The Introduction

Since the aeons of the past, India has been known by many names, some being Aryavarta, Bharat, Hindostan, and many more. Whatever the name was, in times beyond today, storytellers were ever-present in the land of gods and kings. And there was, is, will always remain, this one story, that eclipses similar narratives, believed by many to be the story of gods among us, worshipped, is called Ramayanam. Ramayanam is the story of victory, of good over evil. The story of justice and courage, that has been passed from aeon upon aeon, to generations up-and-coming. But lately, in present-day India, the essence of Ramayanam is lost, unfortunately.

To begin with, I need to contextualise the entire concepts, themes and linear narrative of the entire epic. Ramayanam is divided into 6 major story arcs, with an additional arc included by some scholars. These arcs are: Bala Kanda, Ayodhya Kanda, Aranya Kanda, Kishkindha Kanda, Sundara Kanda, Yuddha Kanda, and the additional arc being Uttara Kanda.

The Story

Now we delve into the story arcs of the grand epic of Ramayanam.

Bala Kanda: The Book of the Young Prince

Ayodhya, blessed by the sun, flourished under the reign of the wise King Dasharatha. However, in the midst of the royal palace, there was deep sorrow. Despite his three noble queens—Kausalya, Kaikeyi, and Sumitra—Dasharatha had no heir.

According to the suggestion of his priests, he conducted the Putrakameshti Yajna, a fire ritual for offspring, under the sage Rishyasringa. Out of the sacrificial fire came a heavenly creature who offered a golden cup of divine nectar. Dasharatha shared it with his queens. In time, Kausalya bore Rama, Kaikeyi gave birth to Bharata, and Sumitra produced the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna. The city broke into jubilation, for the royal succession had been assured by four resplendent princes.

The brothers were trained by the wise Vasishta, learning the Vedas, governance, and combat. Rama, above all, was Ayodhya's jewel—kind, wise, and modest. He and Lakshmana had a special bond; Lakshmana was his shadow, protector, and greatest devotee.

Their peaceful childhood was disrupted by the arrival of the powerful Sage Vishwamitra. His sacred activities were being disturbed by the demons Maricha and Subahu. He insisted that Rama's assistance be sought. Dasharatha, heartbroken, reluctantly agreed to send Rama and insistent Lakshmana under the protection of the sage.

This was Rama's initiation into his future. Under the guidance of Vishwamitra, the brothers were given strong astrological mantras. The first test was posed for them in the Tataka forest, which was a terrible demoness. Under the guidance of the sage, Rama realised the higher dharma and killed her with a single arrow, freeing the land.

Demons attacked at the location of Vishwamitra's yajna. Rama shot a powerful arrow that sent Maricha flying over the earth and killed Subahu, while Lakshmana killed the remaining army. A satisfied Vishwamitra then brought the princes to Mithila.

In Mithila, King Janaka was the custodian of Shiva's powerful bow. He had vowed that anyone who managed to string it would be given his daughter Sita, born of earth herself. Dozens of suitors had not succeeded. On Vishwamitra's orders, Rama stepped forward and picked up the bow. He raised it effortlessly, and when he attempted to string it, the bow broke into two pieces.

Janaka realised he had met his match. Rama and Sita's wedding was a spectacle of unparalleled glory. Bharata wedded Mandavi, Lakshmana wedded Urmila, and Shatrughna wedded Shrutakirti. The four princes brought their brides back to Ayodhya.

Ayodhya Kanda: The Book of Exile

Years passed. An aged Dasharatha decided to crown Rama as his heir. The city erupted in joy. However, in the palace shadows, a poison was brewing. Kaikeyi’s maid, Manthara, twisted by jealousy, poisoned the queen’s mind. She convinced Kaikeyi that her son Bharata would be marginalised.

Kaikeyi went to her room of anger. When Dasharatha arrived to deliver the joyful news, she turned to him coldly and reminded him of two boons owed to her. "My first boon is that Bharata be made king. My second is that Rama be exiled to the woods for fourteen years." The words fell upon Dasharatha like a bolt from the blue. Tied by his solemn promise, the broken king had no choice but to comply.

