This situation is common to both Ramayan & Mahabharat...just occurred to me the other day.
My question -
Why does the Goddess have to undergo suffering on Earth in order for evil to be destroyed? And continue to experience suffering even afterwards?
Sita - Accompanied Ram for vanvaas, kidnapped by Ravan, suffering in Lanka, agnipariksha, character doubted, exiled again...ended up with bhumi pravesh
Draupadi - Divided by MIL amongst sons, staked, attempted disrobing, waited a long while to get justice, lost sons...died in icy mountains
My question is - Why did both have to experience so much suffering to begin with? Why did destroying evil come at a price of both undergoing as much suffering as they did?
Could Ravan not be vanquished if Sita had not been kidnapped? Was Sita's kidnapping Ravan's ONLY sin - hence wait for Sita to be kidnapped and suffer in Lanka, and kill him only after all that? And then, Sita exiled even later.
Similarly, why did it go to the extent of Draupadi's insult for the Kauravas to be destroyed? Not like it was the first sin committed by the Kauravas. And, even after that, there was hesitancy over war and getting her justice. To make things worse, she lost her own sons in the war.
I know that every event has its time and place so things happen only when they are supposed to. I also know about the concept of "paap ka ghadaa bharna".
But letting such big paaps happen before you finally say,"Enough is enough"?
Weren't the previous sins of Ravan & the Kauravas enough to get them punished - so that Sita & Draupadi could be spared of their sufferings?
Why does the Goddess have to suffer like this for evil to be destroyed? Why can't evil be destroyed without this kind of suffering taking place? Why did the sufferings of Sita & Draupadi continue even after evil was vanquished?
Was it really necessary for Sita and Draupadi to suffer so much - especially when the main purpose of their lives was to ensure destruction of evil?