Part 1 - Bala Kanda (English translation)

INVOCATION TO LORD GANAPATI This work commences with the author Sundaresa Sastri's obeisance to Lord Ganapati. He praises Vinayaka as the Lord who by his oscillatory trunk wards off all the obstacles and diseases thereby maintaining the fame as the son of Vaidyanatha, (the Lord of remedies); who is with the elephant's form equable to his fortune'. INVOCATION TO GODDESS SARASVATI Then the author appeals to Goddess Sarasvati to confer Her blessings on him by occupying his tongue, empowering him to describe the exquisite qualities of Rama as stated by Valmiki². SALUTATION TO VALMIKI Further, the author refers to the way in which the poem Ramayana emanated from Valmiki's mouth. He says that the story of ing Rama was like nectar, flown from the mouth of Valmiki which has 19

the taken a shape as Ramayana Kavya³. INVOCATION TO ANJANEYA The author then makes a salutation to Anjaneya. He refers to Anjaneya's power in removing the apprehensions of Sugriva and the other monkeys by his great services. He describes Anjaneya as one always thinking of the feet of Rama. His might is compared to the power of Rama's Agneyastram which was capable of removing the oceans of sorrows of Sugriva. AUTHOR'S SUBMISSION TO THE ASSEMBLY The author submits his humble salutation to the readers and requests them to offer their constructive appreciation to his work, likeable to the Kalpaka tree, in bestowing all good things. He stakes that he has abridged the contents of each sarga of the original Ramayana³. AUTHOR'S SALUTATION TO LORD RAMA The author then salutes Rama, and as a justification he quotes the following incident that formed the beginning of the Ramayana. When Valmiki asked who was the best and virtuous incarnate in the world, Narada replied and chose to highlight Rama as an exemplar of all virtues. 20 20

BIRTH OF RAMAYANA Valmiki On the banks of Tamasa when a hunter killed the male Krauncha bird, Valmiki was moved by the grief stricken female bird and the overflow of grief burst out in the form of verses cursing the hunter, which cused the poem Ramayana to emanate in this world, by the grace of Brahma'. The author salutes Rama saying 'Oh Rama! Please inspire me by narrating your story which was already instructed to Valmiki by the grace of Brahma. Valmiki composed the Ramayana employing six sentiments namely Srngara, Soka, Hasya, Vira, Bhayanaka and Raudra. He taught it to 'Lava and Kusa' who were capable of happily and appropriately rendering the story with their musical skill. Rama invited them to offer their musical presentation in the assembly witnessed by his brothers also. The two children Kusa and Lava sang in high pitch of their voice the holy Ramayana in the Assembly saying that the story of Ramayana is to be heard fully without any blemish in the mindio. DASARATHA'S RULE There was a great city named Ayodhya in the Kosala country. The famous king Dasaratha happily ruled the city. During the rule of Dasaratha, the Varnashrama Dharmas were properly maintained. The 21

criminal tendency and anti-social tendency never crept into the speech of the people". The eight ministers by name Dhrsti and others (Jayanta, Vijaya, Siddhartha, Artha sataka, Asoka, Mantrapala, Sumantra and the two Gurus Vasista and Vamadeva) were adorning the kingdom of Dasaratha. The guards were prepared to sacrifice their own life for the sake of their King. Dasaratha appeared like Indra governing his kingdom¹². THE KING'S DESIRE TO PERFORM ASVAMEDHA SACRIFICE After Dasaratha got the assent of his gurus to perform Asvamedha Yagna, he immediately assigned his ministers various tasks in this connection. He also asked his wives to get ready for performing the rituals pertaining to the sacrifice ¹³. Sumantra assured Dasaratha that he would certainly beget children as blessed by sage Rsyasrnga. This information had been conveyed to the minister by Sanat Kumaras the who said sons of Brahma¹. Dasaratha heard of Rsyasrnga from Sumantra that the beautifuldamsels, enticed the sage and brought him to the King Romapada who offered him his daughter Santa in marriage's. Dasaratha went to Romapada's kingdom and met Sage Rsyasrnga and invited him to Ayodhya". Rsyasrnga accepted. Then the King performed the Asvamedha sacrifice with the help of Guru Vasistha¹8. The king performed the Asvamedha sacrifice in a grand manner, 18 22

