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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
[[File:Rawana approaches Sita in the garb of mendicant.jpg|thumb|[[Rawana|Ravana]] approaches [[Sita]] in the garb of mendicant]]
{{Contains special characters|Indic}}
'''Lakshmana Rekha''' ({{Lang-sa|लक्ष्मण रेखा}}), in some later versions of [[Ramayana]], is a line drawn by [[Lakshmana]] around the dwelling he shares with his brother [[Rama]] and Rama's wife [[Sita]] at [[Panchavati]] in the forest of [[Dandakaranya]] which now part of the city of [[Nashik]] in [[Maharashtra]]. The line is meant to protect [[Sita]], while he is away searching for [[Rama]]. [[Ramacharitamanas]], the popular [[North Indian]] rendering of story of Rama, does not feature the Lakshmana Rekha story in the Aranya Kanda. Neither does the original, the Valmiki Ramayana. However, in Lanka Kanda of the Ramcharitmanas, (35.1) [[Mandodari]] rebukes [[Ravana]] on his boisterous claims of valour by hinting that his claim of strength and valour is shallow for he could not even cross a small line drawn by Shri Rama's younger brother Lakshmana.

In the story, Rama goes chasing a golden [[Deer in mythology|deer]] (which actually is the [[Rakshasa]] [[Maricha]] in disguise), and does not return for a long time. When Sita coerces Lakshmana to leave in search of his brother, Lakshmana who cannot bear to see [[Sita]] cry in grief, reluctantly decides to go and search for Rama, subject to his condition that Sita not cross the protective line he draws. Anybody other than Rama, Sita and himself attempting to cross the line would be singed by flames erupting from the line.
Once Lakshmana leaves in search of Rama, the [[Rakshasa]] king [[Ravana]] comes in the form of a mendicant and asks Sita for alms. Not expecting a trick, she unsuspectingly crosses the '''Lakshmana Rekha''' to provide alms to him and Ravana kidnaps her in his [[Pushpaka Vimana]].

Radhey Shyam Ramayan mentions that the crossing of Lakshamana Rekha by Sita was done absent-mindedly by an anxious Sita only to honour the great Indian tradition of "अतिथि देवो भवः" (Atithi Devo Bhava): the guest is embodiment of a Deva (divine entity). Sita crosses the boundary line only to give alms to Ravana once he insists that alms cannot be accepted across a barrier as having a boundary in between was against the principle of [[free will]] of the donor.

==Modern use==
Lakshmana Rekha, in modern [[India]]n parlance, refers to a strict convention or a rule, never to be broken. See the American [[Bright-line rule]]. 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]] [[Speaker (politics)|Speaker]] [[Somnath Chatterjee]] said; both should not cross the Lakshman Rekha''.

==See also==
*[[Aranya Kanda]]

==Further reading==
* Jain, Jasbir: ''Purdah, Patriarchy, and the Tropical Sun - Womanhood in India Heath'', in: Jennifer (ed.). (2008). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=QhY-DpNCIcQC The Veil: Women Writers On Its History, Lore, And Politics].'' University of California Press. {{ISBN|0-520-25518-6}}. pp. 234–236.

{{Ramayana}}
{{HinduMythology}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakshmana Rekha}}
[[Category:Ramayana]]

Lakshmana rekha - Revision history

imported>PrimeBOT: /* top */Task 24 - replacement of a template following a TFD