects – from falling prey to Ravana's plot of abduction and safeguards her purity. Similar doubles or surrogates of Sita and other goddesses are found in various tales of Hindu mythology.
Original plot of the Ramayana The Ramayana (5th to 4th century BCE) by Vālmiki does not mention Maya Sita. Sita, the princess of Mithila, is married to Rāma, the prince of Ayodhya. Rama is forced to go on a 14-year exile and is accompanied by Sita and his brother Lakshmana. Ravana, the demon-king of Lanka, plots to abduct Sita, aided by Maricha, who transforms into a magical golden deer (Maya mriga, an illusional deer), that entices Sita. While in exile in Dandakaranya forest, Rama goes after the deer and slays it. The magical deer gives a call of help in Rama's voice. Sita forces Lakshmana to go and help Rama, leaving her alone. Ravana comes disguised as an ascetic and kidnaps her. He imprisons her in the Ashoka Vatika grove of Lanka, until she is rescued by Rama, who slays Ravana in war. When Rama doubts Sita's chastity, she undergoes a trial by fire (Agni Pariksha). Sita enters a burning pyre declaring that if she has been faithful to Rama let the fire not harm her; she comes out unscathed with the fire-god Agni as proof of her purity. Rama accepts Sita back and returns to Ayodhya, where they are crowned as king and queen.
Development
The Maya Sita motif is considered as the "most important instance of an addition" in the Ramayana. The Kurma Purana (c. 550–850 CE) is the first text where Maya Sita appears. The key event of the Ramayana story – the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana – was replaced with the abduction of Maya Sita (an unreal Sita) by Ravana; meanwhile Sita is protected in the refuge of Agni, the fire god. This "important ideological development" in Vaishnavism (Vishnu-centric sect) protected Sita's chastity. Some versions of the Ramayana such as the ones in the Mahabharata (5th to 4th century BCE), the Vishnu Purana (1st century BCE–4th century CE), the Harivamsa (1–300 CE) and several Puranas (the suffix Purana denotes that the text is part of this genre) omit the Agni Pariksha altogether to avoid questioning Sita's purity. In contrast, this very Agni Pariksha became a device for the return of the unblemished Sita, as Sita and Maya Sita switch places again, in some later versions. With the growing popularity of Rama bhakti movement in the 12th century, numerous works adopted the concept of Maya Sita. Devotees could not bear that Sita – the consort of Rama and the chief goddess of Rama-centric sects – was kidnapped by the demon Ravana and had to suffer his imprisonment and was defiled by his touch. The Maya Sita concept saves Sita from suffering Ravana's custody and succumbing to the temptation of acquiring the illusory deer. Instead, the texts create an illusory Sita, who does not recognize the illusory deer. The illusory deer motif in the Ramayana may have inspired the Maya Sita concept too. Maya Sita also excuses Sita from rebuking Lakshmana when she forces him to leave her and aid Rama in the illusory deer tale. Though the Maya Sita motif was found earlier in the Kurma Purana and the Brahma Vaivarta Purana (801–1100 CE) where Sita's purity is safeguarded, it is the Adhyatma Ramayana (a part of the Brahmanda Purana, c. 14th century), where Maya Sita plays a much greater role in the plot. The concept of maya (illusion) is an integral part of the narrative; the best examples being Maya Sita and Maya mriga (illusory deer). Though Adhyatma Ramayana originated in Varanasi in North India, it influenced Malayalam (South India) and Oriya (East India) renditions of the Ramayana, but most importantly influenced the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas (c. 1532–1623). The Ramcharitmanas expands on the Agni Pariksha narrative. Since no one knows about the replacement of the real Sita by Maya Sita, Sita's chastity is in question. The text explicitly states that the Agni Pariksha destroys the Maya Sita as well as the "stigma of public shame", that Sita would have had to otherwise endure. Rama is exculpated from using harsh words to "Sita" at the time of Agni Pariksha as he knows it is the false Sita he is accusing. Sita is saved from public humiliation as her chastity is proven by Agni Pariksha. The moral status of Rama as well as Sita is protected by the Maya Sita motif. In many versions of the tale, the omniscient Rama knows about Sita's impending abduction and creates Maya Sita. Such versions assert Rama's divine status, a departure from Valmiki's portrayal of Rama as a human hero. The motif also appears in the Devi Bhagavata Purana (6th–14th century CE) and the Adbhuta Ramayana, (c. 14th century CE) as well as Oriya works like Balarama Dasa's Jagamohana Ramayana, Upendra's Vaidehisha Vilasa and the Oriya Ramlila, dramatic folk re-enactment of the Ramayana.
Legend
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