Swami Vivekananda Commentaries on Sita

Question

Sri Rama was an Avatar of God Vishnu. Sita, his wife, was also an avatar of Goddess Lakshmi.

Sita personifies the ideal wife in the epic, Valmiki Ramayana. She complemented Sri Rama in every aspect of life.

The values that Sita enshrined and adhered to, at every point in the course of a demanding life, as exemplified in the Valmiki Ramayana, are also the values of womanly virtue held sacred by countless generations. The great monk, Swami Vivekananda described the immortality of Sita’s story as under :-

"All our mythology may vanish, even our Vedas may depart, and our Sanskrit language may vanish for ever, but so long as there will be five Hindus living, even if only seeking the most vulgar patois, there will be the story of Sita present."

Are there any written works or commentaries where the great monk, Swami Vivekananda has talked about Goddess Sita?

Answer 1

Devi Sita (सिता) is also known as Vaidehi, Janaki, Maithili (वैदेही , जानकी ,मैथिलि) is the central female character of the Hindu epic Ramayana.She was the daughter of "king Janaka". Devi Sita is described as the daughter of the earth goddess Bhumi and wife of "Shree Rama".

Yes , Swami Vivekananda has talked about Sita in his lectures. These are few quotes I came across from The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda.

Below is from The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 6/Notes Of Class Talks And Lectures/Notes Taken Down In Madras, 1892-93, by Shree Swami Vivekananda On Devi Sita.

• Sita—to say that she was pure is a blasphemy. She was purity itself embodied—the most beautiful character that ever lived on earth.
• A Bhakta should be like Sita before Rama. He might be thrown into all kinds of difficulties. Sita did not mind her sufferings; she centreed herself in Rama.

---

• What to speak of Sita? You may exhaust the literature of the world that is past, and I may assure that you will have to exhaust the literature of the world of the future, before finding another Sita.

---

• Sita is the name in India for everything that is good, pure, and holy; everything that in woman we call woman. Sita — the patient, all suffering, ever-faithful, ever-pure wife! Through all the suffering she had, there was not one harsh word against Rama. Sita never returned injury. Be Sita.

Answer 2

I have found the following two sayings of Swami Vivekananda on Sita in the book "Pearls of Wisdom - Swami Vivekananda":

Sita has gone into the very vitals of our race. (III.256)

Sita is there in the blood of every Hindu man and woman; we are all children of Sita. (III.256)

This book has collected some of his sayings from his several lectures and the Complete Works. The citations like III.256 are referring to the locations in his Complete Works.