When the sages churned the body of Nimi, a child had manifested who was named Janaka. Since, he was not born from a motherly body, hence he was also called 'Videha'.

All the descendants of his dynasty were also known as Videha and Janaka. By the grace of the sage Yagyavalkya, all of them achieved enlightenment. In this very dynasty, Sita was born to 'Seeradhwaja' Janaka.

Seeradhwaja Janaka was a great scholar and an enlightened person. During the time of Sita's Swayamvara ( a custom in ancient India in which a bride selects her bridegroom according to her choice), kings and emperors from all parts of the world were invited to the occasion. All of them had arrived there with a desire to have Sita as their bride.

Vishwamitra had brought Shri Rama and Lakshmana to his hermitage with the permission of their father, king Dashrath. The demons did not allow him and other sages to perform religious rites peacefully, so he thought that Shri Rama would protect him and all the other sages from the demons' atrocities.

Vishwamitra too had received invitation from King Janaka to be present during the Swayamvara ceremony of Sita. So, he took both Rama and Lakshmana along with him and proceeded towards Mithila. On the way, Shri Rama liberated Ahilya, who had been turned into a stone because of a curse.

When all of them reached Janakpuri enjoying the magnificent natural beauty throughout their way, they took their bath in the holy Ganges and stayed in a garden to take rest.

When Janaka came to known about Vishwamitra's arrival, he immediately rushed towards the garden to see him, along with his whole family and brought him and Shri Rama and Lakshmana to his palace with great respect. After Vishwamitra took his seat and Shri Rama and Lakshmana sat near his feet, Janaka curious to know about the identities of Shri Rama and Lakshmana asked: "O lord of the sages, please do not hide anything from me, tell me who are these two children? The supreme Lord in whose thoughts my mind is completely engrossed, does the same Lord manifest in these two children? My mind which has renounced everything and is not the least disturbed by desires is behaving strangely today. The effects which the red-legged partridge has on its heart after seeing the Moon, I am experiencing the same after seeing these two children".

Janaka whose mind and heart was engrossed in thoughts of God, was impressed by the sight of Rama and Lakshmana. The thought of the unseen Almighty vanished from his mind and was replaced by the thoughts of Shri Rama. It was but natural because who would like to run after the unseen, if he is fortunate enough to see the 'real'.

Janaka's affection for Shri Rama was boundless. This is evident in the following incident: After marrying Sita, Shri Rama was on his way back to Ayodhya along with the marriage procession. Janaka too came along with them to see them off. Dashrath requested him to return back to his palace. But, not willing to let Rama go out of his sight, Janaka refused many times. After repeated insistence of Dashrath, he got down from the chariot with tears in his eyes. He came towards Shri Rama and said: "O Rama, I do not have words for your praise, you are the 'Swan' swimming in the Mansarovar (compared with the minds of the sages and Lord Mahadeva) for the acquirement of whom, the Yogis (recluse) abandon anger, attachment and arrogance and practice yoga".

When Janaka came to know about Rama's exile for the period of fourteen years, he sent his spies to Ayodhya to get information regarding Bharat's intentions. But he was satisfied when he learnt about Bharat's deep love for Shri Rama. Later on, when he went to Chitrakoot to see Rama, he also found Bharat there. So he could neither say anything to Shri Rama nor he could ask anything from Bharat for he feared that it might hurt the feelings of both.

Janaka had mystical love for Shri Rama which cannot be described in words. He was the supreme follower of Karma Yoga and one of the twelve 'Bhagwatacharyas'.

Pundareeka was born in a Brahmin family. He had mastered the Vedas, was an ascetic and a performer of rigorous penance, had his sensual desires in total control and also had many qualities like forgiveness, compassion etc. He performed 'Sandhya' (a ritual) thrice a day and offered oblations daily during the morning and evening. He served his Guru for a long time with total dedication. He also performed the duties of a householder and served his parents.

Pundareeka performed all his worldly duties and those mentioned in the Vedas, in the expectation that someday he would receive the grace of God. His mind and heart became pure as a result of his religious and pious activities. He became free from all human defects like lust, anger, greed etc. His only desire was the realization of God. One day, he left his home for a pilgrimage with an object of realizing God.

On the way, he sustained himself on fruits, roots and whatever little he could find. One day, he reached a sacred place called Shaalgrama where many sages, hermits and learned men lived.

He took his bath in the sacred pond and finding the atmosphere to his liking, he sat down under the shade of a tree and started meditating upon God.

This became his daily routine. He got extreme satisfaction in meditating upon God. He began to feel the presence of God in his heart.

The supreme and most merciful God, who takes care of all His devotees, sent Narad to Pundareeka to help establish his faith even more firmly.

When Narad reached there, Pundareeka was very much impressed by his divine appearance and bowing before him in reverence enquired about his identity. Pundareeka became very pleased when Narad gave his introduction. Pundareeka requested him to preach him "...so that a mean person like me gets liberated...."

Then Narad told him in detail about the Lord of the whole universe Shri Vishnu, about His divinity, omnipresence and also told him that he will attain liberation only when he takes refuge in Vishnu.

With Narad's preaching, Pundareeka's faith and devotion in Lord Vishnu grew even stronger. Now he started to be engrossed in constant chanting of 'OM NAMONARAYANA' without any break. Pleased by his extreme devotion, Lord Vishnu made His presence felt in Pundareeka's heart.

There are many incidences where the soul of the devotee gets merged with the almighty ultimately, but there is not any instance where the almighty itself has submerged his being in the body of the devotee.

But this happened with the supreme devotee Pundareeka. His body's complexion became dark, two additional hands manifested themselves on his body and in each of his hands, a conch, chakra, a mace and a lotus appeared. The colour of his apparel changed to yellow, that is, he became the manifestation of Lord Vishnu. He became Pundareekaksha from Pundareeka. Even the animals were filled with joy at the sight of Pundareekaksha and their hearts became so pure that they forgot about their mutual enmity and started serving him, offering flowers, fruits, water etc.

Not only the mind and intelligence, but also the whole body of Pundareekaksha had become divine. Even then, the most merciful Lord had to manifest Himself before him to give him an opportunity of getting benefits from His divine sight.

After seeing Lord Vishnu's divine appearance, Pundareeka was overwhelmed, he fell at his feet and started crying.

Lord Vishnu asked him to seek any boon, but Pundareeka's all wishes had been fulfilled by the mere sight of the Lord. But even then, he could not go against the wishes of Lord Vishnu, so he requested him to do anything which was good for his benediction.

Lord Vishnu lifted Pundareeka who was lying at his feet and took him in His embrace and said: "Come along with me, living along with me, help me in my divine activities".

Then Lord Vishnu took Pundareeka along with Him to Vaikunthadhama on the back of Garuda.