Page 34 - History of Tirupathi Balaji and comparison of Sri Vaishnava

tested by fi re to prove her chastity. A great fi re was lit and Maya Sita (Vedavati)
walked into to it voluntarily since she was absolutely sure that she did not forget
her Lord Rama for even a second while living as a prisoner of Ravana. In the
midst of the great fl ames of the fi re, Agni replaced the Maya Sita with the real
Sita. He then walked out of the blazing fi re with Sita and handed Her back to
Lord Rama. This ancient history is explained in the “Kurma Purana”.
Sita blesses Vedavati to marry her Lord in Kali yuga

When Sita and Rama were in private, she described to her Lord how Vedavati
rendered such sincere service and sacrifi ce by being held captive by Ravana in
her place. Therefore, she beseeched the Lord to satisfy Vedavati’s ardent desire
to become His wife. The Lord explained that in His incarnation as Lord Rama
He must establish the principle of “eka patni vratah” or the vow of fi delity to
only one wife. However, in the future in another incarnation, He would accept
Vedavati as his wife. This transpired during the Treta yuga. Vedavati patiently
waited until the end of Treta yuga and the entire Dvapara yuga until Kali yuga
for the Lord to incarnate so that he could accept her as His wife.

Vedavati appears in Kali yuga as Padmavati devi
In the dynasty of the moon, there was a great king of the Chola family named
Sudarma. He had two sons. Aksharaj and Thondaman. The two brothers grew
up and bonded together with brotherly love. When they were of age to take the
responsibility of the kingdom, Sudarma accepted the renounced order of life. He
divided his kingdom in half before he left and gave each of his sons one half to
administrate. The two brothers had such love for each other that they decided
to rule the kingdom together without dividing it. Sudarma went to the forest,
never to return.
Aksaraj was the elder brother. He ruled the citizens like a loving father, yet
he still had one desire he wanted to fulfill. He wanted the blessing of having a
child.
With humility he approached the saintly Brahmanas, and begged them,
“Please perform a yagna (sacrifi ce) for the purpose of having a child.” As part of
the process of yagna the king had to plough several times around the yagnashala
(sacrifi cial pit). When he ploughed the ground, his plough got caught on
something in the ground. It was an effulgent, golden box that opened itself and
reveled an exquisite golden lotus fl ower. On the whorl of the lotus fl ower was
an effulgent little baby girl, smiling and glancing mercifully upon everyone.
Aksaraj picked up the little child and showed her to the Brahmans who were
amazed. They said, Just as Janaka Maharaja found a baby girl who appeared from the
earth. She was the Goddess of Fortune, Sita. In the same way the Goddess of Fortune has
come again. Because she has been found lying on a lotus fl ower, her name will be Padmavati.
This Padmavati was Vedavati the Maya Sita, who had taken birth again in the
world.
Aksaraj brought little Padmavati to his wife, Dharini. They raised her with
great affection. When she came of marriageable age, it created a big problem
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