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Vedavati
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<h2 id="legend">Legend</h2> <h3>Birth</h3> <p>Vedavati was the daughter of <a href="/facts/Brahmarishi/F4VMtjDl">Brahmarishi</a> <a href="/facts/Kushadhwaja/kgYX2Ucw">Kushadhvaja</a>, who was the son of <a href="/facts/Brihaspati/qX6HRA9b">Brihaspati</a>, the guru of the <a href="/facts/Deva_(Hinduism)/sbUEHbVn">devas</a>. Having spent his life chanting and studying the sacred <a href="/facts/Vedas/yQgc8B2x">Vedas</a>, he named his daughter <i>Vedavati</i>, after the texts,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> born to him as the fruit of his <a href="/facts/Bhakti/HXpPYMEf">bhakti</a> and <a href="/facts/Tapasya/eaLtQyXC">tapasya</a>. </p> <h3>Dedication to Vishnu</h3> <p>Vedavati's father wanted his child to have the preserver god <a href="/facts/Vishnu/yzp3I6Db">Vishnu</a> as her husband. He thus rejected many powerful kings and celestial beings who sought his daughter's hand. Outraged by his rejection, King Sambhu murdered her parents in the middle of a moonless night. </p><p>Vedavati continued to live in the <a href="/facts/Ashram/sXfdTLxe">ashram</a> of her parents, meditating night and day and performing a great <a href="/facts/Tapasya/eaLtQyXC">tapasya</a> to win Vishnu for her husband. </p><p>The <i>Ramayana</i> describes her as wearing the hide of a black antelope, her hair matted in a <i>jata</i>, like a <a href="/facts/Rishi/NldeF2Y3">rishi</a>. She is inexpressibly beautiful, in the bloom of her youth, enhanced by her tapasya. </p> <h3>Immolation</h3> <p><a href="/facts/Ravana/KQQRjFzq">Ravana</a>, the king of <a href="/facts/Lanka/4pfE3bDa">Lanka</a> and the <a href="/facts/Rakshasa/9F1l4y7q">rakshasa</a> race, found Vedavati sitting in meditation as a <i>tapasvini</i> and was captivated by her incredible beauty. He proposed his hand in marriage to her, and was rejected. Ravana, firmly rejected at every turn, grabbed her hair and tried assaulting her.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> The furious Vedavati cursed Ravana that she would be born once more, and would be the cause of his death.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> She subsequently leapt into the ritual <a href="/facts/Homa_(ritual)/rbxbtS7K">havan</a> that was present in her vicinity, immolating herself.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> Vedavati would be born again as <a href="/facts/Sita/V8oYDKKE">Sita</a>, and as proclaimed, she was the triggering cause of Ravana and his relatives's death, though her husband <a href="/facts/Rama/0FUIok3H">Rama</a> would be the agent.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p> <h3>Rebirth</h3> <p>According to the <i><a href="/facts/Brahma_Vaivarta_Purana/Xatn1E50">Brahma Vaivarta Purana</a></i>, Vedavati encountered the goddess <a href="/facts/Parvati/D5watsHf">Parvati</a> during the duration of her penance. Pleased by her devotion, the goddess offered Vedavati a boon of her choice. Vedavati desired <a href="/facts/Narayana/ohCVcJDU">Narayana</a> as her husband in his every incarnation on earth, and sought the devotion of his lotus feet. Cognisant of Vedavati's true identity of <a href="/facts/Lakshmi/G0aDlQpn">Lakshmi</a>, Parvati promised that she would have all that she sought, informing her that Narayana would assume the avatar of <a href="/facts/Rama/0FUIok3H">Rama</a> to cleanse the earth of its evil during the <a href="/facts/Treta_Yuga/spQ1vKWe">Treta Yuga</a>, and that she would be his consort.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> Satisfied, Lakshmi reincarnated herself as a child upon a farm in the kingdom of Mithila, where she was discovered by the King <a href="/facts/Janaka/R0wsnafE">Janaka</a>. Stupified by the sight of the infant whose skin shone like molten gold, Janaka heard an <i>akashvani</i>, a celestial announcement from the heavens that the child would become the bride of Narayana. Overjoyed, Janaka raised her as his own daughter Janaki, better known as <a href="/facts/Sita/V8oYDKKE">Sita</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p> <h3>Maya Sita</h3> <p>Another variant in the <i>Brahma Vaivarta Purana,</i><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> the <i><a href="/facts/Devi-Bhagavata_Purana/r6zRSndL">Devi Bhagavata Purana</a>,</i><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> the <a href="/facts/Tamil_language/7I0lHL0d">Tamil</a> text <i><a href="/facts/Legend_of_Tirumala/gGI1k5Jp">Sri Venkatachala Mahatyam</a></i><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> and the <a href="/facts/Malayalam/YLuvDWd3">Malayalam</a> <i><a href="/facts/Adhyathmaramayanam/m6kJstfV">Adhyatma Ramayana</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a></i> associates Vedavati with <a href="/facts/Maya_Sita/u85LbwT4">Maya Sita</a>, an illusionary duplicate of Sita. When Vedavati enters the fire to immolate herself, the fire-god <a href="/facts/Agni/zA4k3hgF">Agni</a> provides her refuge. When Sita is to be kidnapped by Ravana, Sita seeks shelter in the fire and exchanges places with Maya Sita, who is Vedavati in her previous birth. Ravana abducts Maya Sita, mistaking her to be Sita. After death of Ravana by Sita's husband <a href="/facts/Rama/0FUIok3H">Rama</a>, Sita and Maya Sita switch places in the <a href="/facts/Agnipravesham/WljzUAJU">Agni Pariksha</a>. </p><p>In other stories, which follow the idea of Vedavati as Maya Sita, it is said that during the Agni