Reading Notes: Ramayana Part A

 Sita

Sita: Wikimedia

• A few versions of stories of how she came to be
• King Janaka began the sowing season with his golden plow and saw 10 fingers rising up from the soil. Exclaimed that she was a gift from Bhudevi, the earth-goddess. Named the baby Sita which is Sanskrit for "furrow"
• Ravana kept the blood of warriors that he killed in a pot while a rishi kept sacred milk in a pot. Ravana stole the milk and mixed the two. Ravana's wife was horrified by what he had done and drank the concoction to hide it but instead became pregnant with an incarnation of Lakshmi. She buried the baby and later King Janaka discovered it.
• King Padmaksha had a daughter who was an incarnation of Lakshmi. Ravana killed Padmaksha and the daughter Padma jumped into his pyre and transformed into a jewel. Ravana put the jewel in a box and his wife opened it and said the baby bring doom and to take her away. Ravana buried the box and Janaka discovered it.
• Also a few stories of her life in general
• How she learned to cook and how a crow carried some of the food she cooked and it ended up in Ravana's mouth and he said he must find her and have her cook for him.
• This next story reminds me of the movie the Sword in the Stone. Janaka had a bow that belonged to the god Shiva. It was super heavy and it took a dozen men to move it. Sita and her sisters were cleaning and they needed to move it to sweep under it. Sita picked it up with no issue and Janaka later used the bow as a marriage test. Whoever could lift it could marry Sita.

Bibliography: Laura Gibbs: Tiny Tales from the Ramayana Part A