# The Rāmāyana, Volume 1. Bālakāndam and Ayodhyākāndam

By Valmiki.

"The Rāmāyana, Volume 1. Bālakāndam and Ayodhyākāndam" by Valmiki is a Sanskrit epic with its earliest portions composed between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE. This ancient Hindu text follows Prince Rama's fourteen-year exile from his kingdom of Ayodhya, accompanied by his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana. Their forest journey leads to Sita's kidnapping by Ravana, king of Lanka, setting in motion a conflict that will test virtue, loyalty, and duty before Rama's eventual return home. (Summary by Project Gutenberg, written by machine.)

- Language: English
- Translator: Manmatha Nath Dutt
- Subjects: Folklore -- India; Rama (Hindu deity) -- Fiction; Epic poetry, Sanskrit -- Translations into English; Valmiki -- Adaptations

[Read it](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/books/gutenberg/57265/read)
[Plain text](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/api/books/gutenberg/57265/text)

From Project Gutenberg. Public domain in the United States.