Week 9 Story: Kidnapping Victims

Week 9 Story: Kidnapping Victims

(Amba)

(Sita)

[Amba and Sita are sitting across from each other at a table]

AMBA: My situation is definitely worse. I will never be able to have a husband or children. At least you had Rama.

SITA: I would have to disagree. I suffered more pain than you because Rama and I were in love and he still rejected me. Also, your kidnapper was Bhishma, who I would say is a pretty honorable man--other than his child-stealing tendencies of course. My kidnapper was the king of a man-eating army of rakshasas. 

AMBA: I don't care how much everyone loves Bhishma. He ruined my life because I will never even get to experience love like what you had with Rama. A wise poet once said, "it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." Nobody will ever love me and it was no fault of my own.

SITA: I think we can both agree that we each suffered a lot. Let's just be grateful that neither of us were physically violated. We are a lot luckier than most kidnapping victims. 

AMBA: I just don't understand how you aren't mad at Ravana. I think about destroying Bhishma's life at least once a day.

SITA: I'm not mad because I have learned to accept my karma. I deserve everything that happened to me and so do you. Don't you realize that by seeking revenge you are just playing into karma's trap? 

AMBA: I have done nothing in my life to deserve what has happened to me.

SITA: Maybe not in this lifetime, but probably in a past life that you don't remember. Seeking revenge on Bhishma will most likely only create more bad karma for you. Just trust that dharma will bring karmic justice to the pain that Bhishma has brought you. 

AMBA: Why would he get bad karma for kidnapping me? Even you consider him honorable! He probably wasn't even thinking about me and my sisters; he was only thinking about his brother. 

SITA: Even if he had seemingly good intentions for kidnapping you, karma is calculated through the result of actions, not the actions themselves. Dharma will not let your suffering from Bhima's actions go unnoticed. Don't ruin your next rebirth by trying to do dharma's job. 

AMBA: So what am I supposed to do during this lifetime then? I can't really get far in life without a husband. 

SITA: You're right, I didn't really have a choice but to go into the forest and raise my children with ascetic sages. It is pretty sad that men get to dictate our lives. Maybe you could start a movement for women's rights.

AMBA: Nah, too soon. The world isn't ready for that yet. I'll just go live in the forest like you until I die and can be reborn. Maybe we can push for women's rights when we are reborn in a few centuries. 


Story Source: Epified, Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Amba's Ruin

Author's Note: Sita from the Ramayana and Amba from the Mahabharata have similar stories about kidnapping. They were both kidnapped by powerful men, untouched, but still rejected by other men after they escaped captivity. At the beginning, they discuss the details of their kidnappings from the original story. Based on their actions in the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Sita seemed to understand and accept the role of karma and samsara more than Amba, so this conversation between the two women talking about their experiences turned into Sita teaching Amba a lesson about karma, dharma, and samsara. Both stories brought up some women's rights issues since they both basically had to go into exile in the forest after their men rejected them, but they accept this as a consequence of their sociocultural context and leave the issue for another rebirth. This story took place hypothetically after Sita's exile, before she died, and right after Amba got rejected by Salva.