Pariksha, Maya Sita's existence and identity as Vedavati (essentially an amshavatara of Lakshmi) is revealed by Agni. Having been abused by Ravana and won by Rama, Vedavati asked the king to be her husband. Rama, being of utmost loyalty to Sita, declines, but promises her his hand in another incarnation. This similarly occurs with <a href="/facts/Jambavan/XsUET9g2">Jambavan</a>, whose daughter <a href="/facts/Jambavati/HL70yujE">Jambavati</a> becomes Krishna's wife, and a naga princess named Chandrasena (an incarnation of <a href="/facts/Bhumi_(goddess)/toKwXYcR">Bhudevi</a>) while in Lanka, who was born Krishna's third wife, <a href="/facts/Satyabhama/ysT93tm2">Satyabhama</a>. Vedavati was born to Akasha Raja as <a href="/facts/Padmavathi/VRqqVHUp">Padmavati</a>, when she married <a href="/facts/Lord_Venkateswara/sJ9HnQDB">Venkateswara</a>. </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Vedavathi_River/949uTxQY">Vedavathi River</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Padmavati_(Hinduism)/VRqqVHUp">Padmavati</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Draupadi/oNRz8Avd">Draupadi</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Maya_Sita/u85LbwT4">Maya Sita</a></li></ul> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <ul><li><ul><li><a href="/facts/Wendy_Doniger/uSPshx4G">Doniger, Wendy</a> (1999). "The Shadow Sita and the Phantom Helen". <i>Splitting the Difference: Gender and Myth in Ancient Greece and India</i>. University of Chicago Press. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-226-15641-5.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Vettam_Mani/t3sTWEdD">Mani, Vettam</a> (1975). <a href="https://archive.org/details/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft"><i>Puranic Encyclopaedia: a Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature</i></a>. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-8426-0822-0.</li></ul></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-ramayana-of-valmiki/d/doc424778.html">Story of Vedavati - Ramayana</a></li></ul> <ul><li><a href="https://www.tirumala.org/srk11.aspx">The Srinivasa Kalyanam Story</a>. <i>Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams</i></li> <li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=rViYDwAAQBAJ&dq=Vedavati&pg=PA608"><i>The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume VII: Uttarakāṇḍa</i></a>. Princeton University Press. 2018-09-11. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-691-18292-6.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>www.wisdomlib.org (2017-02-15). "Vedavati, Vedavatī: 5 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 2022-11-25. <a href="https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/vedavati" target="_blank">https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/vedavati</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Dowson, John (2013-11-05). A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History and Literature. Routledge. p. 295. ISBN 978-1-136-39029-6. <a href="978-1-136-39029-6" target="_blank">978-1-136-39029-6</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Muir, J. (2013-08-21). Metrical Translations from Sanskrit Writers. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-38637-4. <a href="978-1-136-38637-4" target="_blank">978-1-136-38637-4</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume VI: Yuddhakāṇḍa. Princeton University Press. 2017-01-24. p. 907. ISBN 978-0-691-17398-6. <a href="978-0-691-17398-6" target="_blank">978-0-691-17398-6</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Gupta, Stuti (2020-11-10). Magical Mythology. Sristhi Publishers & Distributors. ISBN 978-81-947908-6-0. <a href="978-81-947908-6-0" target="_blank">978-81-947908-6-0</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Gupta, Stuti (2020-11-10). Magical Mythology. Sristhi Publishers & Distributors. ISBN 978-81-947908-6-0. <a href="978-81-947908-6-0" target="_blank">978-81-947908-6-0</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Vedavati, The Encyclopaedia for Epics of Ancient India <a href="http://www.mythfolklore.net/india/encyclopedia/vedavati.htm" target="_blank">http://www.mythfolklore.net/india/encyclopedia/vedavati.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Yadava, Babu Ram (1974). A Critical Study of the Sources of Kalidasa. Bhavana Prakashan. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=1foQAAAAMAAJ&q=Vedavati+Parvati" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=1foQAAAAMAAJ&q=Vedavati+Parvati</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Books, Kausiki (2021-07-09). Brahma Vaivartha Purana: 5 Sri Krishna Janana Khanda Part 2: English Translation only without Slokas: English Translation only without Slokas. Kausiki Books. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=sJg3EAAAQBAJ&dq=Vedavati+goddess&pg=PT30" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=sJg3EAAAQBAJ&dq=Vedavati+goddess&pg=PT30</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Doniger (1999) p. 23 <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Mani p. 722 <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Doniger (1999) p. 16 <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Devdutt Pattanaik (2008). "10: Valmiki's inspiration". The Book of Ram. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-81-8475-332-5. <a href="978-81-8475-332-5" target="_blank">978-81-8475-332-5</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>