Ramayana Summary

Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic which follows Prince Rama's quest to rescue his beloved wife Sita from the clutches of Ravana with the help of an army of forest dwellers or tribes. There are about 24,000 shlokas in Ramayana.

Summary

Dasharatha was the king of Ayodhya and had three wives and four sons, Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughana.

Rama was the ideal and perfect son, and grows up with his brothers. When he comes of age, he was married to Sita, the princess of a nearby kingdom. Bharata's mother Kaikeyi, who resented Rama being the crown prince, she calls upon a debt that Dasharatha owed to her and asks for Rama to be exiled for fourteen years and her son Bharata to be made crown prince instead.

The devastated Dasharatha had no choice and Rama prepares to leave for exile. Sita and Lakshmana followed him into the forest. While in the forest, Surphanaka, a sister of Ravana becomes enamored of Rama and is wounded by Lakshmana while trying to kill Sita.

She flees to her brother Khara and asked him to avenge her. However, Khara and his army are defeated by Rama and Lakshmana, and only one member of their entire army survives. This lone soldier flees to the island kingdom of Lanka and begs Surphanaka's brother, the mighty king Ravana to avenge them.

Ravana has heard of Sita's beauty and he decided to abduct her. Using trickery and magic, he manages to lure Rama and Lakshmana away from Sita and kidnaps her, taking her away to Lanka.

Rama and Lakshmana travel far and wide searching for Sita but to no avail. Finally, they come upon a band of Vanaras who pledge to help him. One of the might warriors of the Vanaras, Hanuman, becomes Rama's staunch devotee. The Vanaras seek out traces of Sita and find she has been taken to Lanka.

Hanuman flies to Lanka and confirms she is imprisoned there. He contacts Sita and informs her of Rama's whereabouts, promising that they will be back to rescue her. Before returning to the mainland, Hanuman sets fire to the whole city of Lanka.

Rama, Lakshmana and the Vanara army build a causeway from the tip of India to Lanka. They travel to Lanka, where an epic battle follows between the two armies. Ravana is finally killed by Rama, and Sita is freed. They return to Ayodhya, where Bharata returns the crown to Rama.

Questions

  1. Ayodhya was being ruled by …………..
  2. ……… took Sita away from Rama.
  3. Greatest devotee of Rama among Vanaras was ………
  4. Crown of Ayodhya was returned to Rama by ………..

Answers

  1. Dasharatha
  2. Ravana
  3. Hanuman
  4. Bharata