बालकाण्डम्Bālakāṇḍa

The ascetic Vālmīki questioned Nārada, that bull among sages, ever absorbed in austerity and the study of the Vedas, foremost among those skilled in speech.

Who, pray, in this world at the present time is a man of virtue, and who is mighty in valor? Who is versed in righteousness and grateful for kindnesses done, truthful in his speech and steadfast in his vows?

And who is endowed with virtuous conduct, who is a benefactor to all living beings? Who is learned, and who is capable, and who alone is uniquely pleasing to behold?

Who is master of himself, who has conquered his anger, who is radiant with splendor and free from all envy? And of whom, when his wrath is roused, do even the gods stand in fear upon the field of battle?

This I wish to hear, for great indeed is my curiosity. O great sage, you are able to know such a man as this.

Having heard this speech of Vālmīki, Nārada, knower of the three worlds, greatly delighted, bade him "Listen!" and so addressing him spoke these words:

Many indeed, and hard to find, are the virtues that you have named. O sage, having pondered them, I shall declare to you a man endowed with those virtues — let him now be heard of.

One Rāma by name, sprung from the lineage of Ikṣvāku, is renowned among men: a man of disciplined soul, of great valor, radiant, resolute, and master of his senses.

Wise, skilled in statecraft, eloquent, illustrious, a destroyer of his foes; broad of shoulder, mighty of arm, with a neck shaped like a conch, and strong of jaw.

Broad-chested, wielder of a great bow, his collar-bones well covered with flesh, a subduer of his enemies; his arms reaching to his knees, his head shapely, his forehead fair, and noble in his stride.

He was evenly made and symmetrical in every limb, of a smooth and lustrous complexion, majestic in his power, broad of chest and wide of eye, graced with every fortune and marked with every auspicious sign.

He was a knower of righteousness and true to his given word, ever devoted to the welfare of his people; renowned, rich in knowledge, pure, master of his own senses, and serene in mind.

He was the guardian of the world of the living and the upholder of righteousness; one who grasped the true essence of the Vedas and their auxiliary sciences, and stood accomplished in the science of archery.

He knew the inmost meaning of every scripture and treatise, sound of memory and quick of wit; beloved of all the world, virtuous, undaunted in spirit, and discerning in judgment.

He was ever sought out by the virtuous, as the rivers seek the ocean; noble, impartial indeed toward all, and at every moment a joy alike to behold.

And he, endowed with every virtue, was the increaser of Kausalyā's joy, like the ocean in depth of gravity and like the Himālaya in steadfastness.

In valor he was the equal of Viṣṇu, fair to behold as the moon; in wrath he was like the fire of doomsday, yet in forbearance he was the equal of the earth.

In liberality he was the match of Kubera, lord of wealth, and in truthfulness a second Dharma himself. Him, endowed with such excellences, Rāma of unfailing valor—

—his eldest and beloved son, endowed with the most excellent virtues, the lord of the earth Daśaratha, out of love, resolved to invest with the office of heir-apparent.

But when she beheld the preparations for his consecration, then the wife Kaikeyī, the queen to whom a boon had of old been granted, begged of him this boon: both the banishment of Rāma and the consecration of Bharata.

King Daśaratha, held fast by the noose of righteousness because of his word of truth, sent into exile his beloved son Rāma.

That hero went to the forest, keeping true to his vow, at the directive of his father's word and to accomplish what was dear to Kaikeyī.

His loving brother Lakṣmaṇa, endowed with modesty, the increaser of Sumitrā's joy, out of affection followed close behind him as he departed.

Sītā too, the bride, adorned with every auspicious mark, foremost among women, also followed Rāma, as the star Rohiṇī follows the moon.

Followed a long way by the townsfolk and by his father Daśaratha, at Śr̥ṅgaverapura, on the bank of the Gaṅgā, he sent back the charioteer.

