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K 418 Singh, Sawan

Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta. her freedom. However, he doubted that she had
His interfaith efforts reached a climax when he remained faithful and cruelly rejected her, saying
convened the first World Conference on Unity of he had only fought against Ravana to clear his
Man in Delhi in February 1974, which inspired name.
the Unity of Man movement. To clear her name, Sita underwent a “trial
His extensive knowledge of major religious by fire” (agnipravesha), which she survived
faiths along with his dedication to teaching led unscathed. Several vernacular versions of the
to Kirpal Singh’s wide acceptance in the West. He Ramayana indicate that the real Sita never actually
popularized Sant Mat teachings in India and the went into the fire, sending a substitute instead;
West and became one of the most well known in fact, in these versions she was not even really
teachers of Radhasoami. He died on August 21, kidnapped, but had only been in hiding. These
1974. versions seem to show a later discomfort with the
See also SANT MAT MOVEMENT. original SANSKRIT story.
After her trial by fire, Sita was then accepted
Further reading: David Christopher Lane, The Radhaso- by Rama, until people once more began to chal-
ami Tradition: A Critical History of the Guru Successorship lenge her faithfulness and Rama asked Lakshmana
(New York: Garland, 1992); Bhadra Sena, ed., Ocean of to take her away to the forest, in exile once more.
Grace Divine (Bowling Green, Va.: Sawan Kirpal, 1976); He did not know that she was pregnant with his
Kirpal Singh, The Crown of Life (Delhi: Ruhani Satsang, two sons, Kusha and Lava. She gave birth to her
1967); ———, Surat Shabd Yoga: The Yoga of the Celes- sons in the ASHRAM of the very VALMIKI who is
tial Sound (Berkeley: Images Press, 1975). cited as the author of the epic.
On one occasion Rama initiated a HORSE SAC-
RIFICE; in that ritual, a horse is allowed to roam
Singh, Sawan See SANT MAT MOVEMENT. at will for a year, followed by the king’s soldiers.
Whatever land the horse covers becomes part of
the ruler’s kingdom. Kusha and Lava as it hap-
Singh, Shiv Dayal See RADHASOAMI MOVEMENT; pens captured the king’s horse and defeated the
SANT MAT MOVEMENT. king’s army when it arrived, thus defeating, in
an act of poetic justice, their father. When Rama
heard from VALMIKI that these were his own sons
Sita he asked that they be taken to court, where they
In the RAMAYANA Sita is the wife of RAMA. Sita sang the Ramayana story. He then called for Sita to
means “furrow,” and it is said that she was not return and declared her innocence in open court.
born to her father Janaka, but was ploughed up Sita, however, refused to return and asked Mother
by him during a sacrificial rite to gain progeny. Earth, from which she had been born, to take her
Sita was won by Rama in a contest by bending back, whereupon she disappeared.
SHIVA’s bow.
Sita is considered the model for wifely fidel- Further reading: Jacqueline Suthren Hirst and Lyn
ity and purity in India (though modern Indian Thomas, eds., Playing for Real: Hindu Role Models,
women have begun to rebel against this model). Religion and Gender (New Delhi: Oxford University
In the epic, she was kidnapped by the demon king Press, 2004); C. Rajagopalachari, Ramayana (Bombay:
Ravana and taken to Lanka. Because of a curse Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1972); Paula Richman, ed.,
he was unable to violate her, and she refused his Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of Narrative Tradition
advances. Her husband fought successfully for in South Asia (Berkeley: University of California Press,

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