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The Ashta-Shat-Shat-Parva
276
Seeing the daughter of Amitvega, the king of the city of Stalaka on Mount Vijaya, who was engrossed in the pursuit of knowledge, the fickle Ravana was captivated by lust and infatuation. ||15||
That wicked soul, desiring to make her his own, destroyed her pursuit of knowledge. She, weakened by twelve years of fasting and hardship, ||15||
became enraged at the king of the celestial beings for being the cause of the obstruction to her attainment of knowledge. She resolved, "I will be born as the daughter of this king and surely destroy this foolish one." ||16||
Having made this resolution, she was born in the womb of Mandodari at the end of her life. At the time of her birth, there were great calamities like earthquakes. ||17||
Hearing the words of the astrologers, "Ravana will be destroyed by this daughter," the ten-headed Ravana was terrified. He immediately ordered his minister Maricha, "Take this sinful daughter and abandon her somewhere." ||18||
Obeying Ravana, Maricha went to Mandodari's house and said, "O Devi, I am very cruel. The king has entrusted me with this task." He then informed Mandodari of Ravana's order. ||19||
Mandodari replied, "I cannot disobey the king's order." ||20||
Saying this, she placed the girl in a casket with a lot of wealth. She repeatedly told Maricha, "O Maricha, your heart is naturally kind. Leave this girl in a place where she will not face any obstacles." ||21||
Wiping her tearful eyes, she handed over her daughter to him. Maricha took the casket and placed it in a conspicuous place near the garden of Mithila. ||23||
He then returned, dejected, having buried the casket in the earth. On that very day, some people were engaged in surveying the land for building a house. ||24||
While they were digging the ground with a plow, the casket came to the surface. The workers, surprised, informed King Janaka. ||25||
Seeing the beautiful girl inside the casket, King Janaka learned about her birth and the circumstances surrounding it from the letter. ||26||
He then named her Sita and said, "She will be your daughter," and happily gave her to Queen Vasudha. ||27||