Tato gnivacanaat seetaam jnaatvaa vigatakalmasham
Babhau raamasamprahrstah poojita ssarvadaivataih.
Meaning of the hymn- The Fire God appeared and said that Seeta was sinless and
pure. Seeta emerged unscathed from the fire. Rama was delighted upon hearing the
words of the Fire God. All the celestials and the Gods worshipped Rama who now was
glowing with even more radiance.
As the entire creation was watching her, Seeta entered into the fire. All the beings
from all the planes who witnessed her entering into the fire, began to wail and sob
loudly. The divine women in heaven began to scream. The entire army of vanaras
and bears was shocked and stunned. The young and the old people trembled in fear.
Shrieks and wails began to be heard from the Vanaras and the demons. Rama‟s eyes
were filled with tears.
At that minute, Kubera, Yama, Varuna, Indra, Mahadeva and Lord Brahma appeared
there in their celestial chariots. Rama folded both his palms and offered his
obeisance to them. All of them showed them the abhaya mudra (assurance of fear
not). Addressing Rama they said, “Rama, You are the cause of this entire creation.
You are the most supreme being. You are endowed with the most supreme
knowledge. Why then did you not stop Seeta from entering the fire? Among the eight
Vasus, you are the Prajapati by name Ritudhama. Among the Rudras, You are the
eighth Rudra. You are the only one who exists at the time of total pralaya
(destruction). You are the all-knowing supreme, why then did you act like an
ignorant and impose this fire test onto Seeta?”
In response to this Rama said, “I am Rama, the son of Dasaratha. I am a mere
human. But your statements differ from my presumption. Who am I? Why was I
born? For accomplishment of which great deed was I born? I will be very happy if
Lord Brahma were to explain all these to me”.
Lord Brahma said, “Rama, you are the Supreme Lord Vishnu, Srihari. Your wife
Seeta, is none other than Goddess Lakshmi. You are the form of divine illumination.
You are the dark-complexioned, eternal Lord Vishnu. For the destruction of this
demon Ravana, you donned a human body, my Lord”.
Exactly at that time, the Fire God assumed a human body and emerged from the fire
bringing Seeta along with him. Seeta was unscathed even after emerging from the
blazing fire. Handing over Seeta to Rama, the fire god said, “Rama, here is your wife
Seeta. She is of virtuous conduct. She is sinless. Sin can never touch her. In
thought, word and deed she has never overstepped your instructions. She has never
seen any man apart from you. Apart from you she has never even remotely thought
of any other man.
No doubt, Ravana carried her away and placed her in Ashoka Vana, amidst the
demonesses. Despite all the force exerted by him to win her over, Seeta remained
unmoved. Her heart was firmly fixed upon you. Ravana was insignificant in her eyes.
At every moment she was worshipping you. I am ordering you now. Rama, please
accept Seeta. You have to abide by my command”.
Rama was immensely delighted upon hearing all this. He said, “O God of Fire! The
fact that Seeta is sinless and pure is very well known to me. I wanted all the beings
of all the three lokas (planes) to know this fact about her chastity. Hence I had to
put her through this fire test. Had I not taken this step, all the beings would have
condemned my act and spoken ill about me. I was very well aware that with her
Paativrata dharma, she can protect herself.
O Gods, all of you are worthy of worship. You are all great beings. You have given
me words of wisdom. I will abide by your orders”.
Saying this, Rama accepted Seeta and then offered obeisance to all the Gods.
Brahma together with all the gods praised and sung hymns on Rama.
Om Seeta Ramabhyaam Namaha.