I had always been fascinated with the way two epics (I am still fascinated), Ramayana and Mahabharata were written; both as a reader and a writer. I always have a habit of comparing the story lines or at least the characters (my writing on Baahubali is a testimony to my comparisons). While reading some portions of the epics, I was not only struck with the obvious but not so obvious similarities and dissimilarities with respect to Sita and Draupadi but also with an observation.

Coming to the obvious similarity which is a no brainer that both the epics spoke in length of vanavas endured by the protagonists. (Of course I know that both were princesses, had unnatural births, their names were associated with their father's names, their swayamvaras had archery contests - those are too obvious). What is interesting is that both Sita and Draupadi had cases of abduction.

Sita was found as an infant in the ground, hence she is also named Bhoomija. She is often synonymous with the seed that brought a new way of life to Mithila. Like the seed takes its time to sprout as a plant from ground, years of conditioning made her wait for Rama during her abduction. Yes, there are a few versions where Sita is depicted as a warrior on par with Rama but still she chooses to wait for him.

Draupadi was born out of the fire of yagna. Just like the fire, she would light up instantly. Draupadi was born as a woman, she didn't have years of conditioning which made her portray her emotions more clearly. When she was to be abducted by Jayadratha, she wanted her husbands to take revenge on her behalf.

The above two paragraphs are extremely generalized versions of Sita and Draupadi where they are compared with the nature of their births to justify it. I found it in many writings and articles, this generalized version and then blogs that go in length about what's wrong with them. Honestly, I feel that reading those blogs are reading the same sentences written in different ways.

There were instances when Sita was angry too - like when Rama asks her not to join vanavasa. Many articles I read portray Sita as a meek woman who went with Rama because it was her duty, but what they don't understand is that it was she who chose to go. Similarly, Draupadi wasn't a person who was lashing out everytime; she showed great patience when she was working as a maid for Queen Sudeshna of Virata Kingdom and forgived Ashwathama for murdering her five children, when she understood the futility of war.

I feel there's more to these characters as there's more to human nature. Condensing the natures of Sita and Draupadi into a 'type' and reiterating the similar things, don't make much sense. In short every person shows different shades of their character and accept them as human beings with flaws.

I would love to hear your views on this topic. Please make it a constructive conversation so that everyone, including me, can gain knowledgeable insights.