RamayanaBala Kanda: The book of childhood
Bala Kanda of the Ramayana (the book of childhood): a summary of the story in plain words, book 1 of 7: The childhood and marriage of Rama, and the bow of Shiva.
King Dasharatha of Ayodhya has no son, though he has three queens: Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. After a sacrifice performed with the help of the sage Rishyashringa, four sons are born: Rama to Kausalya, Bharata to Kaikeyi, and the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna to Sumitra. Rama and Lakshmana grow up devoted to each other, as do Bharata and Shatrughna. The sage Vishvamitra asks Dasharatha to send Rama and Lakshmana to guard his sacrifice from demons, and the princes kill the demoness Tataka and drive off Maricha and Subahu. They then travel to Mithila, where King Janaka has announced that his foster-daughter Sita, whom he found in a furrow of the field, will marry the man who can string Shiva's great bow. Rama lifts and breaks it. The four brothers marry the daughters and nieces of Janaka, Sita marrying Rama, and the party returns to Ayodhya, where Parashurama stops them on the road and is humbled by Rama.
This is book 1 of the seven books (kandas) of the Ramayana. See all seven and the characters.
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A retelling in our own words of a story that is told in many different ways across India and Asia. Tellers differ on many episodes; where it matters we say so. It is not a scholarly translation.