Sacred Learning

Sītā Upaniṣad, opening (Sanskrit Documents recension)

Canonical source text

देवा ह वै प्रजापतिमब्रुवन्का सीता किं रूपमिति । स होवाच प्रजापतिः सा सीतेति । मूलप्रकृतिरूपत्वात्सा सीता प्रकृतिः स्मृता ।

IAST transliteration

devā ha vai prajāpatim abruvan kā sītā kiṃ rūpam iti | sa hovāca prajāpatiḥ sā sīteti | mūlaprakṛtirūpatvāt sā sītā prakṛtiḥ smṛtā |

Close translation

The gods said to Prajāpati: ‘Who is Sītā? Of what form?’ Prajāpati said: ‘She is Sītā. Because She has the form of root-prakṛti, Sītā is remembered as Prakṛti.’

Reader-friendly meaning

An Upanishadic dialogue, not the epic forest. Sītā is named as mūlaprakṛti.

Meenananda editorial explanation

Keep this card beside the Rāmāyaṇa room without mixing the two hearings.

Sītā Upaniṣad opening, Sanskrit Documents recension (sita.html). Sanskrit: public-domain Devanagari as encoded at Sanskrit Documents (sanskritdocuments.org). Foundation translations: CC BY-SA 4.0.

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English

The gods said to Prajāpati: ‘Who is Sītā? Of what form?’ Prajāpati said: ‘She is Sītā. Because She has the form of root-prakṛti, Sītā is remembered as Prakṛti.’

বাংলা

দেবতা প্রজাপতিকে বললেন: ‘সীতা কে? কী রূপ?’ প্রজাপতি বললেন: ‘তিনি সীতা। মূলপ্রকৃতিরূপ বলে সীতা প্রকৃতি বলে স্মৃত।’

हिन्दी

देवों ने प्रजापति से कहा: ‘सीता कौन? किस रूप की?’ प्रजापति ने कहा: ‘वह सीता हैं। मूलप्रकृति-रूप होने से सीता प्रकृति कही जाती हैं।’