Rama was informed. Without a flicker of anger, he accepted his exile to uphold his father’s truth. He exchanged his silken robes for bark garments. Sita insisted on accompanying him. “The forest where you dwell will be Ayodhya for me,” she stated. Lakshmana too vowed to follow. The trio left Ayodhya amidst universal mourning. The grief-stricken Dasharatha died soon after, calling for Rama with his last breath.

Bharata, having come back from his uncle's kingdom, was shocked. He scolded his mother and declined the throne. He took the whole court into the forest to beg Rama to return. Rama, bound by his dharma, declined. As a gesture of symbolic solidarity, Bharata accepted Rama's sandals, sat on them as the throne, and promised to govern only as Rama's proxy from Nandigrama village until his return.

Aranya Kanda: The Book of the Forest

Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana ventured far into the Dandaka forest, safeguarding sages from demons. They camped in the peaceful Panchavati on the Godavari River. Their tranquillity was disrupted by the demoness Shurpanakha, Ravana's sister. She was in love with Rama and offered to marry him. Rama refused gently. Fuming, she attacked Sita, and Lakshmana sliced off her nose and ears.

Howling in anguish, Shurpanakha enraged her brothers, Khara and Dushana, to attack. Rama himself destroyed their whole army. Humiliated, Shurpanakha escaped to Lanka and told Ravana about Sita's beauty, arousing his lust.

Ravana came up with a clever scheme. He hired Maricha, who took the form of a golden deer. Sita, mesmerised, requested Rama to catch it. When Rama pursued it, Maricha mimicked Rama's call for help. Sita, frightened, requested Lakshmana to leave. Before he departed, he traced the boundary of a wall of protection—the Lakshmana Rekha—around the cottage.

The moment Lakshmana was out of sight, Ravana turned up as a mendicant. When Sita crossed the boundary to give alms, he showed his real face and carried her off. The chivalrous vulture-king Jatayu engaged in a fierce battle but was fatally hurt.

Rama and Lakshmana came back to an empty hut. They encountered the mortally wounded Jatayu, who informed them of the abduction and directed them towards the south. A heartbroken Rama swore to track down Sita. They searched until they came to the monkey kingdom and its ruler, Sugriva, and his minister, Hanuman.

Kishkindha Kanda: The Book of the Monkey Kingdom

Sugriva was banished by his brother, Vali. An agreement was entered into: Rama would assist Sugriva in killing Vali, and Sugriva would assist in locating Sita. When Sugriva invited Vali to a duel, Rama killed Vali with an arrow from concealment. As he lay dying, Vali condemned Rama as being unjust. Rama defended himself by pointing out that, as a maintainer of dharma, it was his duty to punish Vali for adultery committed against his brother. Vali accepted his fate.

Sugriva was enthroned as king. After indulging for a while, he reminded himself of his vow and sent search parties every way. The southern party, with Angada and Hanuman, encountered the vulture Sampati, who confessed he had witnessed Ravana transporting Sita to Lanka. The sea now separated them from their object.

Sundara Kanda: The Book of Beauty (Hanuman's Leap)

Hanuman, who was the son of the god of wind, was filled with devotion and strength. He stretched his body to an enormous size and jumped over the ocean. He overcame barriers such as the serpent-demoness Surasa and the shadow-eater Simhika, and he arrived in Lanka.

Reduced to a cat's size, he entered the city. In Ashoka Grove, he encountered Sita, guarded by demon troops, her mind unbroken. He saw Ravana's failed attempts to seduce her. Hidden in a tree, he later left her Rama's ring and his message. He volunteered to take her back, but Sita declined and said Rama himself must come to avenge the honour.

To test his worth, Hanuman caused destruction, burning down the grove and slaying guards. He was taken captive by Indrajit, his tail set aflame. He lit Lanka's sections on fire using his burning tail before jumping back across the sea to report the glorious tidings: "I have found her."

Yuddha Kanda: The Book of War

Rama, Sugriva, and the vanara forces marched south. Standing before the ocean, Rama prayed for a passage. The Ocean God proposed the construction of a bridge. The vanaras, led by Nala, threw mountains and rocks into the sea, marking Rama's name upon them so they would float. Within five days, the bridge—Rama Setu—was ready.

