RamayanaThe Ramayana in seven books
A short summary of the whole Ramayana, with its seven books, from the birth of Rama to the end of his reign, with links to a longer retelling of each book.
The Ramayana, "the journey of Rama", is one of the two great Sanskrit epics of India. Tradition says it was composed by the sage Valmiki, the "first poet", in about 24,000 verses in seven books. It tells how Prince Rama of Ayodhya, exiled from his kingdom, loses his wife Sita to the demon king Ravana, wins her back with the help of an army of monkeys and returns to rule.
- Bala Kanda: The childhood and marriage of Rama, and the bow of Shiva.
- Ayodhya Kanda: The exile of Rama, the boons of Kaikeyi and the devotion of Bharata.
- Aranya Kanda: The golden deer, the abduction of Sita and the death of Jatayu.
- Kishkindha Kanda: The friendship with Sugriva and the search for Sita.
- Sundara Kanda: The leap of Hanuman, Sita in the Ashoka garden and the burning of Lanka.
- Yuddha Kanda (Lanka Kanda): The bridge to Lanka, the war and the death of Ravana.
- Uttara Kanda: Sita in the forest, Lava and Kusha and the end of Rama's reign.
The epic is a model of family duty, loyalty and righteous rule, and its images, the golden deer, the leap of Hanuman, the bridge to Lanka and the lamps of the return, belong to everyday Indian culture.
Questions people ask
Who wrote the Ramayana?
Tradition says the sage Valmiki, in Sanskrit. Many other tellings exist, including the Awadhi Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas.
How many books has it?
Seven.
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.