Ramayana of Valmiki – English Translation by Hari Prasad Shastri (1952)

Ramayana of Valmiki

Making of Ramayans

“Seeing Shri Rama occupying the throne, the people were happy and satisfied, virtuous and free from sickness, sorrow, famine or danger. None witnessed the death of his son; no woman became a widow and all were devoted to their husbands; there was no danger from tempests; none perished by water; nor was there any cause of fear from fire; fever and plague were unknown; there was no want, and no danger from thieves. Cities and villages were rich and prosperous; all lived happily as in the Satya Yuga.

Shri Rama and Sita observed countless Vedic sacrifices and gave much gold, and hundreds of thousands of cows in charity, thus preparing for themselves a place in the divine regions. Shri Rama added incalculably to the prosperity of the dynasty, and bestowed immense wealth on the brahmins. He employed his subjects in the duties of their respectives castes and ruled for eleven thousand years, after which he returned to his celestial abode, Vaikuntha.

He who reads the story of Rama, which imparts merit and purity, is freed from all sin. He who reads it with faith and devotion is ultimately worshipped together with his sons, grandsons and servants at his death.

A brahmin reading this becomes proficient in the Vedas, and philosophy; a kshatriya becomes a king; a vaishya grows prosperous in trade; a shudra, on reading this will become great in his caste”.

The history of Shri Rama, which confers righteousness, worldly prosperity and delight on the reader, which does not degrade the mind and grants release from sorrow, that story which charms the heart and is as full of lovely gems as is the sea, was rendered by Shri Valmiki, in the form in which Shri Narada had related it to him.

Index of Ramayana

The birth of Rama,
his valour,
his benevolence to all men,
his universal goodwill,
his clemency,
his pleasing looks,
his sweet disposition,
his love of truth,
his humility,
his helpful services to the Sage Vishwamitra,
the instruction given by the Sage Vishwamitra to him and his patient hearing of it;
his breaking of the great bow;
his marriage to Princess Sita;
his controversy with Parasurama;
the preparations for his coronation;
a description of his great qualities;
the opposition offered by Queen Kaikeyi to the coronation;
his departure to the forest;
the lament and death of King Dasaratha,
the grief of the people of Ayodhya;
Rama’s speech with the ferryman;
his farewell to Sumantra;
his crossing of the Ganges;
his visit to the holy Sage Bharadvaja;
his departure for Cittrakuta on the instance of the sage;
his dwelling in the leaf-thatched hut on Mount Cittrakuta;
the grief of the king on Sumantra’s return and the monarch’s departure to heaven;
the arrival of Shri Bharata at Cittrakuta to persuade Rama to return to his kingdom;
his stay at the hermitage;
his interview with Rama;
the funeral rites of his sire;
Rama’s refusal to return;
the receiving of Rama’s sandals by Bharata as a symbol of authority;
Bharata’s installation of the symbol and his ruling of Ayodhya from Nandigrama;
Shri Rama’s visit to the Dandaka forest;
his slaying of the wicked Virodha;
his interview with the Sage Sharabhanga;
his arrival at the hermitage of Sutikshna;
the meeting of Anasuya with Shri Sita and the imparting of teachings to her;
the visit of the Sage Agastya;
his residence at Pancavati;
the meeting with Jatayu;
the appearance of Shurparnakha;
the conversation of Rama and Lakshmana with her;
Shuparnakha’s mutilation;
the slaying of Khara, Dusana and Trishira;
the arrival of Ravana;
the slaying of Marica;
the abduction of Sita;
Rama’s lament on his separation from Sita;
the slaying of Jatayu by Ravana;
the meeting with Kabandha;
the arrival at Lake Pampa;
Rama’s interview with Shabari;
his arrival at the Rishyamukha mountain;
his meeting with Hanuman;
Rama’s seal of friendship with Sugriva;
his promise to destroy Bali;
the combat between Bali and Sugriva;
the slaying of Bali;
the mourning of Tara;
the installation of Sugriva;
Shri Rama’s sojourn on the mountain in the rainy season;
Sugriva’s exceeding of the stated time for his mission,
Rama’s anger against him;
Lakshmana’s delivery of the message to Sugriva;
Sugriva’s visit to Rama;
his propitiation of Rama;
the organising of the monkey army;
the dispatch of the monkeys to find Sita’s abode;
the description of the earth given to them;
the giving of Rama’s ring to Hanuman;
the monkeys entry into the dark cave;
their fasting on the seashore in preparation for death;
their interview with Sampati, the king of the vultures;
his information respecting Lanka;
Hanuman’s leap and his crossing of the sea;
the emergence of the Minaka hill from the ocean;
the slaying of the wicked female demon Singhika who imprisoned her victims by capturing their shadow;
the appearance of Lanka by night;
the entry of Hanuman into Lanka and his lonely reflections;
his seeing of the wicked Ravana and his aerial chariot Pushpaka;
Hanuman’s entry into the inner apartments, where Ravana is drinking surrounded by women;
Hanuman’s search for Sita and his beholding of the princess in the ashoka garden;
Ravana’s entry into the garden and his solicitation of Sita;
her reproaches;
the threatening of Sita by the female asuras;
Trijata’s description of her dream concerning the delivery of Shri Rama’s ring to Sita by Hanuman;
the conversation on this matter;
the gift of the jewel to Hanuman by Sita;
the destruction of the grove by Hanuman;
the flight of the women asuras;
the slaying of Ravana’s guards by Hanuman;
the capture of Hanuman and the burning of Lanka by him;
the re-crossing of the sea;
the eating of the fruits of the Madhu forest;
the words of consolation offered to Shri Rama by Hanuman and the delivery of Shri Sita’s jewel to him;
the arrival of Shri Rama at the seashore and the bridging of the sea by Nala and Nila;
the siege of Lanka;
the arrival of Ravana’s brother Vibishana to take refuge with Shri Rama;
the disclosure by him of the design to destroy Ravana;
the slaying of Kumbhakama and Meghanada;
the destruction of Ravana;
the reunion with Sita;
the crowning of Vibishana, King of Lanka;
the offer of the aerial chariot Pushpaka by Vibishana to Rama;
the return of Shri Rama to Ayodhya;
the reunion with Prince Bharata;
the crowning of Shri Rama as king;
the farewell to the monkey army;
the rejoicings of his subjects at the coronation;

