RAMAYANA

This is the story of Lord Rama, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu. There was once a
king named Dasaratha who had three wives, Kausalya, Sumitra, and Kaikeyi. Regrettably,
he had no sons from any of his wives. Thus he performed a sacrifice by which to obtain a
son, and from the sacrifice came a nectar for his wives to drink. Kausalya, the senior wife,
was given half the nectar, and the other two were given the other half to share. Sumitra
divided her share into two portions. After they drank the nectar, Kausalya gave birth to a
son named Rama, Sumitra had the twins Laksman and Shatrughna, and Kaikeyi gave birth
to Bharata.

Rama later married Sita, the daughter of King Janaka. King Janaka organized a
svayamvara, a competition to see who was qualified to marry his daughter. The winner had
to string Lord Siva's bow and hit a target. Only Rama was able to string the bow, what to
speak of hit the target. As Rama was Lord Vishnu and Sita was Lakshmi, this marriage
was predestined.

King Dasaratha decided to retire as King of Ayodhya and to crown Rama, his eldest son,
king. On the eve of the coronation, Kaikeyi, Dasarath's youngest wife, was convinced by
her maid Mandara that Dasarath was trying to cheat Bharata out of the kingdom.
Accordingly, she asked her husband to crown Bharata and exile to Rama to the forest for
fourteen years. Dasaratha was unwillingly obliged to comply, as he had previously
promised Kaikeyi that he would fulfill any desire as a gift for her having saved his life in
the past.

In this way, Rama, along with his devoted wife, Sita, and his brother Laksman, went to the
forest. Not long after Dasarath expired. When Bharata, who was away at the time, returned
to Ayodhya, he did not wish to rule due to his affection for Rama. He followed Rama to
the forest and begged him to return. Rama refused, however, in order to maintain his
father's promise. Bharata agreed to rule on Rama's behalf, set Rama's sandals on the
throne, and lived a life of asceticism outside the city gates until Rama's return.

While in the forest, Ravana, king of Lanka, kidnapped Sita and brought her to his
kingdom. Rama and Laksman then went out to search for Sita. During this time they met
Sugriva, the monkey king, and Hanuman, his minister. The devoted Hanuman eventually
found Sita in Lanka. Rama and Laksman, along with the monkey army, attacked Lanka.
After much fighting, the ten-headed Ravana was killed and Sita was recovered. Rama then
returned to Ayodhya and assumed the throne.