Narratives from the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa

On the road to Mithilā, Bhagavān Rāma frees Ahalyā from the stone form given by Gautama's curse, and she praises him.

Ahirāvaṇa, the lost son of Rāvaṇa, takes Rāma and Lakshmaṇa to Pātāla, and Hanumān rescues them and kills him.

After Rāvaṇa falls, Indra prays to Rāma, and Rāma asks for the fallen vānaras and bears to be revived by a rain of amṛta.

Aṅgada goes to Rāvaṇa's sabhā as Rāma's messenger, plants his foot so that no rākshasa can move it, and throws Rāvaṇa's four crowns before Rāma.

Rāma performs the Aśvamedha with a gold image of Sītā at his side; the horse is bound by Lava and Kuśa near Vālmīki's āśrama.

Kākabhuśuṇḍi doubts the child Rāma, is chased through the cosmos, sees all the universes inside Rāma's body, and is given the boon of bhakti.

Daksha becomes chief Prajāpati and holds a yajña without Śiva; Satī goes uninvited, gives up her body in yogāgni, and Vīrabhadra destroys the yajña.

After Rāvaṇa's fall, Daśaratha comes down from Devaloka, and Rāma gives him jñāna-bodha so that he reaches paramapada.

On the battlefield of Laṅkā, Bhagavān Rāma tells Vibhīshaṇa about the Dharmaratha, the chariot of dharma that gives victory.

A wounded dog asks Bhagavān Rāma for justice, and its choice of punishment for the brāhmaṇa who struck it surprises the whole court.

Hanumān lifts the whole Droṇādri mountain for the Sañjīvanī herbs, is brought down by Bharata's arrow over Ayodhyā, and Lakshmaṇa is revived.

Garuḍa doubts Bhagavān Rāma after seeing him bound by the nāgāstra, and is sent from Nārada to Brahmā, Śiva and finally Kākabhuśuṇḍi to hear the Rāmakathā.

Kākabhuśuṇḍi tells Garuḍa how a Kali Yuga śūdra devoted to Śiva became a crow and received the Rāmakathā and many vara from Lomaśa Maharshi.

Jayanta, son of Indra, takes the form of a crow and wounds Sītā's foot; Bhagavān Rāma's Brahmāstra follows him until he surrenders.

Rāvaṇa sends the rākshasa Kālanemi in disguise to stop Hanumān from fetching the Sañjīvanī herb, and Hanumān frees a Gandharva woman and slays him.

Bhagavān Rāma lifts the veil of māyā from his three mothers, who see him as Jagadīśvara and then leave their bodies through yogāgni.

The ferryman Kevaṭa will not take Bhagavān Rāma across the Gaṅgā until he has washed Rāma's feet with his own hands.

Kāla comes to Rāma with Brahmā's message, Lakshmaṇa breaks Rāma's oath to admit Durvāsa, and Lakshmaṇa leaves his body in the Sarayū.

Lava and Kuśa capture Rāma's aśvamedha horse and defeat every hero sent against them, until Vālmīki tells Rāma that the boys are his sons.

At the ṛshis' request Rāma sends Śatrughna to slay the asura Lavaṇa, who holds a trident given by Śiva, and Śatrughna wins at Mathurā.

After Hanumān burns Laṅkā, Maṇḍodarī tells Rāvaṇa that Rāma is Nārāyaṇa and Sītā is Ādi Lakshmī, and begs him to return Sītā. He laughs and leaves.

Maṇḍodarī mourns Rāvaṇa on the battlefield, names his own karma as the cause of his fall, and folds her hands to Rāma, who gave him his divine abode.

Svāyambhuva Manu and Śatarūpā do tapas on the Gomatī for thousands of years and ask Bhagavān Vishṇu to be born as their son. He promises to come in Ayodhyā.

Meghānāda conjures a false Sītā and cuts her down before Hanumān. Rāma faints, Vibhīshaṇa explains the trick, and Hanumān finds Sītā safe in the Aśoka grove.

Meghānāda binds Rāma and Lakshmaṇa with the Nāgāstra. Jāmbavān drives him back, and Garuḍa, sent by Nārada, frees the two brothers.

At Pampā Sarovara, Nārada asks Rāma why he broke up his marriage to Viśvamohinī, and then asks for the marks of a sādhu. The Araṇya Kāṇḍa ends here.

After Ahirāvaṇa falls, Rāvaṇa calls his son Narāntaka from the flying city Vihvābala-pura, and Rāma slays him with Dadhivala's help.

Paraśurāma comes to Mithilā in anger at Śiva's broken bow, Vishṇu's bow flies into Rāma's hands, and Paraśurāma bows to Rāma and returns to the forest.

Satī is reborn as Pārvatī, Nārada foretells her husband, and she performs fierce tapas for Śiva while the Saptarshis test her twice.

King Pratāpabhānu of Kekaya is tricked by a false muni, cursed by brāhmaṇas, and reborn with his kin as Rāvaṇa, Kumbhakarṇa and Vibhīshaṇa.

Bhagavān Rāma returns to Ayodhyā after fourteen years, meets Bharata, introduces his friends to Vasishṭha, and honours the vānaras, Vibhīshaṇa and Guha.