They, passing from forest to forest, and crossing rivers of abundant waters, reached Citrakūṭa by the counsel of Bharadvāja.

Having built a delightful dwelling, the three of them, taking their joy in the forest, like gods and gandharvas, dwelt there in happiness.

When Rāma had gone to Citrakūṭa, then King Daśaratha, stricken with grief for his son and lamenting for that son, went to heaven.

But when he had died, Bharata, though urged to the kingship by the brahmins headed by Vasiṣṭha, mighty though he was, did not desire the kingdom; that hero went to the forest, seeking to propitiate Rāma's feet.

Having given over, again and again, the pair of sandals as a sacred trust for his — Rāma's — kingdom, and being Bharata's elder brother, he then sent Bharata back.

He, without ever having gained the royal power that had been his to claim, reverently tending Rāma's sandals, administered the kingdom from Nandigrāma, all in longing for Rāma's return.

Rāma, for his part, having once more marked the ceaseless coming to that place of the townsfolk and the common people, with mind set wholly on one purpose indeed entered the Daṇḍaka forest.

Having slain the demon Virādha, he then beheld Śarabhaṅga, and Sutīkṣṇa too, and Agastya, and likewise Agastya's brother.

And it was at Agastya's very behest that, exceedingly delighted, he received Indra's bow, a sword as well, and two quivers whose arrows were inexhaustible.

While Rāma was dwelling in the forest together with its forest-dwellers, all the sages came to him seeking the slaying of the asuras and rākṣasas.

By him, as he dwelt in that very place, the rākṣasa-woman Śūrpaṇakhā — a dweller in Janasthāna, able to take any shape she willed — was disfigured.

Then, roused by the words of Śūrpaṇakhā, came all the rākṣasas, incited to war — Khara, and Triśiras as well, and the rākṣasa Dūṣaṇa too.

Rāma struck them down in battle, them and all their attendants besides; of the rākṣasas slain there were fourteen thousand.

Then, having heard of the slaughter of his kinsmen, Rāvaṇa, maddened with wrath, solicited as his ally a rākṣasa named Mārīca.

That Rāvaṇa, dissuaded again and again by Mārīca — "No conflict with one so powerful is advisable for you with him, O Rāvaṇa" —.

But Rāvaṇa, driven on by his doom, paying no heed to those words, then set out together with Mārīca for the sage's hermitage.

By that master of illusion the two sons of the king were lured far away, and then, having slain the vulture Jaṭāyus, he carried off Rāma's wife.

Beholding the vulture struck down and hearing that Maithilī had been carried off, the descendant of Raghu, tormented by grief and his senses distraught, wailed aloud.

Then, overcome by that very same sorrow, having cremated the vulture Jaṭāyus and searching for Sītā through the forest, he came upon a rākṣasa.

A demon named Kabandha, deformed in shape and dreadful to look upon — the mighty-armed one slew him and burned him, and he passed on to heaven.

And he told him: "Go to Śabarī, righteous in her conduct, an ascetic woman adept in dharma, O Rāghava," so he spoke. And he of great splendour, that slayer of foes, went to Śabarī.

Rāma, the son of Daśaratha, was duly honoured by Śabarī, and on the bank of Lake Pampā he was indeed united with Hanumat, the monkey.

And it was precisely at Hanumān's advice that he came to be allied with Sugrīva; and mighty Rāma, recounting all of it too, told it to Sugrīva.

Then the king of the monkeys, grieving out of friendly trust, reported the whole matter to Rāma concerning the recounting of the feud; and there the monkey told also of the strength of Vālin.

Then the slaying of Vālin was indeed promised by Rāma; yet Sugrīva remained ever doubtful about Rāghava's prowess.

And to furnish proof of his power, Rāghava with the big toe of his foot flung the huge carcass of the demon Dundubhi, its full span ten yojanas across.

And then, moreover, with a single mighty arrow he pierced through seven sāla trees, the mountain, and the nether world of Rasātala as well, thus at that moment giving assurance of his power.

