Bal Kanda
Analysis
Open Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 66, verse 13–14. It says: “One day, while plowing the ground to purify the site for a sacrifice, I—King Janaka—was tilling the field. At that very time, from the soil turned up by the plow’s front blade, a maiden appeared. Because she arose from the furrow drawn by the plow (sītā), she was named Sītā. Born of the earth, she grew gradually and came of age.”
In these two short verses, we’re being told who Sītā is—through symbols. Let’s take each word one by one. First, what does Janaka mean? Then, since he is plowing for a yajña, what is yajña? On the spiritual plane, what do bhūmi (land) and its śodhana (cleansing) signify? What is kṣetra (field)? What is the hal (plow)? And finally, what is the meaning of Sītā? These are the six key terms we need to understand.
Janaka: In Sanskrit, janaka comes from jananaṁ karoti—“one who generates.” So, spiritually, anyone who takes refuge in knowledge and gives birth to purity in the mind–intellect becomes a “Janaka.” Janaka is not merely a person’s name here; it points to anyone who, with the aid of knowledge, generates pure thinking within.
The text says the maiden is named Sītā. So Janaka “brings forth” Sītā. What is he producing? Not a literal girl here, but pure thought. Whoever brings forth purity in the mind–intellect is, in this symbolism, giving birth to “Sītā.” Thus, do not read Janaka as just a historical figure; read “Janaka” as each of us who, resting on knowledge, generates purity within.
Yajña: When does this birth of purity happen? When one is preparing to perform yajña. Spiritually, yajña means any noble action undertaken for inner uplift.
Bhūmi / Kṣetra (the field): Janaka cleanses the ground for the sacrifice. Physically, land-cleansing means removing stones and weeds. Spiritually, kṣetra—the “field”—is our mind–intellect (indeed, the whole body is “kṣetra” in the Gītā, but here focus on the subtle body). Cleansing it means clearing out useless, negative, and unhelpful thoughts. When those are removed, the mind–intellect becomes pure—fit for noble action (yajña).
Hal (the plow): To cleanse land, one runs a plow through it. In the Purāṇic idiom, the plow symbolizes knowledge. Run the plow of knowledge through the untilled mind–intellect, and the barren field becomes fertile. Then, any good seed you sow—any noble idea—sprouts and flourishes quickly.
When a field is plowed, a deep line/furrow is made and the soil is heaped to the sides. In Vedic/Sanskrit usage, that furrow itself is called sītā. Even in village speech, that furrow is still called by a related name. So, when the mind–intellect is plowed by knowledge, the fertile furrow that appears—that is “Sītā.” The story then says, symbolically, “a maiden appeared,” and Janaka took her up. The “Sītā” whom Rāma marries is thus no ordinary woman in this reading; she is the pure, fertile inner ground—the pure mind–intellect that emerges when knowledge tills the field.
Once you grasp the symbols, a new dimension settles in the mind. Sītā means fertile, purified ground; spiritually, that is the arising of pure thought in us. So the short passage really says: if we want to purify the mind–intellect, we must plow it with knowledge. When we do, the mind–intellect becomes pure—and that purified mind is “Sītā” in the Rāmāyaṇa’s symbolic language.
As for Rāma, I’ve explained before: “Rāma” stands for Self-knowledge—knowing one’s true nature: “I am not the body; I am the conscious Self.” When this knowledge awakens, that is “Rāma.” If one’s mind–intellect gets purified, that purity is “Sītā.” Their union—Rāma and Sītā—is the inner marriage we must bring about in ourselves: on the Self side, recognize “I am the ātman”; on the body–mind side, make the mind–intellect pure. When these two unite, the story proceeds within us in its true spiritual sense.
So, in just two verses the text describes Sītā’s “birth”: Janaka intends a yajña; for it, he purifies the field; to do that, he plows; from that furrow (sītā), Sītā appears. Spiritually: whoever seeks inner uplift is “Janaka”; to uplift oneself, one must till the inner field; the plow is knowledge; and the pure mind–intellect that emerges is Sītā. In worldly speech too, the furrow is called sītā—hence Janaka names her Sītā.
I’ve explained this small point in several ways because it’s fresh and can feel challenging at first. But if you hold the five words inside—Janaka, hal (plow), kṣetra/field, Sītā, yajña—their meaning will open up by itself.
We often picture a man plowing a field and a girl literally emerging from the ground. That’s not possible in a literal sense. Read the passage symbolically and spiritually: Sītā is the pure furrow—the pure mind—born when knowledge plows the inner field.