On Sitadevi (from Ananda Ramayana)

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Once there was a king named Padmaaksha who wanted Lakshmi as his

daughter. On practising ascesis Vishnu appears and gives a fruit

called maatulunga phala, and girl emerges from out of that fruit, and

she is named as Padma. But greedy to possess her, all the wooing kings

war with Padmaaksha and his entire family is ruined and Padma jumps

into fire and self immolates herself. Later when Vishnu's maaya comes

out of an altar of fire, sits in her meditation, Ravana sees her and

wants to abduct her. Of course, she is otherwise said to be Vedavati

in other texts. But again, she enters the fire altar and reduces

herself to ashes. Even then, Ravana searches in those ashes for her.

In there, he gets five diamonds of high quality. He comes to Lanka and

paces those diamonds in a casket and jovially presents them to his

wife Mandodari. When Mandodari could not lift the casket Ravana lifts

it and opens its lid, as he lifted Mt. Kailash. When the casket is

opened, Mandodari finds a baby girl in it and recognises her to be

Goddess Lakshmi. Then they consult their teachers about that baby's

arrival. Those teachers wishing good for Ravana, advise to get rid off

this girl immediately, for she is Goddess Lakshmi, arrived here only

to end Ravana and his dynasty. Then Mandodari orders her servants to

carry away this baby in a casket by an aircraft and get rid off it.

 

But Ravana rushes after the girl with a sword, to put that girl to

sword. Empress Mandodari pacifies Ravana and says "Why purchase a

later time death now itself at the hand of this baby... let that the

casket be buried..." Ravana agrees. Mandodari also curses this girl

saying, "This faithless girl [for wealth is unfaithful,] will thrive

only in a house, where the householder has his senses conquered, and

who being an emperor lives like a perfect hermit, and who though

wealthy and supreme by himself, will care nothing for the riches but

view whole of the world and people as his own soul, with an impartial

attitude..." Thus this casket is buried in the fields of King Janaka's

empire by demons, clandestinely. Mandodari thought that such a person

is an impossibility to take birth in this mortal world, to foster this

buried girl, and thus presumed her curse to be twisty. But there is

King Janaka with all the above attributes. A king without ego, wealthy

but living simple, childless, yet does not crave for one, like King

Dasharatha. Hence, he is called raajarSi a saintly king.

 

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