offering enormous gifts to all the suppliants". Lord Narayanaas incarnation It was only then that the gods went to Narayana and prayed that He should destroy Ravana and others. The Lord decided to split His form into four and be born unto Dasaratha as his sons 20. The Lord assured them that He would assume a mortal form and destroy Ravana who was destined to be killed by a mortal. When the king performed the sacrifice the Fire God emerged and brought "Payasam" (sweet milk) in a golden bowl. The king received it and distributed it to his wives. King Dasaratha divided it among his three wives giving Kausalya one half of the share, Sumitra three-eighths and Kaikeyi one-eighth respectively 21. Simultaneously the Gandharva ladies and Vanara ladies, gave birth to the progenies born out of the grace of Gods²². 22 BIRTH OF FOUR SONS Dasaratha was happy to see the conception of his wives just as a farmer felt happy on seeing the rain clouds. On an auspicious day Kausalya gave birth to Rama the incarnation of Lord Visnu. Kaikeyi gave birth to Bharata. And Sumitra gave birth to Laksmana and Satrugna" 23

Arrival of sage Visvamitra When the princes grew into handsome young men, the king wished for their marriage and consulted his ministers. It was at this moment that Sage Visvamitra came to Dasaratha's palace all of a sudden. In his exuberance at the arrival of such a great sage, the King promised to do whatever the sage wanted him to 24. Now Sage Visvamitra announced the purpose of his visit. He was performing a yagna. Evil demons like Subahu and Marica frequently hindered his penance, so he requested the King to send his son Rama with him to the penance grove, to destroy the demons 25. Dasaratha feared danger from the evil king Ravana and his assistants, the sons of demoness Tataka. Therefore he hastily withdrew his promise and refused to part from his son². Vasistha who witnessed the happenings thought that it was wrong on the part of the king to turn down the request of Sage Visvamitra as he had only Rama's welfare in mind. Hence he intervened and persuaded Dasaratha to send Rama along with the Sage. Vasistha clearly stated that Sage Visvamitra who possessed a thorough knowledge of the Science of Archery would teach such skills to Rama and make him a warrior²7. 24 24

DEPARTURE TO THE FOREST Visvamitra went away with Rama and Laksmana. After walking some distance along the banks of the river Sarayu, Sage Visvamitra thought it fit to impart knowledge of the two vidyas bala and atibala to Rama 28. As they proceeded, they came to the spot of confluence of the Rivers Sarayu and Ganga. This was the holy place where Lord Siva had burnt Manmatha and Manmatha turned Ananga (body less). Thus the country came to be known as Angadesa. They spent the night there²9. Then they crossed River Ganga by boat. They came to the place of the two prosperous cities called Maladam and Karusam. Tataka was causing great havoc to these cities. Visvamitra instructed Rama to destroy the demoness and restore peace to that area 30. Visvamitra had great difficulty in convincing Rama of the need to destroy a woman; The Sage described Tataka's enormous powers which were due to the boons of Brahma and Agastya. Visvamitra cited previous instances where wicked women had been slain and that such acts would not result in any sin³¹. Tataka's death Sage At the bidding of the Rama had no other alternative except to kill Tataka. He had to do so for the welfare of the Gods and the forest³². 25 25

THE SAGE IMPARTING DIVINE MISSILES TO THE PRINCES Pleased with Rama's act of killing Tataka- the mother of Marica, the Devas led by Indra requested Visvamitra to teach Rama the science of archery. Visvamitra then taught Rama, the divyastra boring of Krsasva which has the power to remove the fear³³. After obtaining a thorough knowledge of the missiles from the Sage, Rama became all the more powerful. On seeing the grove of trees Rama enquired Visvamitra, "Whose hermitage is this? Where is your hermitage? Who are your enemies? Where are they? The disciples were eager to know all details about these places³4. Visvamitra replied, "This is the hermitage of Lord Narayana, who incarnated as Vamana, and asked king Mahabali for land measured by his three strides, and obtained the three worlds, which he gave to Indra. This hermitage got the name of Siddasramam because Vamana achieved his purpose in this place. " en "This holy place is my hermitage". Thus he entered the yagasala along with the princes 35. The sacrifice performed for the well-being of the universe lasted for six days. Rama and Laksmana guarded the sacrifice. When Marica, Subahu and other demons tried to destroy the sacrifice, Rama employed Manavastra, and drove away Marica into the oceans. He released Agneyastra to kill Subahu and he used Vayavyastram to drive away all the demons³. After successfully completing the 26

