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(demigods) cannot match. The demon grabbed her hair and dragged her along
with him. Vedavati used her mystic power to cut off the part of her hair touched
by Ravana. Then she invoked Agnideva, the demigod of fi re, to appear. She
addressed Ravana, Because you have touched my body, I have become impure. I must
give up this body contaminated by the fi lth of your despicable hand. In the future, I will take
birth again and I will be the cause of your destruction and the extermination of your entire
Raksasa dynasty. Lord Agni engulfed her body in fl ames and she disappeared.
Vedavati appears as the Maya Sita in the pastimes of Lord Rama
During the exile of Sita and Rama in the forests of India, Ravana heard
about the incredible beauty of Sita. He decided to kidnap her and convince her
to become his most cherished wife above Mandodari and the thousands of other
beautiful women that he sequestered in his harem. He had Rama and Lakshman
lured away from protecting Sita by his accomplice Marici who transformed
himself into a bewitching golden deer. Sita saw the golden deer and requested
that Rama catch it for her so she could enjoy having it as a pet. When she was
alone, Ravana attempted to kidnap her. It is not possible for any mortal being
to even touch the sacred body of Lord Rama’s eternal consort. To protect Sita,
Agni appeared and replaced Sita with her look-alike Vedavati, who is called the
“Maya Sita” or false Sita. Unknowingly, Ravana kidnapped Vedavati thinking
she was the real Sita.
The diffi culties encountered by devotees can be a blessing
It may appear to some persons that worshipping Lord Krishna or His
expansions such as Narayana, Vishnu or Rama is a thankless task because one
may not see any material rewards. In fact, the devotee of Lord Vishnu may be
living in a state of poverty as was the case of Vedavati or all sincere yogis and
renounced sadhus (saints). On the other hand, by worshipping the demigods,
one may receive all sorts of material benefi ts. These are temporary and require
repeated birth and death to enjoy. The material blessings of the demigods give
a false sense of immediate gratifi cation. But in the long term, one soon realizes
that they simply distract the living being from concentrating on the goal of life.
Krishna becomes concerned for his devotee that may become distracted from the
path of pure devotion. There is a verse in the Srimad Bhagavatam that explains
how Krishna may help his devotee in such a condition. It is by the mercy of the
Lord that one gets all material opulence, but if such material opulence causes one to become
puffed up and forget the process of self-realization, the Lord certainly takes all the opulence
away. (SB 10.88.8) Material opulence and power may divert one’s attention away
from spiritual life. This is confi rmed in the Bhagavad-gita, “In the minds of those
who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are
bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service to
the Supreme Lord does not take place.” (Bg 2.44) One loses the determination
for spiritual life by the development of false prestige by thinking he is the owner
and master of everything he sees. This was Ravana’s delusional mentality. He
thought he was so powerful that he was invincible. He was convinced he could
kidnap the eternal consort of Rama with impunity.
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