Sita was 'abducted' by Rama, says Gujarat board textbook

Sita was "abducted" by Lord Rama, according to a school textbook in Gujarat.

"There is (a) very heart-touching description of the message conveyed by Laxman to Ram when Sita was abducted by Rama," reads a paragraph about the epic 'Raghuvansham' written by celebrated Sanskrit poet Kalidasa.

The error figures in the textbook for English medium students of Class XII.

The Gujarat State School Textbook Board (GSSTB) on Friday described the blooper in the English version of Sanskrit as a translation error and ordered a probe.

GSSTB executive president Nitin Pethani claimed that the word 'tyag' has been translated and printed as "abducted" instead of "abandoned" by those who were given the task of translation and proof-reading.

"It should have been printed as 'when Sita was abandoned by Lord Rama'. But, due to a translation mistake, it got printed as 'when Sita was abducted by Rama'.

"We will conduct an inquiry into the matter. If found guilty, we will blacklist the contractors who were given thetask of translation as well as proof-reading. We will informthe school teachers to correct this mistake while teachingthat chapter," Pethani said.

(With inputs from agencies)