Interesting trivia about gold from the Treta Yug

For Hindus, gold has always been important. Even during the time of Ramayana, more precisely the Tretayug, gold was considered to be superior than any other metal. There are many instances where the yellow metal stands for a snobby as well as pious element.

Let's take an account of a few of them.

Sita's Golden Statute
Lord Ram is a Maryadapurushottam (the perfect man). He has always lead his kingdom by example. He made personal sacrifices for the greater good and one such supreme one was, abandoning Sita. Even after his wife passed the Agnipariksha, when his people continued to question her purity, to show his detachment towards her, he lets go of her. By doing so, he silenced his detractors who would have waywardly destroyed the social fabric of the society then. He essentially wanted to give both, men as well as women, the strong message that marriage is sacrosanct and that no one, neither the man nor the wife, whether royal or commoner, can cross the line. As a result, the institute of marriage is still revered. However, when on one occasion He needed a partner to perform a Yagna, the one-woman-man Lord Ram neither agreed to remarry nor went back on his words and pursued Sita to return, as suggested by his guru; instead He made Sita's statue of pure gold and performed the rituals.

The Cause of Sita's Abduction 
This is one of the crucial episodes in the epic. Ravana’s uncle, Maricha, turns into a spotted golden deer to help him abduct Sita. The demon king, Ravana, had a Pushpaka Vimana- a flying chariot that was made of gold and controlled by his mind.

Sita's Gift for Lord Rama  
After Ravana abducted Sita, Hanuman went to Lanka looking for her. On meeting him, Sita asked Lord Hanuman to take along with him a pearl mounted on a gold leaf and give it to Lord Rama.

The Adornment
Rama, Lakshman and Sita wore royal clothes, gold crowns, and gold jewellery before they were banished from the kingdom and while battling Ravana, the eagle king Sadayu categorically said that he only feared Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva and mid you, the powerful gold ring worn by Sita.

The Golden City of Lanka
The city that Ravana ruled - Lanka, was said to be made entirely of gold. Called the ‘Golden City of Lanka’, it had a huge mansion with golden walls on all sides and also, the golden gateways. FYI, the city of Lanka was originally owned by the Lord of wealth – Kubera.

Author: Deepa Mishra

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