‘Embodiment of the Vedas’. She is said to be the avatar of Goddess Lakshmi.
According to Uttara Kanda of the Ramayana, Sita was a foundling, discovered in a
furrow in a ploughed field and for that deemed to ...
be the daughter of Bhuma Devi. She was adopted by
Janaka, the King of Mithila and his wife Sunayana. Sita was reborn as Vedavati .
She is the daughter of Brahmarishi Kusdhvaja. Vedavati is said to be born as the
fruits of bhakti and tapas. There is a belief that Sri Pathmavathi Devi is
actually Vedavati in Thretayug and by the word given by Sri Rama, she is born as
Padmavathy in Kaliyuga and married to Lord Venkateswara. It is also believed
that Goddess Lakshmi is Padmavathi Devi as she in Padmam, the lotus flower after
coming from Vaikuntha and gets called Padmavathi.
DEVI MAHATMYAM: The
common myth surrounding Goddess Vedavati is told in many ways. Goddess Lakshmi
upholds good virtues and morals and ensures peace, welfare and prosperity. She
blessed King Rathadhwaja who worshipped her with love and devotion. The kingdom
was blessed with abundance. But King Ratha falls into error by ignoring the
Goddess. He becomes very arrogant and proud to claim that the riches were
acquired by his intelligence and not the Goddess’s blessings. He then lost the
grace of Lakshmi and she left him for good. It followed that he subsequently
lost his wealth and then his country in the hands of enemy forces.
Kushadhwaja and Dharmadhwaja, his sons felt sorry for the father’s mistakes.
They were not like him and were humble.
So they undertook a severe penance
and invoked the Goddess. They asked for forgiveness and to be given another
chance and begged that she be born as their daughter. Goddess Lakshmi was very
happy of Kushadhwaja’s piety. So she agreed to appear on earth as his daughter.
She also assured the two brothers that they would regain the lost kingdom.
Kushadhwaja’s wife was Malavati. Goddess Lakshmi entered the womb of
Malavati in subtle form. Soon she gave birth to a beautiful daughter. From the
moment she was born, she recited Vedic hymns there could be no better name than
Vedavati. Kushadhwaja looked upon his daughter's face with love only to realize
that she was none other than Goddess Lakshmi herself that blessed him. The child
grew up to be a beautiful girl devoting herself to Lord Vishnu. Both Devas and
demons were after her hand in marriage. She was bent on Vishnu. “I will go to
the forest of Pushkara and meditate to Lord Vishnu to accept me as his wife" she
told the saddened father. How could he stop her, after-all he knew of her true
identity and who else could be her husband? There she undertook severe penance
for Vishnu to be her husband.
After rigorous tapas in the dense forest,
Vedavati heard a voice ‘Vedavati, you have to be reborn and Vishnu would also be
reborn and become your husband.’ But that news did not hamper her tapas. It so
happened that Ravana, the evil ruler of Lanka, passed by in his Pushpaka vimana.
He saw this beautiful maiden absorbed in meditation. At once, he brought his
vehicle to a halt and addressed her, ‘My fair lady, what is a young girl like
you doing here meditating? Come with me and be my queen. I will give you all the
riches of the world!’ Vedavati did not listen to him, so the demon got angry and
tried to pull her by the hair. Vedavati became angry and sheared off her hair
with her hands! She said, "O you evil demon! You have disturbed me and made me
impure by your touch! I curse you that in my later birth, I will be the cause of
your death!" She announced this and jumped into a bonfire.
Later
Goddess Lakshmi, indeed, eventually became the cause of his death. When she was
born as Sita, Ravana kidnapped her and Lord Rama followed him to Lanka and
killed him. There is another version that says that Ravana molested Vedavati
while she was taking her bath in the Ganges. Hence he also earned the curse of
Goddess Ganga.
RAMAYANA: Sita is found in the fields by King Janaka.
The Uttara Kanda shows Vedavati’s connection with Goddess Lakshmi and Sita that
it was she who wished to accomplish Ravana’s death. Ravana in the course of his
wanderings, comes to the Himalayas, where he meets a young woman of marvelous
beauty, named Vedavati, dressed in ascetic garments and living the life of a
devotee. He speaks of love; but she indignantly rejects his overtures, saying
that it was her father’s wish she would wed Vishnu and that she had wed with him
in the heart.
