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It is far from a known event that Seetha was not born to a mother, rather was unearthed when the king Janak was ploughing the earth.

In my understanding the ploughing is associated with farmers and why the king was on to that action?

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Janaka was not ploughing for farming purposes, he was doing the ceremonial ploughing performed in the beginning of a Yagna, as described in this chapter of the Bala Kanda of the Ramayana:

Later, when I was ploughing the ritual field then raised by the plough [from the furrow is a baby girl... since she is] gained while consecrating the ritual-field, she is named as Seetha, and thus she is renowned. Hers is a non-uterine birth as she surfaced from the surface of the earth, but fostered as my own soul-born girl and I determined [to give her in marriage to a bridegroom where his] boldness is the only bounty.

By the way, this is the same way that Venkateshwara's wife Padmavathi was born; the king Akasa Raja was doing the ceremonial ploughing for a Putrakameshthi Yagna when he spotted a baby girl. See the Tirumala Sthala Purana I linked to in my question here.

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  • Is the Putrakameshthi Yagna specifically for getting a girl child? – Naveen Nov 26 '15 at 15:36
  • @Naveen No, it's usually done for getting a male child. – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 26 '15 at 15:37
  • Is there any Yajna that is meant for getting a girl child? Is there any instances in the scripture where a girl child was sought after through yajnas and tapas (other than Sati and Draupadi)? – Naveen Nov 26 '15 at 15:37
  • @Naveen I'm not sure, but I'm guessing there isn't. Getting a son is very important, because it's your Dharma to have male offspring in order to satisfy your debt to the Pitris. Having a girl child isn't necessary in the same way. – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 26 '15 at 15:40
  • So the Yajna that king Draupad performed was common for both girl and boy child? Or was separate Yajnas performed for Dhrishtadyumna and Draupadi? – Naveen Nov 26 '15 at 15:43
  • Also, is the event of king Janaka finding Sita a direct consequence of the Yajna itself or just a coincidence? – Naveen Nov 26 '15 at 15:45
  • @Naveen Drupada wasn't intentionally trying to get both a son and a daughter. He was just "impelled by the desire of obtaining a son who was to slay Drona." http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01170.htm It's just that both a boy and a girl came out of the fire. In any case, Janaka never performed the Putrakameshti Yagna; he was making preparations to perform it when he found Sita. It was presumably predestined, though, that Sita would appear at exactly the time when Janaka was desirous of offspring. – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 26 '15 at 15:48
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Society at the time of Janaka was an agrarian society. Kings led by example. Janaka's name means 'Progenitor' or 'Father'. Sita means 'Furrow'. A plow is used to place the seed in the earth and 'create' the furrow. By plowing the earth, Janaka - the father - was placing the seed into mother Earth. Sita was not born of a human mother, but mother Earth. The story is highly symbolic, although not having a human mother, Sita is still born from the union of a father and mother.

Arisen from the earth and not from a mother's womb, she grew up as my daughter. I made a stipulation that (this shall be the means to win this maiden as a gift) this shall be given in marriage only to the prince whose prowess is fully tried. O Eminent ascetic arisen from the earth and reared as my daughter, she has been sought after in marriage by many princes. Ramayana 1.66.14-15

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    The ploughing of the field was a precursor to a yagna not the literal act of laying crops. –  Sep 04 '15 at 14:45
  • "Sita is still born from the union of a father and mother." - this is not correct. Sita was born out of her tapobal and her wish to be born as Ayonija Kanya. She was born inside a lotus as kanya in her next janam after she took agni samadhi. There is no mention of mother or father. Please see Sarga 17, Uttar Kand, Valmiki Ramayan or my answer here https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/48575/3881 – sbharti Aug 08 '21 at 07:10