sacrifice, Visvamitra wanted to return to the Himalayas and spend his time peacefully in penance. On the way they came across king Janaka who was performing a sacrifice and had placed the bow of Siva as a challenge to all the archers. When Rama heard about Sivadhanus he wanted to see the bow of the king. They proceeded towards Mithila and reached the banks of the river Sona. Visvamitra then narrated them, the story of the ruler of that country, who was very pure and noble 37. THE STORY OF KUSANABHA d to Kusanabha,the grand son of Brahma, has hundred daughters. The wind God attracted by their beauty, asked them to marry him. They turned down his request and humiliated him. Vayu grew angry and caused them deformity. They rushed to their father weeping and conveyed the matter to him³8. Kusanabha was not at all perturbed. He got all his hundred daughters married to Brahma datta, the King of Kampilya and the son of Sage Suli. Brahma datta by virtue of his penance restored them to their original beautiful forms 39. THE STORY OF THE BIRTH OF VISVAMITRA Kusanabha performed Putrakamesti a sacrifice for begetting a son. As a result he was blessed with noble son called Gadhi. Gadhi had a son and a daughter. The son was Visvamitra. The sister of 27

Visvaamitra was married to Sage Ricika. Later she became a holy river (Kaushiki) flowing down the Himalayas. Visva mitra chose to live on the banks of this river out of affection for his sister. Visvamitra told Rama and Laksmana such interesting episodes and made them comfortable 40. They continued their journey further. After crossing the Sura river they came to the banks of the Ganges. Rama wished to know R more about tiver Ganga. Visvamitra described the origin and flow of R fiver Ganga. The great Himavan had two daughters; one was fiver Ganga and the other was Aparna. He gave River Ganga in marriage to the gods and gave the second daughter Aparna in marriage to Lord Siva. The Gods prayed to Siva to contain his great powers within himself. This meant that Parvati could not get a son from Siva. She became enraged and she cursed the gods to become childless. The valour of Siva that emerged from his body was handed over to the Fire God by Goddess Earth and was placed at Saravanam¹². The Fire God deposited the power of Siva into the River Ganges. Ganges unable to bear it, kept it at the base of the Himalayas. The six Krittika stars assumed the form of women and brought up the child with motherly care. The child Kartikeya grew up to be commander-in-chief of the Devas and destroyed Asuras like Surapadma¹³. 28

HISTORY OF SAGARA Then Visvamitra told the story of Sagara's sons, who were responsible for the flow and expansion of the river Ganges. King Sagara had two wives Kesini and Sumati. Kesini gave birth to a son. This son was Vamsakara from whom the family lines would continue for generations. The other wife Sumati gave birth to many sons. This son of Kesini was called Asamanja and he took sadistic pleasure in throwing the children of the citizens into the river Ganga, When the king heard the complaint of his citizens, he banished him. Asamanja had a son called Amsuman. The King performed the Asvamedha yaga along with Amsuman and the sons of Sumati 44. When the horse was allowed to roam over the entire world, on the way Devendra interfered and carried away the horse. He was invisible and could not be seen. King Sagara immediately ordered all his sons to search for the horse and bring it back. The sons went in search of the horse. When they did not find it anywhere on the earth, they thought that it must have been hidden underneath the earth. They were so strong that they could tear the surface of the earth with their nails. Thus The whole earth was thus dug, and they went deep down to patala and were destroying all the residents of patalas. Brahma told the Gods of the fate of the sons of Sagara. When the sons of Sagara went deep down, they came across the 29

eight huge elephants guarding the eight directions. They then proceeded in the north eastern direction. They reached Kapila's ila hermitage, where Sage Kapla was performing penance. They saw the s horse near the hermitage. The princes thought that Kapila had stolen the horse. They shouted at Kapila, "O, thief, stay there. Don't run away. You are caught. We are going to kill you". Sage Kapila who was absorbed in meditation was disturbed. He opened his eyes and made a Humkara, that burnt to ashes all the princes instantly. Then Amsuman went in search of the princes and at last came to Kapila's hermitage. There he saw the horse and also learnt that his uncles had been burnt by Kapila's anger. He also learnt from Garuda that all the princes could be redeemed of their sin only by the waters of Ganga. He brought back the horse to King Sagara, who completed the sacrifice. Sagara ruled for about 30,000 years and attained svarga 47. When Amsuman and his son Dilipa failed to bring Ganges from heaven, Dilipa's son Bhagiratha performed penance. Brahma was pleased with his penance and told Bhagiratha to win the favour of Lord Siva who would help him to bring Ganges to earth 48. GANGES DESCENDING TO THE EARTH Bhagiratha requested Lord Siva to help him and Lord Siva extended his help. As Ganga flowed down, Lord Siva bore Ganga on his 30

