Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta.
His interfaith efforts reached a climax when he
convened the first World Conference on Unity of
Man in Delhi in February 1974, which inspired
the Unity of Man movement.
His extensive knowledge of major religious
faiths along with his dedication to teaching led
to Kirpal Singh’s wide acceptance in the West. He
popularized Sant Mat teachings in India and the
West and became one of the most well known
teachers of Radhasoami. He died on August 21,
1974.
See also SANT MAT MOVEMENT.
Further reading: David Christopher Lane, The Radhaso-
ami Tradition: A Critical History of the Guru Successorship
(New York: Garland, 1992); Bhadra Sena, ed., Ocean of
Grace Divine (Bowling Green, Va.: Sawan Kirpal, 1976);
Kirpal Singh, The Crown of Life (Delhi: Ruhani Satsang,
1967); ———, Surat Shabd Yoga: The Yoga of the Celes-
tial Sound (Berkeley: Images Press, 1975).
Singh, Sawan See SANT MAT MOVEMENT.
Singh, Shiv Dayal See RADHASOAMI MOVEMENT;
SANT MAT MOVEMENT.
Sita
In the RAMAYANA Sita is the wife of RAMA. Sita
means “furrow,” and it is said that she was not
born to her father Janaka, but was ploughed up
by him during a sacrificial rite to gain progeny.
Sita was won by Rama in a contest by bending
SHIVA’s bow.
Sita is considered the model for wifely fidel-
ity and purity in India (though modern Indian
women have begun to rebel against this model).
In the epic, she was kidnapped by the demon king
Ravana and taken to Lanka. Because of a curse
he was unable to violate her, and she refused his
advances. Her husband fought successfully for
her freedom. However, he doubted that she had
remained faithful and cruelly rejected her, saying
he had only fought against Ravana to clear his
name.
To clear her name, Sita underwent a “trial
by fire” (agnipravesha), which she survived
unscathed. Several vernacular versions of the
Ramayana indicate that the real Sita never actually
went into the fire, sending a substitute instead;
in fact, in these versions she was not even really
kidnapped, but had only been in hiding. These
versions seem to show a later discomfort with the
original SANSKRIT story.
After her trial by fire, Sita was then accepted
by Rama, until people once more began to chal-
lenge her faithfulness and Rama asked Lakshmana
to take her away to the forest, in exile once more.
He did not know that she was pregnant with his
two sons, Kusha and Lava. She gave birth to her
sons in the ASHRAM of the very VALMIKI who is
cited as the author of the epic.
On one occasion Rama initiated a HORSE SAC-
RIFICE; in that ritual, a horse is allowed to roam
at will for a year, followed by the king’s soldiers.
Whatever land the horse covers becomes part of
the ruler’s kingdom. Kusha and Lava as it hap-
pens captured the king’s horse and defeated the
king’s army when it arrived, thus defeating, in
an act of poetic justice, their father. When Rama
heard from VALMIKI that these were his own sons
he asked that they be taken to court, where they
sang the Ramayana story. He then called for Sita to
return and declared her innocence in open court.
Sita, however, refused to return and asked Mother
Earth, from which she had been born, to take her
back, whereupon she disappeared.Further reading: Jacqueline Suthren Hirst and Lyn
Thomas, eds., Playing for Real: Hindu Role Models,
Religion and Gender (New Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 2004); C. Rajagopalachari, Ramayana (Bombay:
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1972); Paula Richman, ed.,
Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of Narrative Tradition
in South Asia (Berkeley: University of California Press,K 418 Singh, Sawan