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There are many versions/tellings of the Ram-Ravan legend where Sita is Ravan's daughter. Most of these

versions also include the element of a prophecy or astrological prediction that Sita would cause Ravan's

death which leads to her abandonment. This motif is actually pretty common. It's found in various

subcontinental tellings (including Tibetan, Nepali and Burmese versions) as well as Chinese and many

South-East Asian versions. In some of them it is Vibhishan who warns Ravan about the child's future.

There are many many different accounts of Sita's birth. In some accounts, her birth story is different

from the "born from earth" and "Ravan's daughter" versions.

Some examples I can think of:

Adbhut Ramayan - Ravan takes a jar of milk mixed with the blood of a rishi he killed and tells Mandodari

that it is the strongest form of poison. Later, when he is away on war, she feels that he betrayed her and

decides to commit suicide. She drinks the "poison" and, instead of dying, becomes pregnant. She is

scared of what Ravan would think of her getting pregnant like that. So she buries the child in a field

where she is discovered by King Janaka. This version also mentions that Ravana would die if he ever

became lustful towards his own daughter and that is what eventually happens when he kidnaps Sita

(although he is unaware that he is her father).

The Kashmiri Ramavatarcarita - Sita is born to Mandodari in Ravan's absence. Astrologers predict that

she will be the cause of Ravan's death. The prediction even goes into some detail about Sita's fate post

marriage. Mandodari gets worried, both by the prediction as well as the fact that she became pregnant

in Ravan's absence. What does she do? The only logical thing of course: she ties a stone around the

baby's neck and throws her into a river! The baby is later discovered by King Janaka.

In Dasavataracita (another Kashmiri telling), Sita is born out of a lotus flower when Ravan was

worshipping Lord Shiva. Mandodari adopts her but then Narad appears and predicts that Ravan will fall

in love with that girl some day. Result: Mandodari has the child buried in another land as usual.

Kannada version (Janapada Ramayan) - Ravan & Mandodari are childless and Lord Shiva gives Ravan a

fruit. He instructs him to give it to Mandodari to eat so that she would bear a child. However, due to his

feelings of insecurity, Ravan decides to eat the fruit himself. As a result he becomes pregnant. Nine days

later he gives birth to a daughter through his nose via sneezing (in Kannada, "Sita" means sneezed ). The

astrologers in Ravan's court tell him that the child will be unlucky for him since he disobeyed Lord

Shiva's instructions about the fruit. So he decides to abandon Sita in a field where, as it turns out, King

Janaka finds her and adopts her.

The Malayalam version says that Sita was Ravan's daughter and that she was the reincarnation of

Vedaveti whom Ravan had molested earlier. Mandodari was scared that Vedaveti would fulfill her oath

of vengeance and buries in a field in Mithila.

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The Telugu version has something similar I think.

Some Bengali as well as North-Western versions (such as the Kashmiri Ramayana Manjari) say that King

Janaka wanted a child and the apsara Menaka grants his wish with Sita. She is said to be Janaka's

"spiritual daughter" born of Menaka and found in the earth by the king.

Things get more interesting when you look at the Jain and Buddhist versions of the myth.

In the Jain version by Sanghadasa, astrologers predict that if Ravan gets married to Mandodari then their

first child will cause his doom. Ravan, however, is too deeply in love with Mandodari to cancel the

marriage. The marriage takes place and he later orders the child to placed in a box and buried

somewhere far away. You can guess the rest of the story.

In another Jain version by Gunabhadra, Sita is still Ravan's daughter but the story is slightly different.

Sita is the reincarnation of some ascetic woman whom Ravan offended and who swore revenge. Again,

astrologers predict an ominous future and the child is buried far away. An additional detail in this

version is that Mareech is ordered to bury Sita.

It is interesting to note that the Ravan serial is currently very much in line with these Jain traditions

including the role of Mareech in the story of Sita's birth. There maybe Hindu versions of this story

too (considering the hundreds of variants) but I can't recall or find any at the moment.

The Jain Paumacariyam (along with the Ramopakhanya found in the Mahabharat unless I'm very much

mistaken) says that Sita is Janaka's biological daughter.

The Buddhist versions go into even stranger realms. In the Dasarath Jataka, Ram and Sita are brother

and sister! (yes you read that right). They are both Dasarath's children and they become King and Queen

at the end of the story.

(It is often claimed that above Buddhist telling predates the Valmiki version though this is heavily

disputed. The jury is still out on this issue though.)

The above is not the only version where Ram-Sita are siblings. There are some Jain as well as several

Laotian, Javanese and Malay tellings with this motif including one where Sita is the daughter of Dasarath

and Mandodari thus making her Ram's half-sister.

BTW, Sita is not an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi in every version. In some tellings, such as the

Tibetan one, she is an incarnation of Goddess Parvati/Uma. Once again astrologers predict doom and

she is set afloat on a river (instead of getting buried). I have already mentioned the Jain and Malayalam

versions where she is simply a reincarnation of a human ascetic. In some Laotian versions she is the

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reincarnation of Indra's wife (reborn to take revenge on Ravan).

There are countless versions all over the subcontinent and beyond. Hundreds of different tellings of the

myth have been discovered to date. It's a fascinating field of research you know. :)

One thing that is common in almost every telling of the myth is that Sita does eventually become the

direct or indirect cause of Ravan's death. The road to his death begins with her abduction which is the

direct reasoning behind Shri Ram's invasion of Lanka. So, if you think about it that way, this astrological

prediction thing does make sense. In fact, there are some South Indian oral versions (songs) where it is

Sita who kills Ravan instead of Ram! She also takes on the form of Maa Kali in other tellings including the

Adhyatma Ramayan if I remember correctly.