Rama

Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that after the Pandavas' defeat at dice, Krishna and their allies visited them in Kamyaka forest. Krishna vowed to kill Duryodhana and his allies, but Yudhishthira insisted on keeping his thirteen-year vow. The assembled warriors then pledged to Draupadi that her oppressors would be destroyed when the time came.

Rama and Janardana learn of Yudhishthira's severe austerities and lead the foremost Vrishnis to visit him with their armies. They find the Pandavas lying on the ground, their bodies smeared with dirt, and Draupadi in distress. Yudhishthira offers them homage, tells them of his enemies' deeds, and reveals that Arjuna has gone to Indra for weapons — leaving the Vrishnis relieved but weeping at the sight.

Lomasa begins a tour of the sacred region of Kashmira, pointing out holy lakes, mountains, and hermitages to Yudhishthira. He recounts the story of King Ushinara's sacrifice — a test by Indra and Agni that would determine whether a mortal king could equal the gods.

Bhima asks the ape to reveal his true identity. The ape speaks: he was born from Kesari and Vayu, the wind god — the same wind that gave Bhima his own strength. He is Hanuman, the monkey who served Rama, who leaped across the ocean to find Sita, who burned Lanka and returned. He tells Bhima that he asked Rama for a single boon: to live as long as Rama's deeds were sung on earth. Rama agreed. And so Hanuman is still here.

Bhima asks to see the form Hanuman took when he leapt across the ocean to find Sita. Hanuman obliges — and grows into a mountain-sized being with copper eyes and sharp teeth, covering the plantain grove and darkening the directions, leaving even the mighty Bhima overwhelmed.

Bhima, awestruck by his brother's power, asks why Hanuman did not simply kill Ravana himself and end the war before it began. Hanuman's answer is not about ability — it is about glory, and whose story this was meant to be.

Markandeya tells Yudhishthira that Rama faced incomparable misery — his wife Janaki was abducted by the rakshasa Ravana, who killed the vulture Jatayu with his maya. Yudhishthira asks for the full account: Rama's lineage, Ravana's birth, and the enmity between them. Markandeya agrees to narrate it.

Markandeya begins to answer Yudhishthira's request by tracing the lineage of Rama from the Ikshvaku king Aja through Dasharatha and his four sons. Then he turns to Ravana's birth, describing how the god Prajapati's line passed through Pulastya, and how a father's anger created the sage Vishrava — the father of the rakshasa king.

Markandeya tells Yudhishthira the full story of Rama's exile: Dasharatha's plan to instate his eldest son, Kaikeyi's demand for Bharata's throne and Rama's banishment, Rama's departure, Dasharatha's death from grief, Bharata's refusal of the crown, and the events that led Ravana to set his sights on Sita.

To please Sita, Rama chases a jeweled deer deep into the forest, leaving Lakshmana to guard her. When the dying deer cries out in Rama's voice, Sita's fear turns to fury — and she drives Lakshmana away with words he cannot bear to hear.

Ravana arrives at Maricha's hermitage and demands his help to lure Sita away. Maricha knows Rama's power and refuses — until Ravana's anger forces his hand. He performs his own funeral rites, then follows Ravana to execute the plan that will destroy them both.

Rama returns after killing the magical deer, rebukes Lakshmana for leaving Sita, and rushes to the hermitage. There he finds the fallen vulture and mistakes him for a rakshasa — until Jatayu speaks, identifying himself as Dasharatha's friend and telling how Ravana killed him for Sita's sake. With his last strength, the vulture nods toward the south and dies. Rama performs his last rites, then heads south with Lakshmana into Dandakaranya.

As Ravana carries Sita through the sky, the vulture king Jatayu — an old friend of Dasharatha — sees his daughter-in-law in the rakshasa's arms. He attacks with talons, wings, and beak, drawing blood from the lord of rakshasas. But Ravana draws his sword and slices off the vulture's wings, killing him. As she is carried away, Sita drops ornaments and a garment to leave a trail for Rama.

