Sītā Janma in the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa

Sītā is the daughter of King Janaka of Mithilā, found in the earth. The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa tells that before this she was born as Padmāvatī, from the fruit of a mātulimga (citron) tree, to a king named Padmāksha. In this account Rāvaṇa met the child Padmāvatī and took her away. After a chain of events she came into the hands of Janaka, and was born again from the earth as Sītā.

Padmāksha and Padmāvatī

In an earlier age there lived a king named Padmāksha. He was a deep devotee of Bhagavān Vishṇu. He had no children, and he kept many vows and prayers to receive a child.

By the grace of Bhagavān Vishṇu, a mātulimga fruit appeared near the image of Bhagavān Vishṇu that the king worshipped every day. A baby girl was born from inside this fruit. She was beautiful, bright, and auspicious in every limb. The king named her Padmāvatī. He received her with great joy and raised her with love.

Rāvaṇa takes Padmāvatī

Rāvaṇa was moving through the lands of mortals on one of his conquests. He came to know of the great beauty and divine nature of Padmāvatī. He came to the kingdom of Padmāksha and took the child away.

Padmāvatī was no ordinary being. She was Mahālakshmī herself in a mortal form. Because of her divine power, Rāvaṇa could not treat her as a captive.

The divine voice and the island

On the journey a divine voice warned Rāvaṇa. The child he carried was Mahālakshmī, the consort of Bhagavān Vishṇu. If he kept her, his whole line would be destroyed.

Rāvaṇa was alarmed. He stopped at an island in the ocean. Padmāvatī could not stay in his hands. She was placed in a vessel (a casket, in some accounts) and given to the ocean, or placed in the earth.

Janaka finds the child

Later, King Janaka of Mithilā was ploughing a sacred field as part of a yajña (fire ritual) he was performing. This ritual ploughing was done to purify the earth and call prosperity.

As the ploughshare turned the earth, it struck a vessel. Inside lay an infant. She was bright, auspicious, and carried all the divine marks. Janaka took the child as a gift from the earth herself. He named her Sītā, from the word sītā, which means a plough furrow. He raised her as his beloved daughter.

Sources

• Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Sāra Khaṇḍa, Sarga 3