The Sita of Ramayana is considered to be an ideal Indian wife. According to the first Ramayana ever written by Sage Valmiki, she was the adopted daughter of King Janak. But then there is not just one Ramayana; Goswami Tulsidas rewrote the epic, which is followed by Hindus in India now. Like the Tulsidas’s version, there are more than 300 other versions of the same epic, each narrating the story of Rama, Sita and Raavan, slightly different from others.
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There are a lot of controversies regarding Sita’s birth. Today we bring you some of the facts about Sita that exist in one of the versions of Ramayana, but not in the one written by Valmiki. Have a look!
#1 Raavan Had Not Kidnapped The Real Sita!
Some versions of Ramayana state that Lanka King Ravana had not abducted real Sita. The woman he took away with him to Lanka was Maya Sita. Raavan did not know this as it was Goddess Parvati’s plan. She kept the real Sita with her until the war was over. Maya Sita was later born as Draupadi in her next life.
#2 Sita was Raavan’s Daughter!
Some versions of Ramayana says, Sita was the daughter of Raavan and Mandodari. Before her birth, astrologers had predicted their first child will become a reason of their destruction. Hearing this, Raavan had asked his men to bury her in a distant land. She was then discovered by King Janak, who raised her.
#3 Confusion on Sita’s Birthplace!
There’s confusion about Sita’s birthplace as well. While some versions of Ramayana suggest that she was born in Janakpur of Mithila in Southern Nepal, while others say it was Sitamarhi in Bihar.
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#4 Sita was Vedvati’s Reincarnation!
It is also said that once Raavan had molested a beautiful woman Vedvati while she was under penance to be Lord Vishnu’s wife. She had cursed Raavan that she will be born again to kill him. Thus Sita was born.
#5 Sita was Padma’s Reincarnation!
A similar theory is the one found in the Ananda Ramayana, where Vedavati is replaced by Padma, daughter of King Padmaksha. Once she sits in penance surrounded by fire when Raavan spots her and tries to molest her. Then she burns herself and in her place, there appear five diamonds. Raavan takes them to Lanka in a casket.
When his wife Mandodari opens it, she is surprised to find a girl in place of diamonds. Mandodari, who is a virtuous woman of merit immediately, gets to know that she is the embodiment of Raavan’s death. Wanting to stall his death, she curses the baby that it will not live unless in the house of an emperor.
She then orders her servants to dispose the casket with the baby. However, the servants find themselves unable to let go of the casket and travel aimlessly until they reach the kingdom of Mithila where they bury the casket and leave. As it happens, Janak find the baby.