Bhagavān Vishṇu is born as Rāma to Kauśalyā in Ayodhyā on Caitra Navamī, after Daśaratha's putrakāmeshṭi yajña and the pāyasa from Agni.

Bhagavān Rāma goes to Kāśī with his brothers, queens and ministers at Makara Saṃkrānti, stays many days in pūjā and dāna, and returns to Ayodhyā.

Bhagavān Rāma divides his kingdom among the princes, blesses his allies, and leads the people of Sāketa to the Sarayū, where all reach Vaikuṇṭha.

Bhagavān Rāma is crowned in Ayodhyā on Vaiśākha Kṛshṇa Saptamī, and the four Vedas and Bhagavān Śiva sing stotras to him.

When Bhagavān Rāma took the throne of Ayodhyā, the three worlds were free of fear and sorrow, and dharma stood on all four legs.

In Janaka's flower garden at Mithilā, Rāma and Sītā see each other for the first time, and Gaurī Devī promises Sītā that Rāma will be her husband.

Bhagavān Rāma finds the Pañchavaṭī āśrama empty, searches the forest crying for Sītā, and then finds the wounded Jaṭāyu.

How Rāvaṇa, Kumbhakarṇa and Vibhīshaṇa were born in Pulastya's line, won varas, took Laṅkā and troubled the three worlds.

Rāvaṇa begins a yajña for victory; the vānaras storm Laṅkā at dawn and break it before it can be finished.

Bhagavān Rāma leaves Laṅkā on the Pushpaka Vimāna, shows Sītā the sacred places, meets Bharadvāja and Guha, and sends Hanumān ahead.

Rāma tells Bharata the marks of good people (sādhus) and of wicked people (dujanas), and the highest rule of dharma.

On the ocean shore the vānaras meet the eagle Saṃpāti, who tells them where Sītā is, and Jāmbavān wakes Hanumān's strength.

Rāma prays to Samudra for three days, then raises his bow; Samudra appears as a brāhmaṇa and shows how to build the bridge to Laṅkā.

The four Kumāras come to a garden near Ayodhyā to see Bhagavān Rāma, and sing a stotra in praise of him.

Satī doubts that Rāma is Parabrahman, takes the form of Sītā to test him, and Bhagavān Śiva then vows to see her only as a mother.

Nala and Nīla lead the vānaras in building the Setu in five days, and Bhagavān Rāma makes and worships the Rāmeśvara liṅga from sand.

An old brāhmaṇa brings his dead son to Rāma's court, and Rāma slays Śambūka, who was doing tapas, so that the boy lives again.

Śarabhaṅga Maharshi waits to see Bhagavān Rāma, offers all his tapas to him, enters yogic fire, and reaches Vaikuṇṭha.

At Janaka's court in Mithilā, no king can move Śiva's bow; Rāma lifts and breaks it, and Sītā garlands him.

Rāvaṇa sends the spies Śuka and Sāraṇa into Rāma's camp. Vibhīshaṇa spots them, Lakshmaṇa spares them, and Śuka is freed from Agastya's curse.

Sītā swears her purity before the whole assembly, calls on Bhūdevī, and goes down into the earth on a golden throne held up by serpent hoods.

A washerman's words reach Rāma, who sends Sītā to the forest with Lakshmaṇa. Vālmīki takes her in, and Kuśa and Lava are born in his āśrama.

Sītā's shadow form is carried off by Rāvaṇa, Jaṭāyu fights him and is wounded, and Sītā drops her jewels among Sugrīva's vānaras.

Janaka invites Daśaratha to Mithilā, and the four sons of Daśaratha marry four brides. The barāt then returns to Ayodhyā and Viśvāmitra leaves.

Bhagavān Śiva comes to wed Pārvatī with his strange retinue. Mainādevī weeps until Nārada tells her who Pārvatī is, and the marriage is performed.

Sulocanā, wife of Meghānāda, tests his severed arm, visits Rāvaṇa, Maṇḍodarī and Rāma, refuses to have him revived, and enters the fire with his head.

Sutīkshṇa, a disciple of Agastya, dances in ecstasy at the news that Rāma is coming, faints at the vision in his heart, and receives the vara of unbroken bhakti.

Thirsty vānaras find a cave with lotus lakes and the tapasvinī Svayaṃprabhā, who feeds them, sends them to the ocean shore, and then goes to Rāma for his darśana.

On the Pravarashaṇa mountain Bhagavān Rāma tells Lakshmaṇa what the rains and the autumn teach, while his longing for Sītā runs beneath every word.

In Rāvaṇa's war-council Vibhīshaṇa urges him to return Sītā to Bhagavān Rāma; Rāvaṇa kicks him out, and Vibhīshaṇa leaves for Rāma's camp.

After Rāvaṇa's death Lakshmaṇa crowns Vibhīshaṇa king of Laṅkā at Rāma's command, and Hanumān carries the news to Sītā.

Vibhīshaṇa leaves Laṅkā, reaches Bhagavān Rāma's camp, surrenders at his feet and is crowned king of Laṅkā with sea-water before the war.