SITA TALES TOLD IN 100 WORDS
Some people say that Sita was an incarnation of Vedavati:
Ravana and Vedavati
As Ravana explored the mountain forests, he saw a beautiful woman practicing austerities at a fire-altar, clothed in a deer-skin, her hair in twisted jats.
"My lovely lady," he said, "you should be wearing silks and jewels, not this ascetic garb. Come live with me and be wife!"
"I am Vedavati," she replied, "and I am dedicated to Vishnu; I will marry no other."
Ravana grabbed her hair, but Vedavati magically cut herself free.
"With my dying words I curse you, Ravana," she said as she threw herself into the flames. "And I will be born again for your destruction!"
Some people say that Sita was the daughter of Mandodari, Ravana's wife:
Ravana's Pot of Blood
Ravana, King of the Rakshasas, caught and killed sages, keeping their blood in a pot.
Meanwhile, the sage Gritsamada made milk from darbha grass and kept it in a pot, hoping by means of this ritual to acquire an incarnation Goddess Lakshmi as his daughter.
Ravana poured that milk into his pot of blood.
Outraged, Mandodari drank the liquid in the pot, hoping to commit suicide.
But instead of dying, Mandodari became pregnant with an incarnation of Lakshmi. She took the baby and buried it in the ground far away from Lanka.
Janaka discovered that baby. He named her Sita.
There is another story about Ravana, Mandodari, and baby Sita:
The Story of King Lotus-Eye
King Padmaksha had a daughter, Padma (Lotus), an incarnation of Lakshmi. Ravana attacked the kingdom and killed Padmaksha.
Overcome by grief, Padma jumped into the fire, which transformed her into five jewels. Ravana put the jewels in a box and took them to Lanka.
Ravana's wife opened the box and found a baby inside. "She brings doom!" Mandodari shouted. "Take her away!"
As Ravana shut the box, the baby shouted, "I will return and destroy your kingdom."
Ravana buried the box deep in the ground far from Lanka.
Janaka discovered the box and the baby inside. He named her Sita.
Whatever her origin, storytellers agree that King Janaka found Sita in a field:
King Janaka's Golden Plough
The farmers of Mithila invited their king, Janaka, to begin the sowing season.
King Janaka brought forth the golden plow, offering prayers to the gods.
As he plowed, he noticed tiny fingers rising up from the soil. Janaka cleared away the soil and there, in the freshly plowed furrow, was a tiny baby, a girl, reaching her arms up towards him.
"She is a gift from Bhumi, the Earth Goddess," Janaka exclaimed, "and she has chosen me to be her father!"
Janaka named the baby girl Sita, which means "Furrow" in Sanskrit, and the childless king now had a daughter.
Sita was an extraordinary child:
Sita and the Bow
King Janaka had a bow that had once belonged to the god Shiva. Shiva's bow was so heavy that it took a dozen men to move it.
One day, Sita was helping her sisters to clean the palace. "We need to sweep here under the bow," said Sita.
"That's impossible," said her sisters. "No one can lift that bow!"
But Sita, with no effort at all, lifted the bow, while her sisters stared at her in amazement.
Later, Janaka used the bow as a marriage test. "Whoever can lift this bow and string it shall marry my daughter!" he proclaimed.
Many came to try to lift and string the bow:
The Suitor and the Bow
"Whoever can lift and string Shiva's bow shall marry my daughter!" King Janaka proclaimed.
A stranger came to Janaka's court. "I will lift and string the bow!' he said. The stranger bent down. He lifted the bow, but then he slipped, and the bow pinned him to the ground.
King Janaka and his guards couldn't free him, but Sita stepped forward and, all alone, lifted the bow and freed the stranger.
The stranger was not grateful. He shouted at Sita, "If I cannot lift the bow, no man can!" Then he stormed out of the court.
That stranger was Ravana.
And there is another legend about Ravana and young Sita:
Sita in the Kitchen
King Janaka entertained many wise men and women at his court and rewarded them with cows. "May the milk forever serve you, as your wisdom has served me," he proclaimed.
Sita wondered who fed the philosophers while they attended her father's court. Curious, she went to the kitchen and found her mother there: chopping, slicing, stirring, baking.
Thus Sita also learned how to cook.
One day a crow carried some food Sita had cooked all the way to Lanka, and it fell into Ravana's mouth. "I must find this woman!" he exclaimed. "Someday she must come and cook for me."
Author's Notes:
Ravana and Vedavati. The story of Vedavati appears in the Uttara Kanda of Valmiki's Ramayana. More information.
Ravana's Pot of Blood. This legend comes from the Adbhuta Ramayana. More information.
The Story of King Lotus-Eye. This story comes from the Ananda Ramayana. The word "padma" means lotus. More information.
King Janaka's Golden Plough. This is the one story on the page that is part of the traditional Ramayana, but now it has a different meaning when you think about just how Sita ended up in that field! More information.
Sita and the Bow. The story of little Sita lifting the bow is a popular folktale in India. More information.
The Suitor and the Bow. The story of Ravana attempting Sita's marriage test comes from Odisha on India's east coast. More information.
Sita in the Kitchen. The legend of the crow comes from Himchal in the far north of India. Compare also the legends of birds stealing some of Dasharatha's sacred kheer and depositing it in the mouths of Anjana (who gave birth to Hanuman) or Kaikesi (who gave birth to Ravana's brother, Vibhishana). More information.
My source for these variants and folktales is Devdutt Pattanaik's Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana.
Image Information:
Banner.Rama and Sita altar at the Prem Mandir (Love Temple) in Vrindavan; Wikimedia.
Ravana and Vedavati; Wikimedia.
Darbha Grass; Ayurwiki.
Lotus; Pixabay.
Birth of Sita in miniature painting; HareKrsna.com.
Sita lifts bow; still from Siya Ke Ram video.
Ravana actor in Dushera performance; Wikimedia.
Ingredients for Indian cooking; Pxfuel.