Kanda 1 of 7
Bala Kanda
Rama's birth, Vishvamitra's request, the bow at Mithila and the wedding.
The book opens with the sage Valmiki asking the wandering sage Narada who is the ideal person alive in the world. Narada answers by telling the story of Rama in brief. Valmiki then sees the whole story in meditation and composes it as a poem.
The tradition says the first verse came to Valmiki in sorrow. He saw a hunter kill one of a pair of birds and spoke words of grief that fell into a verse. That is why the Ramayana is called the first poem.
The story then moves to Ayodhya, the capital of the Ikshvaku kings, where King Dasharatha rules with wise ministers and priests. He has no son. On the advice of his ministers he decides to hold a horse sacrifice, and the sage Rishyasringa is brought to lead the rites.
The gods, troubled by the demon-king Ravana, ask Vishnu to be born as a mortal man. From the sacrifice comes a pudding that Dasharatha shares among his wives. Four sons are born: Rama to Kausalya, Bharata to Kaikeyi, and the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna to Sumitra.
When the boys are young, the sage Vishvamitra asks Dasharatha to send Rama to guard his sacrifice from demons. The king is afraid and refuses at first. The family priest Vasishtha persuades him, and Rama and Lakshmana go with the sage. On the road Rama kills the demoness Tataka, receives divine weapons, and the sacrifice is protected.
Vishvamitra then takes the brothers to Mithila, where King Janaka holds a sacrifice and keeps a great bow. On the way he tells them old stories, among them the descent of the river Ganga and the story of Ahalya, who is freed from a curse when Rama arrives.
At Mithila Janaka explains that his daughter Sita was found in a furrow while he was ploughing, and that he will give her to the man who can string the bow. Rama lifts the bow, strings it and it breaks. Janaka sends word to Ayodhya, and Dasharatha comes for the wedding. Four weddings are held: Rama and Sita, Lakshmana and Urmila, and the daughters of Janaka's brother marry Bharata and Shatrughna.
On the road home the warrior Parashurama, son of Jamadagni, confronts Rama and challenges him with another bow. Rama takes it and answers him, and Parashurama withdraws. The party arrives in Ayodhya and the book ends with the family's return.