Rama and Lakshmana encounter Kabandha, a rakshasa like a cloud or a mountain with a single eye on his chest and a giant mouth on a giant belly. He seizes Lakshmana in his arms. Lakshmana despairs, lamenting their misfortunes — Sita abducted, Rama exiled, their father dead — but Rama remains undaunted. He commands Lakshmana to slice off Kabandha's right arm while he severs the left, and they hack at the rakshasa until he falls dead. From his body emerges the gandharva Vishvavasu, freed from Brahma's curse, who tells Rama that Ravana took Sita to Lanka and advises him to seek Sugriva's help at Lake Pampa near Mount Rishyamukha.

Rama, miserable at Sita's abduction, is urged by Lakshmana to seek help rather than lament. He reaches Lake Pampa, meets Hanuman, and forms a pact with Sugriva — Rama will kill Vali in exchange for Sugriva's help to recover Sita. They go to Kishkindha, and after a brutal fight between the brothers, Rama shoots Vali through the heart with a single arrow.

Imprisoned in Lanka and guarded by terrifying rakshasis who threaten to eat her, Sita declares she will starve rather than accept Ravana. After the rakshasis leave, the rakshasi Trijata comforts her with a prophetic dream — Ravana will be destroyed, Rama will come, and Sita will be reunited with her husband.

Rama, despairing, asks the returning monkeys if they have succeeded. Hanuman steps forward and delivers his report: the cave of Maya, the vulture Sampati who revealed Lanka's location, the leap across the ocean, and the moment he found Sita in Ravana's inner quarters — alive, fasting, and waiting.

Rama, living on Malyavan under the clear sky and moon, is overcome by grief for Sita. Believing Sugriva has become ungrateful and forgotten his promise, he instructs Lakshmana to go to Kishkindha — either to bring the monkey king back to serve their purpose, or to kill him like Vali if he remains lazy and ungrateful.

Lakshmana enters Kishkindha in anger, believing Sugriva has forgotten his promise. The monkey king comes out humbly with his wife, welcomes him, and explains that he has already sent monkeys in all directions with a one-month deadline that will expire in five nights — and that the search for Sita is already underway.

When two months have passed, the southern search party is seen enjoying Madhuvana — a sign of success. Hanuman and the monkeys prostrate before Rama, Sugriva, and Lakshmana, and Hanuman delivers his full report: the cave, Sampati, the ocean crossing, and Sita found alive in Lanka with her jewel as proof.

Vibhishana, the righteous brother of Ravana, meets Rama with his advisers after the bridge is built. Sugriva suspects he is a spy, but Rama satisfies himself about Vibhishana's truthfulness through his actions and conduct. He instates Vibhishana as king of the rakshasas and makes him Lakshmana's adviser. Following Vibhishana's instructions, Rama and his army cross the ocean within a month — and the campaign against Lanka begins.

Rama asks Sugriva how to cross the ocean. The monkeys propose leaping or building boats, but Rama rejects both — the army is too vast, and trade should not suffer. He decides to force the ocean god himself to yield a path, threatening to dry up the sea with celestial weapons. The ocean god appears in a dream and offers a solution: Nala, son of Vishvakarma, will build a bridge that the ocean will bear.

Sugriva summons the foremost monkeys from every direction, and they arrive with armies numbering in the crores — Sushena, Gaja, Gavaya, Gavaksha, Gandhamadana, Panasa, Dadhimukha, and Jambavan with his bears. On an auspicious day, Rama marches out with this vast force, armed with trees and rocks, and they camp along the shore of the salty ocean — where the real problem begins.

Rama's army has reached Lanka, and he sends Angada as his messenger to deliver an ultimatum to Ravana. Angada enters the city fearlessly, walks into the midst of Ravana's court, and speaks Rama's words directly: release Sita, or face destruction.

Ravana orders Angada seized. Four rakshasas grab him by his limbs — but Angada leaps onto a palace terrace with them still hanging on, and the force of his jump shatters their hearts. He then clears the entire city of Lanka in a single bound and returns to Rama's camp.

As the rakshasas drive the monkeys back from the walls, Rama and Lakshmana enter the fight. Rama rains down a net of arrows like storm clouds, killing the rakshasas, while Lakshmana picks off those stationed on the fortifications with iron arrows. With Lanka breached and victory in sight, Rama orders the army to withdraw.

