The Epics · Itihāsa

The Ramayana

The Way of Rama, Retold in Full

Rāmo vigrahavān dharmaḥ — Rama is dharma given a body

The Ramayana is the older of the two great epics, and the simpler to state and the hardest to live: one man who will not break his word, whatever it costs him or those who love him. Here it is retold in flowing English in full — all seven kandas, broken into sixty-two short chapters across seven movements — so that a first-time reader can move through the whole epic without losing the thread, and feel why a story about obedience became a story about love, loss, and the price of being good.

62 of 62 chapters available

Part One — Origins

Bala Kanda — The Book of Childhood

  1. The Poet and the First Verse A bird shot from a tree, a curse that fell into metre, and why this story exists.
  2. Ayodhya and the Childless King A perfect city, a good king, and the one thing he does not have.
  3. The Sacrifice and the Four Sons A rite, a bowl of divine payasam, and four brothers who are one thing in four bodies.
  4. The Sage's Demand Vishvamitra asks a father for a boy, and the giving costs more than it seems.
  5. Tataka and the Weapons The first killing, reluctantly done, and the arms of the gods placed in young hands.
  6. The Sacrifice Protected Maricha flung to the sea, Subahu burned — and an enemy who will return as a deer.
  7. Ahalya Restored A woman turned to stone by a curse, and what the touch of dharma does to it.
  8. The Bow of Shiva Mithila, Janaka's furrow-born daughter, and a bow no king can lift.
  9. The Weddings and the Axe-Bearer Four brothers married in a day — and a terrible sage who comes to test the breaker of the bow.

Part Two — The Exile

Ayodhya Kanda — The Book of Ayodhya

  1. The Coronation Announced An old king, a beloved heir, and a city that cannot wait for the morning.
  2. The Hunchback's Poison One servant, one whisper, and a happy queen turned overnight.
  3. The Two Boons A debt from a battlefield long ago, called in at the worst possible hour.
  4. The King Broken Dasharatha learns what his own given word will now cost him.
  5. Rama Accepts The heir hears he is to lose everything, and does not argue.
  6. Sita's Argument He forbids her the forest; she answers him, and wins.
  7. The City That Followed Ayodhya empties behind him, and he must escape the love of his own people.
  8. Guha and the River A boatman king, matted hair, and the crossing out of the world he knew.
  9. Chitrakuta A hermitage on a quiet hill, and a brief, unbearable happiness.
  10. The Death of Dasharatha An old curse keeps its word, and a king dies of a son he kept faith with.
  11. Bharata's Refusal The son the throne was stolen for will not take it.
  12. The Sandals A kingdom ruled in the name of a pair of shoes.

Part Three — The Forest and the Loss

Aranya Kanda — The Book of the Forest

  1. Deeper into the Forest Viradha, the sages' fear, and weapons pressed on a man who did not ask for them.
  2. Panchavati A leaf-hut by the Godavari, and the last of the quiet years.
  3. Shurpanakha A demoness in love, a cruel joke, and the small act that ends everything.
  4. Khara's War Fourteen thousand sent for revenge, and one archer who does not move.
  5. The Golden Deer An impossible animal, a wife's wish, and a husband who knows better and goes anyway.
  6. The Line Crossed A cry in Rama's voice, a brother's terrible choice, and a line drawn in the dust.
  7. The Abduction A beggar at the door, and the sky carrying her away.
  8. Jatayu and Kabandha An old bird who fought the sky, and a headless monster who points the way.
  9. Shabari A lifetime of waiting, tasted berries, and the road toward the monkeys.

Part Four — The Alliance

Kishkindha Kanda — The Book of Kishkindha

  1. Hanuman on the Mountain A minister in disguise, and the friend the whole epic was waiting for.
  2. The Pact with Sugriva Two exiled men, a fire between them, and a promise that runs both ways.
  3. The Death of Vali An arrow from hiding, and the hardest question asked of Rama's dharma.
  4. The Long Rains A friend who forgets his promise, and a brother's dangerous anger.
  5. The Search Begins Armies of monkeys sent to the four directions, and a ring given to one.
  6. Sampati and the Sea A wingless bird, a sighting across the water, and a leap no one can make.

Part Five — The Search

Sundara Kanda — The Beautiful Book

  1. The Leap One being remembering his own size, and a hundred leagues of sea.
  2. Into Lanka A city searched by night, and a grief almost given up.
  3. The Ashoka Grove A woman under a tree, surrounded, refusing — and a watcher in the leaves.
  4. The Ring and the Jewel A token dropped from above, a token carried back, and a choice she makes alone.
  5. Lanka Burns Caught on purpose, judged, and a tail set alight that lights a city.
  6. The News A leap back, a single word — *found* — and the war made certain.

Part Six — The War

Yuddha Kanda — The Book of the War

  1. The March to the Sea An army of forest creatures moving south, and an ocean that will not part.
  2. Vibhishana Ravana's own brother crosses over, and the argument about taking him in.
  3. The Bridge The sea threatened into yielding, and a causeway of floating stone.
  4. The Last Embassy Angada in Ravana's hall, one foot planted, and the last chance refused.
  5. The Siege Begins The first day's killing, and an illusion of Rama's severed head.
  6. The Serpent Arrows Indrajit's coils, two brothers bound, and a great wind that breaks them.
  7. The Mountain of Herbs An army dying in the night, and a leap to the Himalaya for a whole mountain.
  8. Kumbhakarna A giant woken from a vast sleep, who tells his brother the truth and fights anyway.
  9. The Fall of Indrajit The unseen archer, a forbidden rite interrupted, and Lakshmana's hardest day.
  10. Ravana Comes Forth The ten-headed king takes the field himself, and the duel the epic was built toward.
  11. The Death of Ravana Heads that grow back, an arrow given by the gods, and the secret in the navel.
  12. The Fire Reunion, a public doubt, and a trial by fire that indicts the watchers.
  13. The Return and the Crown A flying chariot home, fourteen years ended to the day, and the long-promised reign.

Part Seven — The After

Uttara Kanda — The Book of the Aftermath

  1. The Shadow on the Joy A perfect reign, and a washerman's sentence that travels back to the palace.
  2. The Banishment The king keeps a king's word against the husband's heart, and sends her away with child.
  3. Valmiki's Hermitage The poet of the first verse takes her in, and the story folds into itself.
  4. Lava and Kusha Two boys raised in a forest, taught to sing a poem about their own father.
  5. The Horse and the Song A sacrificial horse, a song sung back to the king, and a recognition.
  6. The Earth Opens One last proof demanded, and a mother who asks the ground to take her instead.
  7. The Departure A river walked into, a story returned to its source, and the blessing it leaves.