Sītā-devī also performed meditation, japa and other aspects of sandhyā-vandana.

In this regard, [it should be noted that] text 2.50.48 had stated the following sequence of events:

tataś cīrottarāsaṅgaḥ sandhyām anvāsya paścimām
jalam evādade bhojyaṁ lakṣmaṇenāhṛtaṁ svayam

“Then, wearing an upper cloth of bark, He performed the evening sandhyā-vandana and then drank water as His food that Lakṣmaṇa fetched for Him.”

Here Guha first says that Rāma drank water and then he says that He performed His sandhyā-vandana. But the actual sequence of events is presented in text 2.50.48 [quoted above] and not in this and the previous verse stated by Guha. Bharata had asked [in text 13] what Rāma had eaten. While stating that He did not accept what Guha had presented, Guha mentioned in this context that He drank water and then he spoke about Rāma’s sandhyā-vandana. So there is no contradiction here.

GLOSS. There is nothing wrong [with Sītā-devī performing sandhyā-vandana] because she was a first-class lady. Therefore it is mentioned here that Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā had peaceful minds.

NOTE. In his Brahma-sūtra-bhāṣya (1.1.1), Madhvācārya quotes from Vyoma-saṁhitā to the effect that first-class women are eligible for [studying and reciting] Vedic mantras: āhur apy uttama-strīṇām adhikāraṁ tu vaidike.

Now, what is the meaning of “first-class” here? Śrī Madhva himself notes two ways of grading devotees of Lord Viṣṇu by quoting the scripture Bhāgavata-tantra in his Brahma-sūtra-bhāṣya as follows:

manda-madhyottamatvena trividhā hy adhikāriṇaḥ
tatra mandā manuṣyeṣu ya uttama-gaṇā matāḥ

madhyamā ṛṣi-gandharvā devās tatrottamā matāḥ
iti jāti-kṛto bhedas tathānyo guṇa-pūrvakaḥ

bhaktimān parame viṣṇau yas tv adhyayanavān naraḥ
adhamaḥ śamādi-saṁyukto madhyamaḥ sa udāhṛtaḥ

ābrahma-stamba-paryantam asāraṁ cāpy anityakam
vijñāya jāta-vairāgyo viṣṇu-pādaika-saṁśrayaḥ

sa uttamo ’dhikārī syāt sannyastākhila-karmavān iti

“There are three kinds of persons eligible for a study of the Vedānta-sūtra: the neophyte, the intermediate and the best candidate.

“In this regard, the best of human beings are considered neophyte candidates, those who belong to the ṛṣi and gandharva species are considered intermediate candidates and the devas are considered to be the best candidates. This is a gradation based on their birth.

“There is another gradation, based on their qualities. A man who studies the scriptures and is a devotee of the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu is a neophyte candidate. An intermediate candidate is declared to be one who possesses the [brahminical] qualities beginning with control of mind. He who has realized that [everything in the material world] from Brahmā to the pillar is insubstantial and temporary, and has [thus] attained renunciation and detachment, who has fully taken shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu and who has renounced all other activities and duties is the best candidate.”

So a lady who is the “best candidate” in terms of the above is certainly fit to study and recite Vedic mantras, that is, mantras from the Śruti.¹

A gradation of the living entities’ spiritual consciousness based on their birth, similar to the statement of Bhāgavata-tantra quoted above, is recognized by Prabhupāda in this manner:

The living entities are of two kinds: one class is called nitya-mukta, ever liberated, and the other is called nitya-baddha, ever conditioned. The nitya-mukta living entities are in the spiritual kingdom, and the nitya-baddhas are in the material world. In the spiritual world both the living entities and the Lord are manifest in their original status, like live sparks in a blazing fire. But in the material world, although the Lord is all-pervasive in His impersonal feature, the living entities have forgotten their Kṛṣṇa consciousness to a greater or lesser degree, just as sparks sometimes fall from a blazing fire and lose their original brilliant condition. The sparks fall into different conditions and retain more or less of their original brilliance. Some sparks fall onto dry grass and thus ignite another big fire. This is a reference to the pure devotees who take compassion on the poor and innocent living entities. The pure devotee ignites Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the hearts of the conditioned souls, and thus the blazing fire of the spiritual world becomes manifest even within this material world. Some sparks fall onto water; they immediately lose their original brilliance and become extinct. They are comparable to the living entities who take their birth in the midst of gross materialists, in which case their original Kṛṣṇa consciousness becomes extinct. Some sparks fall to the ground and remain midway between the blazing and extinct conditions. Thus some living entities are without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, some are between having and not having Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and some are actually situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The demigods in the higher planets—Lord Brahmā, Indra, Candra, the sun-god and various other demigods—are all Kṛṣṇa conscious. Human society is between the demigods and the animals, and thus some humans are more or less Kṛṣṇa conscious and some are completely forgetful of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The third-grade living entities, namely the animals, beasts,  plants, trees and aquatics, have completely forgotten Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This example stated in the Vedas regarding the sparks of a blazing fire is very appropriate for understanding the condition of different types of living entities. But above all other living entities is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, or Puruṣottama, who is always liberated from all material conditions.” (Kṛṣṇa: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 87)