Maa Sita was the central character of Ramayan. She was the princess of Mithila who later married Shri Ram – the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu. She was the epitome of devotion, loyalty, sacrifice, courage and purity. Her life was full of hardship and she overcame all of it with raw courage and inner strength.
Goddess Lakshmi the consort of Lord Vishnu took avatar as Sita in the Tretayuga. The story of Maa Sita’s birth is divine, fascinating and super natural. She was not born in a mother’s womb. Let’s delve into the story.
There was a kingdom called Mithila in the Tretayuga. It was established by Videha. It encompassed present day parts of Nepal, Bihar and Jharkhand. Raja Janak was the king of Mithila. He was detached from all material possessions. He was intensely spiritual and considered himself free of all material illusions. Janakpuri was the capital of his kingdom. Raja Janak was married to Sunayna. They did not have any children.
Once there was a drought in the kingdom. There was no food and water for the subjects. Raja Janak consulted Rishi Ashtavakra for a solution. The Rishi said ‘Janak, you need to plough the field in your kingdom!’ As per Rishi Ashtavakra’s guidance, Raja Janak got a golden plough made. The plough was made by melting the gold donated by the subjects for the noble cause.
On the auspicious day, all the people gathered at the land chosen for ploughing. After the initial rituals, Raja Janak started ploughing the dry and hot land. After ploughing for some time, the plough got stuck in the soil. Raja Janak removed the soil and mud surrounding the plough. After removing the soil, Janak saw a beautiful baby girl wrapped in a cloth. Surprised to find a baby alive under the soil, Janak called for Rishi Ashtavakra and handed the baby to him.
As soon as Rishi Ashtavakra held the baby in his hands, rains arrived in the kingdom of Mithila. Raja Janak adopted the baby girl and raised her as his own daughter. She was named Janaki and Sita. Sita comes from the Sanskrit word ‘Seet’ which means furrow.
The kingdom of Mithila flourished with wealth and happiness after this incident. They never faced droughts again. A year later, queen Sunayna gave birth to Urmila, who was the avatar of Nagalakshmi – the serpent goddess. Raja Janak and his wife experienced family bliss with their daughters who were both divine avatars.
Image credit: Photo by Rahul Mishra on Unsplash
