Valmiki's Ramayana

Introduction The Childhood Episode The Ayodhya Episode The Forest Episode The Kishkindha Episode The Fascinating Episode The Lanka Episode The Uttara Episode Lava-Kusha Episode Valmiki's Ramayana Home Children Story Home Page

Introduction    The RAMAYANA and the MAHABHARATA are two most important epics of ancient India. The Ramayana is the older of the two and was authored by Maharishi Valmiki at the instance of Saga Narada. The word - Ramayana - means life-story of Rama. The original work was in Sanskrit, though later on, Saint Tulsi Das wrote it in Hindi poetry under the title RAMCHARITMANAS. The epic has been divided into eight episodes. These episodes are as under: 1. The Childhood Episode 2. The Ayodhya Episode 3. The Forest Episode 4. The Kishkindha Episode 5. The Fascinating Episode 6. The Lanka Episode 7. The Uttara Episode 8. Lava-Kusha Episode In South India, Kamban wrote the Ramayana in Tamil while Kirtivasa wrote it in Bengali. As remarked by Saint Narada, the Ramayana came to be a sacred book. People study it with deep devotion and reverence not only in India but in some countries of the Far East too. Because of its highly lesson-giving ideals, the Ramayana has been serving as a light-house for the people of India. Its ideals of true family-relationships, dutifulness, puritiy in thinking, tolerance and virtue are working a wonder even today in the face of polluting western influences which are more concerned with materialism than with noble values.