Ramayana: Boyhood

Rama, the crown prince of the city of Ayódhya, is a model son and warrior. He is sent by his father the king to rescue a sage from persecution by demons, but must first kill a fearsome ogress. That done, he drives out the demons, restores peace and attends a tournament in the neighboring city of Míthila; here he bends the bow that no other warrior can handle, winning the prize and the hand of Sita, the princess of Míthila. He and Sita and his brothers and their wives return in triumph to Ayódhya, and are fêted. The epic proper is prefaced by an elaborate account of the origins of the poem and of poetry itself and a description of its early mode of recitation. This preamble is of great importance to an understanding of traditional Indian thinking on the subject of emotion and literary process.