Chapter Five: Avatāra Doctrine and Rama Worship

—and throughout Vedic literature Sita is the presiding goddess of the furrow. In the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, Sita Savitri is the daughter of the Sun.¹ One verse of the Ṛgveda mentions Sita:

May Indra take hold of Sita, and may Pushan guide her. May she, rich in milk, yield to us year after year.²

Here the word Indra occurs together with Sita. Some have conjectured that Rama was another name for Indra. Wherever Rama and Sita are mentioned in the Gṛhya-sūtras, Sita is the line made by the plough and Rama is the rain-giving deity Indra; Sita is Indra’s wife.³

The point is that from the Ṛgveda through certain hymns of the Atharvaveda, Sita is invoked as a goddess. For example:

O Sita, we revere you. Turn toward us, auspicious one, so that you may be gracious to us and bear beautiful fruit for us.

Anointed with clarified butter and honey, approved by all the gods and by the Maruts, may Sita turn toward us, abundant in milk, vigorous, and pouring forth nourishment.⁴

O Sita, we revere you. Auspicious one, turn the gaze of your grace toward us, so that you may desire our welfare and bring us beautiful fruit. May Sita, blended with clarified butter and honey, be approved by the universal gods and the Maruts—