1. Bala Kand
The Book of Childhood · 77 sargas
Sage Narada tells Valmiki of an ideal man, and Valmiki composes the Ramayan. In Ayodhya, King Dasharatha's four sons are born — Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Sage Vishwamitra takes Rama and Lakshmana away to guard his sacrifice from demons, and that journey ends at Sita's swayamvar in Mithila.
Key Episodes
- Valmiki asks Narada who the most virtuous man on earth is — the Ramayan is the answer
- A hunter kills one of a pair of krauncha birds, and Valmiki's grief becomes the first shloka
- Dasharatha's putrakameshti sacrifice and the birth of the four brothers
- Tadaka is slain and the sacrifice protected, under Vishwamitra's guidance
- The redemption of Ahalya
- Shiva's bow is broken, and Rama and Sita are married
Shlokas
Bala Kand
को न्वस्मिन्साम्प्रतं लोके गुणवान्कश्च वीर्यवान्
ko nv asmin sāmprataṁ loke guṇavān kaśca vīryavān
Valmiki asks Narada: Who in this world today is truly virtuous and valiant — one who knows dharma, is grateful, truthful in speech and firm in his vows? The answer to this question is the Ramayan itself.
Bala Kand
मा निषाद प्रतिष्ठां त्वमगमः शाश्वतीः समाः
mā niṣāda pratiṣṭhāṁ tvam agamaḥ śāśvatīḥ samāḥ
O hunter, may you never find rest through the endless years — for you killed one of a pair of krauncha birds absorbed in love. Grief poured out of Valmiki as metre, and this became the first shloka of poetry.