With Angada's report delivered, Rama orders the walls of Lanka breached. Lakshmana, Vibhishana, and Sugriva demolish the southern gate, and the monkey army pours in — destroying turrets, catapults, and war implements, hurling them into the heart of the city. But the rakshasas rally under Ravana's orders and counterattack from the walls.

Enraged by the slaughter of his invisible ambushers, Ravana leads his full army against the monkeys, arranging them in the fearsome ushanas battle formation. Rama counters with a formation recommended by Brihaspati, and the two armies collide in a battle that shakes the three worlds.

The rakshasa Dhumraksha charges at the monkey army after seeing Prahasta killed, and the bulls among the monkeys lose heart. Hanuman rallies them, then faces Dhumraksha in a duel of clubs and trees — and kills him, along with his horses, chariot, and charioteer. The shattered remnants of the rakshasa forces flee to Lanka and report to Ravana, who decides it is time to awaken Kumbhakarna.

Ravana hears that Prahasta and Dhumraksha have been killed by the monkeys, sighs deeply, and arises from his seat. He declares the time has come for Kumbhakarna to act, uses musical instruments to awaken his brother from prolonged sleep, and instructs him to march out and kill Rama. Vajravega and Pramathi accept Ravana's orders, and Kumbhakarna leads them out from the city.

Kumbhakarna has fallen, and the rakshasa army flees in terror. But Dushana's younger brothers, Vajravega and Pramathi, rally the fleeing warriors and turn to face Lakshmana in a furious assault. The battle is brief and terrible — and ends with a mountain peak and a boulder.

Indrajit, the son of Ravana, arrives on the battlefield and challenges Lakshmana to a duel. Lakshmana rushes forward, and a fierce battle erupts. When Angada joins the fight and destroys Indrajit's chariot with a tree, the rakshasa uses his maya (illusion) to become invisible, showering Rama and Lakshmana with arrows until both brothers fall from the sky to the ground.

Ravana learns that Kumbhakarna, Prahasta, and Dhumraksha have been killed in battle. He summons his son Indrajit and commands him to kill Rama, Sugriva, and Lakshmana, reminding him of his past victory over Indra himself. Indrajit agrees, dons his armour, mounts his chariot, and proceeds to the battlefield.

Ravana's son Indrajit binds Rama and Lakshmana with boon-granted arrows, trapping them like birds in a cage. Sugriva and the monkeys stand guard helplessly until Vibhishana arrives with the prajna weapon to revive them, and Kubera sends consecrated water to grant them the power to see invisible beings.

Enraged by the death of his son, Ravana marches out with his rakshasa army and attacks Rama with terrifying maya — creating illusory soldiers and even false forms of Rama and Lakshmana. But when Indra sends his own chariot, driven by Matali, Rama mounts it and invokes the brahmastra, an arrow that envelops the lord of rakshasas in a mass of blazing flames from which nothing remains — not even ash.

Sita has collapsed after Rama's public rejection. As she lies on the ground, the sky fills with gods — Brahma, Indra, Agni, Vayu, Yama, Varuna — and the radiant form of King Dasharatha descends in a swan-drawn chariot. Sita rises and calls upon the elements themselves to witness her truth.

After the gods depart and Sita is vindicated, Rama arranges Lanka's protection, crosses the bridge, and begins the journey home. He installs Angada as heir in Kishkindha, sends Hanuman ahead to Bharata, and arrives at Nandigrama to find his brother still living in bark garments with Rama's sandals before him.

Rama has killed Ravana and rescued Sita. But when she is brought before him, he does not embrace her. He tells her she is free to go — that he cannot accept a woman who has lived in another man's house, comparing her to oblations licked by a dog. Sita collapses as if struck dead.

Yudhishthira sits in the forest, weighed down by exile and loss, when the ancient sage Markandeya finds him. Instead of empty comfort, Markandeya offers a series of comparisons — Rama’s endurance in the wilderness, Indra’s victories won through allies, and the Pandavas’ own recent rescue of Draupadi from Jayadratha — to argue that Yudhishthira has no reason to despair.

Kunti learns through a spy that her abandoned firstborn son wears celestial armour. Adhiratha sends the boy to Varanasahrya to learn weapons, where he studies under Drona, Kripa, and Rama, becomes Duryodhana's friend, and locks into a lifelong rivalry with Arjuna that makes Yudhishthira despair.