The war was devastating. Major battles took place. Lakshmana encountered Atikaya. When Lakshmana was felled by Indrajit, Hanuman soared to the Himalayas and fetched the whole mountain, carrying the Sanjeevani herb to bring him back to life. Ravana's giant brother Kumbhakarna was killed by Rama. Lakshmana killed Indrajit.

The last fight between Rama and Ravana began. It was a fight between gods and demons. On the recommendation of the sage Agastya, Rama chanted the Brahmastra. The arrow pierced Ravana's chest and killed him.

Rama conducted Ravana's funeral rites, befitting his position, and enthroned the righteous Vibhishana as the king of Lanka. When Sita was presented to him, Rama, being conscious of his obligation to his people's sentiments, requested her to validate herself as pure in public. With a broken heart but unyielding, Sita stepped into a pyre. The fire deity Agni came out, untouched Sita in his arms, and attested to her complete purity. Reunited, they hugged each other.

Uttara Kanda: The Later Chapter

Exiled in full, the three reentered Ayodhya in Ravana's Pushpaka Vimana. Bharata, having ruled selflessly with Rama's sandals upon the throne, greeted them with a welcome. The city was ablaze with a million lamps—a celebration that begat the festival of Diwali. Rama was anointed king, and his dynasty, Rama Rajya, was a golden era of justice and prosperity.

However, whispers questioning Sita’s purity reached Rama. To uphold his duty as a king beyond reproach, he made the agonising decision to banish the pregnant Sita. Lakshmana took her to the forest near the hermitage of sage Valmiki, who sheltered her. There, she gave birth to twins, Lava and Kusha, whom Valmiki taught the epic of their father’s life.

Years thereafter, while witnessing a royal sacrifice, Lava and Kusha took away the sacrificial horse. Their bravery led them to Rama's court, where they started reciting the Ramayana. Seeing his sons, Rama summoned Sita and requested one last public testimony.

Tired of the scepticism of the world, Sita summoned her mother, the Earth Goddess Bhumi. The earth cracked open; a throne emerged, and the goddess took Sita home for good. Rama, bereft but wise, brought up his sons as his successors. Having fulfilled his task, he left the world, going back to his home in eternity as Vishnu. The Ramayana remains the eternal path of the soul towards dharma.

The Analysis

Bāla Kāṇḍa (Book of Childhood)

• Structurally, this section establishes dharma (cosmic order) through lineage, ritual, and divine sanction. The emphasis on Rama’s birth through yajña (sacrifice) illustrates the Vedic principle of progeny as a cosmic transaction between gods and humans.
• The narrative also sets up the polarity between tapas (ascetic austerity) and kṣatra (royal power). The killing of Tāṭakā, a female demon, introduces gendered aspects of dharmic violence: the notion that adharmic femininity must be subdued to restore balance.
• Analytically, this Kāṇḍa functions as the text’s mythopoeic foundation, defining Rama not just as a prince but as an avatāra (incarnation) whose destiny bridges mortal and divine orders.

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa (Book of Ayodhyā)

• This section is the epicentre of political dharma. The succession crisis embodies the perennial tension between rājanīti (statecraft) and pitṛbhakti (filial duty).
• The exile of Rama, despite his legitimacy, reveals the fragility of royal authority when personal obligations intersect with public roles. Kaikeyi’s demand is not merely personal jealousy—it dramatises the contractual obligations of a king to honour a boon, even against the state’s interest.
• Philosophically, the Kāṇḍa examines niṣkāma karma (action without desire) long before the Bhagavad Gītā, as Rama accepts exile without resistance, reinforcing the model of detached duty.

Araṇya Kāṇḍa (Book of the Forest)

• The forest operates as a liminal space where dharma is tested beyond institutional structures. Encounters with sages, demons, and ascetics emphasise the forest as both a site of tapas and adharma.
• The abduction of Sītā is the pivotal rupture: the violation of gṛhastha-dharma (householder’s order). This is the point where the text transitions from an internal conflict (succession) to an external conflict (cosmic battle between dharma and adharma).
• Analytically, Araṇya Kāṇḍa is structured as a mythic allegory of temptation and transgression: Surpaṇakhā’s desire is not mere lust but a disruption of dharmic boundaries, making her mutilation both symbolic and polemical.

Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa (Book of Kiṣkindhā)

• A treatise on alliance-building and kingship in exile. Rama’s pact with Sugrīva demonstrates the dynamics of rajadharma: alliances are forged not by sentiment but by mutual necessity.
• The slaying of Vāli raises jurisprudential questions: Rama kills from concealment, which many interpreters argue violates kṣatriya codes of fair combat. Rama justifies it as an enforcement of dharma, since Vāli usurped his brother’s wife. This presents a tension between the absolutism of dharma and the pragmatism of state power.
• Analytically, Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa marks the evolution of Rama from individual exile to leader of a trans-kingdom coalition.

Sundara Kāṇḍa (Book of Beauty)

• The narrative centres on Hanumān, whose crossing to Laṅkā is both literal and symbolic: the leap signifies the power of bhakti (devotional force) transcending physical limitation.
• Philosophically, Sundara Kāṇḍa is the epic’s theological pivot: Rama’s divinity is mirrored through Hanumān’s selfless service. Devotion (bhakti) becomes an epistemological mode—Hanumān “knows” Rama not through argument but through surrender.
• Sītā’s role here is emblematic: she represents the ideal of satī (chaste wife) but also the embodied dharma under siege. Her refusal to succumb to Rāvaṇa articulates resilience as resistance.
• Analytically, Sundara Kāṇḍa exemplifies the transition of the epic into a text of devotion, with Hanumān as the archetype of perfect sevaka (servant).

Yuddha Kāṇḍa (Book of War)

The war is not simply military—it is cosmological. The construction of the Setu (bridge) illustrates the collective agency of dharma: monkeys, bears, and humans collaborate, symbolising the unity of creation against adharma.

• The killing of Rāvaṇa represents the victory of order, but the ethical complexity arises in the killing of his kin (e.g., Indrajit, Kumbhakarṇa). These episodes underline the inevitability of collateral destruction in dharmayuddha (righteous war).
• The coronation of Vibhīṣaṇa marks the legitimation of sovereignty through dharma: loyalty to righteousness supersedes loyalty to kin.
• Analytically, Yuddha Kāṇḍa serves as both an apotheosis of Rama’s avatāric role and a critique of the costs of war, echoing similar tensions in the Mahābhārata.

Uttara Kāṇḍa (Book of the Aftermath)

• This section is often contested as a later addition, but analytically, it is essential: it confronts the tragic cost of maintaining dharma. Rama’s rejection of Sītā despite her purity trial reveals the tyranny of rājadharma over personal sentiment.
• The birth of Lava and Kuśa continues the dynastic cycle but also highlights the disjunction between personal dharma (as husband/father) and social dharma (as king).
• Analytically, Uttara Kāṇḍa destabilises the image of Rama as flawless, showing him as a king trapped in the web of dharma, where justice for the collective demands injustice to the individual.

The Future

Apparently, Hindi filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari (director of Dangal, Chhichhore) is adapting the Valmiki Ramayana into two epic films, Ramayana: Part One and Ramayana: Part Two, respectively. The film(s) stars Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Ravi Dubey as Lakshmana, Sunny Deol as Hanuman, Yash as Ravana, and many more actors from within the country. The films are being produced and distributed by DNEG (Double Negative), a visual effects company based in India, and its CEO, Namit Malhotra. The two films will release on Diwali 2026 and Diwali 2027, respectively, and are being produced on a brain-shattering budget of ₹4000 crores, which is approximately 500 million dollars, making the project India’s most expensive feature-length film production ever. This whole information about the adaptation is important, because this will be the first and possibly the biggest presentation of Ramayanam as film(s) on a global scale (no one remembers Adipurush, definitely). My only concern is that DO NOT MESS THIS UP. I have high hopes for this project, and it could potentially make India a big name in commercial World Cinema. If the makers are trying to please the Indian audience by making it into a political agenda or propaganda film that emphasises more on the aggressive aspect of Ramayanam, instead of the meditative and educative message of its narrative, then I am sorry, but this is not Ramayanam. And when the world comes into this debate, I do not want anyone to project our Ramayana as the story of hatred, instead of justice and dharma.

The End

In the end, I just want to say, Ramayanam is the greatest story of good versus evil, dharma versus adharma, and its mistreatment by the masses is unacceptable. To be kind and practice good deeds is one’s duty, and to stand against injustice is one’s obligation. Preach what Rama did, not Ravana.

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