Rawana approaches Sita in the garb of mendicant

Lakshmana Rekha (), in some later versions of the

Hindu epic Mahākāvya (lit. great kāvya, court epic), also known as ''sargabandha'', is a genre of Indian epic poetry in Classical Sanskrit. The genre is characterised by ornate and elaborate descriptions of scenery, love, battles and so on — in short, eve ...

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

'', is a line in the soil drawn by

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja () ...

. This line is drawn around the dwelling in the forest that he shared with his elder brother,

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

, and Rama's wife,

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

. The line is meant to protect Sita, while he was away searching for Rama. This line is not featured in the original epic by

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on the attributio ...

. In the story, Rama goes chasing a golden

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

(which is actually the

rakshasa Rakshasas ( sa, राक्षस, IAST: : Pali: ''rakkhaso'') lit. 'preservers' are a race of usually malevolent demigods prominently featured in Hindu mythology. According to the Brahmanda Purana, the rakshasas were created by Brahma wh ...

Maricha In the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'', Maricha, or Mareecha (Sanskrit: मारीच, IAST: ) is a demon, who was killed by Rama, the hero of the epic and an avatar of Lord Vishnu. He is mentioned as an ally of Ravana, the antagonist of the epic. Hi ...

in disguise), and does not return for a long time. When Sita beseeches Lakshmana to depart in search of his brother, the prince, who could not bear to see Sita cry in grief, reluctantly decides to go and search for Rama. However, this is subject to his condition that Sita not cross the protective line that he draws around the dwelling. According to this legend, anybody other than Rama, Sita, and himself who attempted to cross the line would be burnt. Once Lakshmana leaves in search of Rama, the

king,

Ravana Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and rakshasi Kaikesi. ...

, arrives on the site in the form of a mendicant, and asks Sita for alms. Not suspecting the ploy, she unsuspectingly crosses the Lakshmana Rekha to provide alms to him. Ravana promptly kidnaps her and flies her to Lanka upon his

Pushpaka Vimana Vimāna are mythological flying palaces or chariots described in Hindu texts and Sanskrit epics. The "Pushpaka Vimana" of Ravana (who took it from Kubera; Rama returned it to Kubera) is the most quoted example of a vimana. Vimanas are also menti ...

. The ''

Ramacharitamanas ''Ramcharitmanas'' ( deva, श्रीरामचरितमानस, Rāmacaritamānasa), is an epic poem in the Awadhi language, based on the ''Ramayana'', and composed by the 16th-century Indian bhakti poet Tulsidas (c. 1532–1623). Thi ...

'', the popular

north Indian North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

rendering of the story of Rama, does not feature the Lakshmana Rekha story in the Aranya Kanda. However, in the Lanka Kanda of the Ramcharitmanas, (35.1) Ravana's wife Mandodari rebukes him on his boisterous claims of valour by hinting that his claims of strength and valour are shallow, for he could not even cross a small line drawn by Rama's younger brother, Lakshmana. The Radhey Shyam Ramayana mentions that the crossing of Lakshamana Rekha by Sita was done absent-mindedly by an anxious Sita only to honour the Indian tradition of ''Atithi Devo Bhava'' : guests are to be accorded the respect of God himself. Sita crosses the boundary only to give alms to Ravana once he insists that the alms cannot be accepted across a barrier as crossing it was against the principle of the

free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to ac ...

of the donor. In local tradition, the line is believed to have been drawn at

Panchavati Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nashik ...

, in the forest of

Dandakaranya Dandakaranya is a historical region in India, mentioned in the Ramayana. It is identified with a territory roughly equivalent to the Bastar division in the Chhattisgarh state in the central-east part of India. It covers about of land, which inc ...

, which is now part of the city of

Nashik Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nashi ...

in Maharashtra.

Modern use

Lakshmana Rekha, in modern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n parlance, refers to a strict convention or a rule, never to be broken. See the American

Bright-line rule A bright-line rule (or bright-line test) is a clearly defined rule or standard, composed of objective factors, which leaves little or no room for varying interpretation. The purpose of a bright-line rule is to produce predictable and consistent ...

. It often refers to the ethical limits of an action, traversing which may lead to undesirable consequences. Example of use: :''Constitution is very clear on the roles of the Judiciary and the Legislature,

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

Somnath Chatterjee Somnath Chatterjee (25 July 1929 – 13 August 2018) was an Indian politician who was associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for most of his life, though he had been a non affiliated independent during his last decade. He was t ...

said; both should not cross the Lakshman Rekha''. It is also called as Som titi vidya

Modern use

See also

Further reading