Ramayana Summary
The Ramayana is a long epic poem from ancient India, traditionally said to have been composed by the sage Valmiki. Its title means "Rama's Journey" (or "the story of Rama"). It tells how Rama, a prince of the kingdom of Kosala, is driven from his homeland, and how he wins back his kidnapped wife Sita with the help of the monkey hero Hanuman and his companions. The epic is divided into seven books, and it is still widely loved across India today.
Episode 1 covers the first book, the Bala Kanda ("Book of Youth"). The story opens with the sage Valmiki grieving for a crane shot down by a hunter, and the words he cries out in sorrow become a new form of poetry. Meanwhile King Dasharatha, who has long been unable to have children, performs a sacred ritual and is blessed with four sons, among them Rama.
Later, the sage Vishvamitra asks for Rama's help in defeating the rakshasas (demons) who keep disrupting his sacrificial rites. Rama sets out with his younger brother Lakshmana and slays the demoness Tataka. He then protects the sage's ritual and blasts the demon Maricha far across the ocean. Along the way he frees Ahalya from a curse, and in the city of Mithila he marries Princess Sita. This is the story of the hero Rama's youth.
Story summary
Episode 1The Boy Whose Arrow Was Too Strong — Ramayana: Bala Kanda (The Book of Youth)
In the mangaA poet's grief over a slain bird becomes a song, and that song becomes the story of a prince. In Episode 1, young Rama leaves his father's side to travel with a stern sage, and learns for the first time how great his own power is, and how frightening.
In the original mythThe Ramayana, the great Sanskrit epic credited to the sage Valmiki, opens with a story about how the poem itself came to exist. Valmiki asks the heavenly sage Narada whether any person alive combines perfect virtue with true courage. Narada names Rama, a prince of the Ikshvaku dynasty, and tells his life story in brief.
Episode 2Whoever Draws the Bow Wins the Bride — Sita's Swayamvara (The Bow of Shiva)
In the mangaNo king could even lift the divine bow, yet young Prince Rama bows to his teacher and quietly draws it. A wedding to Sita, daughter of the earth, follows—but on the road home, an axe-bearing sage named Parashurama awaits with a trial of his own.
In the original mythThis episode comes from the first book of Valmiki's Ramayana, the Sanskrit epic, known as the Bala Kanda (the Book of Childhood). Young Prince Rama, eldest son of King Dasharatha of Ayodhya, has been traveling with his brother Lakshmana and their teacher, the sage Vishvamitra. The three arrive at Mithila, capital of the kingdom of Videha, where King Janaka is holding a great sacrificial ritual. Janaka welcomes them…