"...the two princes are introduced to Janaka, they again hear of the bow’s history. It is in this retelling that we are first introduced to Sita. Janaka tells his guest that his daughter’s “bride-price“ is “great strength? He has set the following condition for the winning of his daughter: the successful suitor must string the bow of Shiva. No king has been able to do this, though many have tried. The kings, angry, laid siege to Janaka’s city, Mithila. After a year, Janaka, nearly defeated propitiated the gods and was sent help. The besieging kings led in fear. After relating this story, Janaka says: If Rama can string this bow, sage, I will give to this descendant of Dasaratha my daughter, Sita, who was not born from a womb."