Sundara Kand
Analysis
In the twenty-first chapter, our verse is the third one. It says, “Trinam antatah kritva,” meaning that Sita spoke to Ravana from behind a blade of grass.
Tulsidas ji also has a verse expressing this: “Trina dhari ot kahati Vaidehi”—Vaidehi speaks from behind a blade of grass.
The same expression appears here. But what does taking shelter behind a blade of grass mean?
A blade of grass cannot conceal anyone. Whoever we may be, we cannot hide behind a blade of grass.
If someone puts up a curtain, they can stand behind it. If someone stands partly hidden behind a wall, that can provide concealment.
There were so many rakshasis there. If four or six of them had stood in front of Sita, they could have concealed her.
Or, since “trina” also means grass, perhaps there was a grass mat that Sita placed upright before speaking to Ravana.
So what does “trina” mean here?
I tried to understand this. When I examined the story, I found no indication of a curtain, a wall, or rakshasis coming forward and standing in front of her.
Now we need to understand that something is hidden in the word “trina” itself. There is a small indication within this word. We need to understand why the expression “behind a blade of grass” has been used.
In ordinary speech, trina means a blade of grass. We also generally use it to mean grass.
Grass has a particular quality. You may all be familiar with it, but I want to draw your attention to it so that we can understand why this expression was used.
Whenever a storm or a violent wind comes, large trees fall and are destroyed. But grass, which we consider utterly insignificant, is not destroyed.
What does it do?
It bends.
The grass bends down. We might say that it almost lies flat or presses itself towards the earth.
By bending, lying low, or remaining pressed down, it saves itself.
You may have noticed that grass is not destroyed in a fierce storm. It bends and lies flat.
Here too, through the expression “taking shelter behind a blade of grass,” something similar is being indicated.
The author has used poetic language to say that Sita took the support of a blade of grass.
Even in a fierce storm, grass survives.
Why does it survive?
Because it bends before the storm and protects itself.
Similarly, two things are being indicated here through the grass.
The first is that purity does not die even in a state of body-identification.
Ravana symbolises body-identification. He has arrived and threatened Sita. Now Sita has to say something to him.
What is her condition at this moment?
To describe her condition, the author says that Sita took shelter behind a blade of grass.
This indicates that purity does not die even in a state of body-identification. It continues to exist in a deeply subdued condition.
Think of body-identification as a storm, a violent wind.
Just as grass bends, becomes lowly, and almost lies flat, our purity enters a similar condition when we are identified with the body.
While we remain in body-identification, purity becomes deeply subdued. It exists in a state of helplessness and distress.
As we read, we should not think, “Sita is saying so many wise things to Ravana. She must have become proud and be lecturing him.”
We should not understand it that way.
Through this expression, the author indicates that Sita is in a deeply distressed condition, just as grass lies low when a storm arrives.
That is the first indication.
The second is that grass does not remain flourishing when a storm comes.
What does “flourishing” mean?
If the grass stands upright and sways, we say that it is flourishing. This is poetic language.
Similarly, when we are identified with the body, the happiness within us remains, and purity is still present within. But that purity exists in a subdued condition. It is not flourishing.
When will it flourish?
When it returns to Rama.
So, by saying that Sita spoke to Ravana from behind a blade of grass, the author has used poetic language to convey two things.
First, Sita is in a deeply subdued and distressed condition. She is not proud, nor is she speaking with the attitude of someone displaying their knowledge.
Second, although Sita is living there, she is not flourishing. She will flourish only when she returns to Rama.
To convey these two points and describe Sita’s condition, the author has simply used the expression that she spoke from behind a blade of grass.
It does not mean that Sita picked up a blade of grass in her hand.
When we read it ordinarily, we immediately imagine that a blade of grass was lying nearby and that she picked it up. That is not what is being conveyed.
“Sita spoke from behind a blade of grass” means that she was in a state of distress and helplessness. She was not flourishing at all. She was sad, yet she spoke these words of wisdom to Ravana.
It would therefore be better to understand the expression “Trina dhari ot kahati Vaidehi” in this way.
The point is very small, but the meaning it conveys is important.