Time of Ramayana

The great sage and his disciple were filled with amazement and reading the stanzas of Ramayana again and again, their delight grew. Repeatedly reciting the couplet, composed by Valmiki, they realised that the holy sage had expressed lbs sorrow in poetic form. Then Shri Valmiki meditated on the Lord within his atman and it occurred to him to relate the story of Rama in similar verse. For the good of the world, the illustrious and holy sage, therefore, began composing the life of Shri Rama in verse; that Rama, worthy of world-wide renown, who is both generous and charming. Shri Valmiki composed the story of the life of Rama and of the slaying of Ravana in beautiful and measured stanzas, a work of infinite merit.

Six Books of Ramayana

Book 1 – Bala-kanda
Book 2 – Ayodhya-kanda
Book 3 – Aranya-kanda
Book 4 – Kishkindha-kanda
Book 5 – Sundara-kanda
Book 6 – Yuddha-kanda

Western culture is only just beginning to look beyond the Roman and Greek civilizations for new inspiration. Even so, it is a little surprising that, although the mighty epics of the Iliad and the Odyssey are widely known and loved, only a few scholars have studied their Hindu counterparts known as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. In fact no good complete modern English translation of the Ramayana exists, and the best of those made in the last half of the 19th century are unobtainable outside the larger libraries.

Unfortunately we know very little about the Rishi Valmiki, whose title ‘Adikavi’ (First poet) and pre-eminence in Sanskrit verse has never been seriously challenged to this day. He was a robber chief in a forest in Northern India and on one occasion waylaid two ascetics for the purpose of plundering them. The travellers, however, spoke to him with kindness, and offered him the spiritual truth in lieu of the gold and silver which they did not possess. Convinced of their sincerity and on their advice, Valmiki changed his mode of life and became a devotee of Shri Ramacandra, the Seventh Incarnation of God (Vishnu) on earth. After a long period of meditation on the form and virtues of Shri Rama, it is said that he was granted a vision of Rama’s life from beginning to end.

He gave expression to this unique experience, in Sanskrit verse, in the 24,000 slokas (48,000 lines) known as the Ramayana. The sloka is a specific metre which the poet himself discovered, as is told in a beautiful passage in the first book.

The poem is divided into six books (Kandas) of unequal length, which may be very briefly summarised as follows:—

Book I. (Bala-Kanda)

King Dasaratha of Ayodhya (Oudh), performs a sacrifice in the hope of obtaining a son. At this time the Gods (Devas) are alarmed at the power acquired by the mighty Titan named Ravena, who, by the practice of black magic had conquered almost all of the known world. King Dasaratha’s prayer is answered and his three wives bear four sons, Rama, Bharata and the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna, who are all partial incarnations of Shri Vishnu. Vishnu, however, manifests himself more fully in Shri Rama than in the other brothers. The boys grow up and Shri Rama wins as his bride, Sita, the daughter of King Janaka of the neighbouring kingdom of Videha.

Book II. (Ayodhya-Kanda)

King Dasaratha intends to proclaim Shri Rama heir-apparent, but the jealousy of his second queen, Kaikeyi, is aroused and she holds the king to a promise made formerly, that he would grant her two boons. The boons she now secures are the banishment of Shri Rama to the forest for fourteen years, and the installation of her own son Bharata as Yuvaraja. According to the law of righteousness (dharma) a vow must be honoured, and Shri Rama calmly accepts the sentence of exile. He travels south to Cittrakuta in the Dandaka Forest with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana. King Dasaratha dies of grief and Bharata implores Shri Rama to return to the throne, but the latter adheres firmly to the vindication of his father’s honour and the fulfilment of his vow.

Book III. (Aranya-Kanda)

After about ten years in the forest with her husband, Princess Sita is kidnapped by the Titan Ravana, and taken by him to his capital, Lanka (the modern Ceylon).

Book IV. (Kishkindhya-Kanda)

Rama and Lakshmana in pursuit of Ravana and to rescue Sita, enlist the aid of King Sugriva, leader of the monkey tribe, whose chief minister Hanuman becomes the foremost devotee and servant of Shri Rama. Help also comes from Vibishana, brother of Ravana, who has openly disapproved of the Titan king’s conduct, and warned him of the retribution he may expect for his unrighteous actions.

Book V. (Sundara-Kanda)

The monkey armies reach the south coast of India, and, bridging the straits, gain entry into Lanka.

Book VI. (Lanka/Yuddha Kanda)

After a series of pitched battles, Lanka is captured and Ravana is slain by Shri Rama. Sita demonstrates her purity and faithfulness to her husband, by successfully undergoing the ordeal by fire. The period of fourteen years’ exile is by now completed, and Shri Rama returns with his consort, his brothers and allies, to the capital Ayodhya, where he begins a long and glorious reign.