On stand
DT#1722
Excerpts from my book:
I write excerpts of my Ramayana to let people know Lord Ram before the opening of Ram temple at Ayodhya on 22nd January 2024, Monday.
The glorious city of Lanka was situated on the peak of Mount Trikuta, mountains covered with trees and beautiful flowers, beautiful gardens, surrounded by ponds consisting of ducks and swans. City of Lanka looked no less than heaven well decorated and well protected by Rakshasas.
Ravana's first wife Vidyadharamaya was childless: his second wife Mandodari before she became mother of Indrajit, she had born a daughter. She accidentally consumed a pot of blood thinking it was a pot of water. The blood was that of sages, collected as tax by Ravana for ritual meant to appease the Goddess and secure boons from her.
When the girl was born, who was named Manivati, daughter of Mandodari and Ravana, the astrologers forecasted that she would cause the death of Ravana, but Mandodari was reluctant to abandon her daughter, after too much insistence of wise man she agreed to abandon her daughter.
(It is also written in folk tales that Narada warns Mandodari that Ravana would fall in love with his own daughter when she grew up).
Hence, Mandodari discards the girl in wooden box to the land of Devas, he then called one of his very trusted man and asked him to cross the ocean and go to the land of Devas, go up North and leave the box in the middle of some green fields and with a heavy heart Ravana handed over their beautiful daughter Manivati to him, tears flowed out of his eyes, the daughter bought little human in the heart of Rakshasa.
It was auspicious day in Mithila, it was a royal ritual to ensure fertility of the land, every year on this day King comes to plough the fields as per tradition that year too. King Janaka came to plough the fields; while ploughing, his shovel hit hard on some object in the mud, he took it out the box and found little baby girl. During those days, King Janaka was childless and so he was overjoyed and accepted the girl as a blessings from heavens.
Taking the child in his arms, he went to his beloved wife Sunayana and said "Here is treasure for us. I found this child on the yagna site and we shall make it our own." And his wife joyfully consented.
They named her Sita in Sanskrit it means 'Furrow'; thus Sita is considered to be the daughter of Bhumidevi (mother earth) as she was found from the earth.
The childless Janaka adopted Sita as his own child and gave her his own name and she thus also known as Janaki.
Sita was reincarnation of Vedavati. Ravana tried to molest her and her chastity was sullied beyond Ravana's redemption she was performing penance to become consort of Vishnu.
Vedavati immolated herself on a pyre to escape Ravana's lust, vowing to return in another life and be the cause of Ravana's destruction, after Ravana abandon his daughter Manivati, now she was reborn as Janaka's daughter – SITA…!
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