Reading notes: Ramayana, Part A

•  Valmiki the poet was by the river when he heard the cries of a heron, and he spilled his emotions in metrical speech, birthing the sloka metre
• the god Brahma came towards Valmiki and told him to celebrate the story of Rama in this metrical speech 
• there were two kingdoms in Hindustan 
• kosala was ruled by dasaratha who was the father of rama
• mithila was ruled by janaka who was the father of sita
• dasaratha ruled a beautiful kingdom but was sad because he did not get a son from any of his three queens, so he resolved to perform a horse sacrifice so the gods would grant him an heir
• kausalya the chief queen slayed the horse, and the queens tended to the horse
• offerings were brought to the gods, and they promised that four sons would be born to dasaratha
• vishnu became the four sons of dasaratha
• rama was the most beautiful of the four sons
• one night rama would not stop crying until he was given a mirror, and everyone believe he had obtained the moon 
• Vishwamitra visited the palace and said that the Rakshasas were destroying their offerings, so he requested that rama came back with him to ward off the demons, with the accompaniment of Lakshmana
• the two princes set out for a haunted forest in which they met taraka, a demon, where they cut off her arms and became invisible. she showered stones on them and then rama shot her with an arrow and killed her
• Rakshasas met them when they arrived at the hermitage, as they were trying to destroy the altar. rama used his celestial weapons, which drove the demons out of the hermitage
• the men made it to the kingdom and met janaka, who showed them to the bow of shiva, which had not been bent by anyone. janaka said anyone who could bend it would have his daughter sita's hand in marriage 
• rama was able to snap the bow in half, so rama and sita were married 
• dasaratha was growing old, so rama was to become their new ruler
• one person was upset about rama being ruler- manthara, who was a slave, and was ugly and misshapen 
• kaikeyi spoke to manthara and wants her son to rule instead of rama 
• manthara told her to go to the chamber and seek out mahajara and tell him that two boons were promised 
• kaiyeji asked maharaja that bharata become ruler and rama be exiled into the jungle for 14 years
• maharaja did not want to fulfill her wishes, but she threatened to die, so he completed them 
• rama agrees to leave, and his mother and sita are in grief. sita begs to go with him to the jungle, so her and rama go with lakshmana
• rama had to wear clothing of bark
• dasaraya passed away from grief
• kaiyeki told bharata of the news and he was incredibly upset. he said she was evil and that she did not want the throne, and he wanted his brother back
• bharata finds rama and asks him to come back, but he will not
• since rama refused to leave the forest, bharata gave him sandals of gold 
• bharata took rama's old sandals and told him that they would be waiting on the throne for him, and if he did not return in 14 years, he would perish 

Dasaratha and Kausalya

Source: Asia society

Valmiki. "Ramayana". Un-Textbook