Ravana presses his suit assuring Vedavati that he is
superior to Vishnu. She says that none but he would contempt that deity. Ravana
replies by touching her hair. Being very indignant at this, she declares that
would enter the fire and die before his eyes. Before doing so, she says, “Since
I have been insulted in the forest by thee, who art wicked hearted, I shall be
born again for thy destruction. For a man of evil design cannot be slain by a
woman; and the merit of my austerity would be lost if I were to launch a curse
against you. But I have performed, or bestowed, or sacrificed aught, may I be
born a virtuous daughter – not produced from the womb of a righteous man.
Vedavati then entered the blazing fire. It was she that was mysteriously found
by King Janaka as a child without human birth but of Bumi Mata herself. The
mountain like Ravana, who was virtually destroyed before by her wrath, has now
been destroyed by her, after she had associated herself with Vishnu’s superhuman
energy.
There is a version that says that Vedavathi was born as
Ravana’s daughter. To save himself, Ravana is said to have flung the baby into
the sea. The sea-goddess Varuni apparently saved the child and handed to Goddess
Prithvi, the earth-goddess. Prithvi plants Vedavathi in Janaka’s fields to be
found as daughter.
SKANDA PURANA: This Purana accounts that Vedavati
refused to curse Ravana. That would interfere and exhaust her extreme tapasya.
So she pledges to return in another age and be the cause of his destruction.
Agastya Munivar informs Lord Rama that Vedavati is reborn as Swaha, Agni’s wife
to become the cause of Ravana’s death. The rebirth is recorded in the Skanda
Purana thus: "In Ttreta yuga, when I had incarnated as Ram, Ravana had
deceitfully abducted my consort Sita. But fortunately she was not Sita but
Agni’s consort Swaha. Before this incident could occur,Agni had already taken
Sita to Patalloka and kept his own wife 'Swaha' in her place. Indra's act had
special purpose behind it--to avenge Swaha's death,who was Vedavati in her
previous birth and who had committed suicide after being touched by the same
demon.Actually, Agni's consort 'Swaha' was 'Vedavati' in her previous birth. So,
in reality Ravana had abducted Vedavati instead of Sita. Later on, I thanked
Agni and promised him that I would make Vedavati my consort in Kaliyuga. The
same vedavati has taken birth as Padmavathi. You must go and convince Padmavati
to become my consort. Vakulmalika went to Narayanpur and informed the king about
Sri Hari's desire. Emperor Akash was extremely delighted at the prospect of
having Sri Hari as his son-in-law. An auspicious day was chosen for the marriage
and thus, Lord Sri Hari got Padmavati as his consort."
VEDAVATHI RIVER:
The Vedavathi river rises from the Western Ghats and flows through the states of
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh before joining the Tungabhadra. In Andra Pradesh
the river is called the Hagari. The two rivers, the Veda and Avathi, arise in
the eastern part of Saydri Hill range, flow east and join concert near Pura to
form the Vedavathi. A tributary called the Suvarnamukhi confluences with
Vedavathi at Koodalahallu in the Hiriyur Taluk. It is considered to be a Punya
Bhumi or sacred land by the locals. There is a famous temple devoted to Shri
Anjaneya on the banks of Vedavathi at Kellodu in the Hosadurga Taluk.
Chitradurga is the administrative district of Karnataka state. It gets its name
from Chitrakaldurga, an umbrella shapped lofty hill found there. Tradition dates
Chitradurga district to the period of Ramayana and Mahabaratha. The whole
dstrict lies in the valley of the Vedavathi river. According to a story in the
Mahabaratha epic, a man-eating giant named Hidimbasura lived on the Chitradurga
hill and was a source of terror to everyone around. When the Pandavas came with
their mother Kunti in the course of exile, Bhima had a duel with Hidimba.
Hidimba was slain by Bhima and peace returned to the area. Legend has it the
boulders were part of the arsenal used during that duel. In fact, the boulders
on which major part of the city rests belong to the oldest rock formation in the
country.
Hari Om
Yogi Ananda Saraswathi