Thereupon, his mind gladdened by that deed and grown confident, that great monkey then went together with Rāma to Kiṣkindhā, the mountain cave.

Then Sugrīva, best of monkeys, golden-tawny of hue, roared aloud, and at that mighty roar the lord of the monkeys came forth.

Then, at Sugrīva's request, having slain Vālin in battle, Rāghava installed Sugrīva himself upon that very throne.

And he, the bull among monkeys, having assembled all the monkeys, dispatched them to the four quarters, eager to find the daughter of Janaka.

Then, on the counsel of the vulture Sampāti, mighty Hanumān leapt across the salt ocean that stretched a hundred yojanas wide.

There, reaching Laṅkā, the city guarded by Rāvaṇa, he beheld Sītā, brooding where she had come to dwell in the Aśoka grove.

Having presented the token of recognition and reported the tidings of Rāma, and having consoled Vaidehī, he laid waste the gateway tower.

Having slain five commanders of the army's van and seven sons of the ministers as well, and crushed valiant Akṣa, he let himself be seized and taken captive.

Realizing that the divine weapon hung poised upon himself, and knowing it by reason of the boon of Brahmā the grandsire, the hero forbore to strike down those rākṣasas, the keepers of the grove, letting them live as chance would have it.

Thereupon, having burned the city of Laṅkā — all but Sītā, the princess of Mithilā — the great monkey came back again to announce the glad news to Rāma.

He, that one of immeasurable spirit, having approached the great-souled one and made reverent circumambulation of Rāma, reported, saying and in accordance with the truth: Sītā has been found.

Then, together with Sugrīva, having gone to the shore of the great ocean, he churned up the sea with arrows that blazed like the sun.

Then the Ocean, lord of rivers, revealed himself; and at the very counsel of the Ocean he had Nala build the bridge.

By that bridge having crossed to the city of Laṅkā and having slain Rāvaṇa in battle, he consecrated Vibhīṣaṇa in Laṅkā as lord of the rākṣasas.

By that mighty deed of the great-souled Rāghava, the three worlds with all their moving and unmoving beings, together with the gods and the hosts of sages, were well pleased.

Thus honored by all the deities, exceedingly delighted, Rāma, his purpose accomplished and freed from the fever of grief, then rejoiced indeed.

Having received boons from the deities and raised up again the fallen monkeys, he mounted that Puṣpaka chariot and then journeyed to Nandigrāma.

At Nandigrāma Rāma, the sinless one, cast off his matted locks and, reunited with his brothers and restored to Sītā, won back once more the kingdom.

The people were thrilled and full of joy, contented, prosperous, and devoted to righteousness; free from disease and sound in health, and untouched by the fear of famine.

No men anywhere would ever behold the death of a son, and the women would remain forever unwidowed, faithful to their husbands.

There was no danger whatsoever from disorders of wind, nor did creatures drown in the waters; and no danger of any kind arose from fire, just as it had been in the Kr̥ta age.

Having offered worship with a hundred horse-sacrifices and with rites rich in abundant gold, and having bestowed myriad crores of cows upon the learned brahmins in accordance with the prescribed rites—

Rāghava will establish royal dynasties a hundredfold, and he will appoint the four varṇas in this world, each to its own dharma.

Rāma, having exercised his reign over the kingdom for ten thousand years and a thousand years more, will go to the world of Brahmā.

This tale is purifying, destroyer of sin, holy, and commensurate with the Vedas. Whoever recites the story of Rāma is freed from all sins.

The man who, reciting this Rāmāyaṇa, this life-prolonging narrative, together with his sons and grandsons and with all his kin, after death is exalted in heaven.

A brahmin who recites it would attain pre-eminence in eloquence; should he be a Kṣatriya, he would attain lordship of the earth; a man of the merchant folk would attain success in his trade; and even a man who is a Śūdra would attain greatness.