How many of us know that Ram and Sita were separated because of a curse from Narada? Read on for the story behind how Narada cursed God Vishnu that he would be separated from his wife in his Ram incarnation and that a monkey would come to his aid.

Once, when Narada was in a serious penance in the Himalayas, at the same spot where Lord Shiva performed his penance. The Gods, in an attempt to disrupt this penance, sent Kamadeva to distract Narada, but he could not be distracted. Arrogant at his victory over Kamadeva, Narada, forgetting that he was able to complete his penance only because of God Shiva’s grace, kept boasting about it, in spite of being asked not to by the God himself, Narada even went to God Vishnu’s abode to boast about his achievement.

Narada was going back from Vaikunta, God Vishnu’s abode, when he came across a grand city, whose king was Sheelnidhi. On making inquiries, Narada discovered that the king was organizing a swayamvar for his daughter and Narada fell in love with her the moment he saw her. He then went to God Vishnu for help, asking him to bless Narada with his good looks. God Vishnu granted Narada’s wish and transformed him into a very handsome man, but with a monkey’s face. Blissfully unaware of this, Narada goes to the Swayamvar. The princess, however, chose God Vishnu as her husband. The Marudaganas, asked Narada to look at his reflection, after which Narada realized that he had been tricked. Cursing the Marudaganas to be reborn as demons though they were Brahmins, Narada went to God Vishnu in a fit of anger and cursed him saying that in his incarnation of God Ram that he would be separated from his wife and that they would take the help of a monkey to get her back.

God Vishnu, after gracefully accepting Narada’s curse, removed the illusion from his mind and enlightened him on the folly of his actions. On realizing his error, Narada asked God Vishnu for advice on how he could atone for his sin. God Vishnu told Narada to pray to God Shiva and absolve himself of his sins. While Narada was atoning for his sins, he saw the Marudaganas he had cursed. He blessed them saying their fathers in their next birth would be sages, though they will be born in the womb of a giantess. And he also blessed them saying that they would be famous for their devotion to God Shiva.

And thus, this is the story of why God Ram was separated from his wife and was reunited with her with God Hanuman’s help.

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