Ministers, Lakshmana, and Kausalya attempt to convince Rama to stay, but he insists on leaving. When Rama arrives, he agrees to go into exile. Kaikeyi explains what happened and asks for Rama. The next morning, advisers find Dasaratha and Kaikeyi, Dasaratha in a faint. Dasaratha doesn't want to agree, but feels he must. When Dasaratha comes to Kaikeyi that night, she asks him to grant her two boons that he promised her years ago, and asks that Dasaratha banish Rama to the forest for 14 years and crown Bharatha king instead. She convinces Kaikeyi that Rama will treat her poorly if he's crowned king. Everyone is happy that Rama will be king except for Kooni, Kaikeyi's companion. Rama accepts this, and they begin to prepare for Rama's coronation the following day. After the ceremony, Rama's brothers marry other women from Mithila, and they return to Ayodhya, the capital city of Kosala.ĭasaratha realizes he's getting old and names Rama his successor. Janaka invites Dasaratha to the wedding in Mithila. A handmaid tells Sita, and she's overjoyed to learn that Rama won her hand. Rama not only strings the bow, he breaks it. Viswamithra asks if Rama can attempt to string the bow. When he sees Rama, Janaka laments that Rama can't marry his daughter, Sita: he set the condition that a suitor must be able to lift and string Shiva's bow, a massive bow once owned by the god. She spends the night moving from bed to bed, trying to get comfortable. The woman, Sita, sees Rama as well and is immediately overcome with love for him. When they enter the city, Rama sees a beautiful young woman on a balcony. Viswamithra then takes the boys to Mithila City. Rama assures the sages and saints of their safety as they begin the sacrifice, and he shoots the gathered demons with his bow. Viswamithra tells the boys several more stories before they reach the site of the sacrifice. Rama does, and the gods ask Viswamithra to teach Rama about weapons. Thataka appears and threatens to eat the travelers, but Viswamithra instructs Rama to kill her. As Viswamithra travels with the boys, he tells them the story of a demoness named Thataka. Dasaratha is heartbroken, but agrees, and sends Lakshmana with Rama. One day, the sage Viswamithra comes to Dasaratha and asks that Rama accompany him to protect him during a sacrifice. Kausalya has Rama, Kaikeyi has Bharatha, and Sumithra has the twins Lakshmana and Sathrugna. When the sacrifice is complete, Dasaratha's three wives bear sons. The messenger tells Dasaratha to call a specific sage to conduct a sacrifice. Vishnu agreed to incarnate as a human to defeat Ravana. His mentor remembers a vision in which the gods appealed to Vishnu to help them defeat Ravana, a demon who uses his powers for evil. However, many believe that Valmiki was actually a contemporary of Rama's, and gave Sita shelter when Rama banished her the second time.Dasaratha, king of Kosala, is childless and desperately wants a son to succeed him as king. Scholars believe now that Valmiki and the Ramayana can be dated to between 500 BCE to 100 BCE. Because the Ramayana has been changed and embellished so much over the years, it's impossible to date either Valmiki's life or when he wrote the Ramayana. Valmiki is considered the “first poet” in Sanskrit literature, and probably wrote the original Ramayana. While Narayan translated the Ramayana, he did not write the original. Narayan died in the hospital, after asking his publisher to purchase him a specific notebook in which to start another novel. He stopped giving interviews after a photo shoot to accompany an interview in Time magazine landed him in the hospital for several days. He spent the later years of his life traveling, writing, and dabbling in farming. Narayan began working on his translation of the Ramayana in the mid 1960s to fulfill a promise he made to his uncle years earlier, and he published his condensed translation of the Mahabharata in 1978. He published the book that's now considered his masterpiece, The Financial Expert, in 1951. Rajam died in 1939 of typhoid, which sent Narayan into a period of depression. Two years later, Narayan finally published his first novel, Swami and Friends, which he finished writing before he married. In 1933, Narayan met and married his wife, Rajam, who was 15 years old when they met. While at university and directly after, Narayan wrote book reviews and stories for English newspapers. Narayan's experience of higher education was difficult he failed his university entrance exams the first time, and when he was finally accepted, it took him a year longer than expected to finish his bachelor's degree. His family spoke primarily English, and Narayan read a number of books by British authors as a child. His father was a school headmaster and due to frequent moves, Narayan's grandmother cared for him for parts of his childhood. Narayan was one of six boys and two girls in his family.