r matted hair and divided it into seven steams. He gave one such stream to Bhagiratha through the Sage Jahnu, and Bhagiratha then took it to patala 49. When the waters of the river Ganga drenched the ashes of the burnt sons of Sagara, they were purified and they attained celestial forms. Then beautiful Vimanas came there. They got into them and went to heaven. Bhagiratha performed tarpana as instructed by Brahma. Brahma further blessed him saying that Ganga would be regarded as Bhagirati -his daughter. Then he returned to his kingdom and ruled over it happily 50. Rama, Laksmana and Sage Visvamitra crossed the river and reached its northern bank. Then Visvamitra narrated to Rama and Laksmana the glory of that country and also how the ocean was churned for obtaining nectar³¹. BIRTH OF WIND GOD Visvamitra described the birth of the Wind Gods. Long ago Ditidevi, the mother of the demons performed penance to get a son who would kill Indra. Indra came to know of this. He went to her hermitage and rendered services to her with the intention of harming her. Diti was unaware of the plans of Indra. One day while she was the sleeping, Indra entered her womb and severed foetus into seven 31

Indra had pieces 52. These seven pieces became seven Wind Gods achieved his purpose. He befriended the Wind Gods. This place was later ruled by Visala, the son of Iksvaku and Alambusa. When Visvamitra and Rama came there, Sumati, a descendant of Ikshvaku,who was the ruler there, received them with all humility. Visvamitra was highly pleased and spent the night there 53. REDEEMING AHALYA'S SIN Rama, Laksmana and Visvamitra went towards Mithila. As they entered the garden there, Rama was curious to know about the place being desolate. Visvamitra told him the story of Ahalya. Sage Gautama had cursed Devendra to become deformed and impotent and he had also pronounced a curse upon Ahalya turning her into a stone. Her sufferings would end when dust from Rama's feet fell on the stone. the Sage Gautama then left for Himalayas to perform penance 54. When Indra suffered from the curse of Sage Gautama, the manes and Devas made him get his organ substituted with that of an animal killed in the sacrifice. Visvamitra requested Rama to bless Ahalya. Ahalya having regained her human form, purified by Rama's steps, sought the Lord's blessings along with her husband sage Gautama. Visva mitra left for Mithila along with his disciples 55. As Visvamitra, Rama and Laksmana 32

entered the city of Mithila, Janaka heard of their arrival. He was performing a sacrifice then. He received the guests with due respect. King Janaka wanted to know who the princes were. Visvamitra told him that they were the princes who had saved his sacrifice putting an end to the wicked Raksasas. He also told the King that they were eager to see the bow of Siva, which Janaka had displayed as a challenge 56. VISVAMITRA BECOMING A "BRAHMA RSI" Satananda, the son of Gautama and Ahalya, was the Guru of Janaka. When he heard that his mother Ahalya's curse had been redeemed and that she had gone with Sage Gautama to the Himalayas to perform penance he was greatly relieved. He was grateful to Sage Visvamitra for bringing Rama to that place. He began to narrate the story of Visvamitra to Rama and Laksmana. Once Visvamitra had been a great king. During his tenure as a king, he went out one day with his army. He wandered through many forests and at last reached the hermitage of Vasista. He entered the lovely hermitage, to offer his respects to Sage Vasista 57. The Sage was absorbed in penance. On observing the guests, he received them happily and invited them for dinner. The Sage had at his hermitage a divine cow Nandini, who would grant him whatever he desired. He asked Nandini for food and she 33

provided it accordingly 58. The cow was able to offer the army many delicious dishes. When the King came to know of the special powers of the cow, he became greedy and wanted to take away the cow for his own use. He requested the Sage to give him the cow. But the Sage refused. The King tried to entice the sage with gifts and riches. But h Vasista refused to oblige. The king's attempts failed. Then the King ordered his servants to take away the cow by force. The cow represented this to the Sage and the Sage gave her liberty to Nandini to save herself. Nandini produced hundreds and thousands of soldiers from her body and they attacked the army of the King. The king took h out his bow and arrow and fought the army. Vasista had rendered dead a hundred sons of Visvamitra. The vanquished king entrusted the Kingdom to his sons who were alive and left for the forest to perform penance. He worshipped Siva and acquired many powerful missiles from Him. With his strength greatly enhanced, he once again came to the hermitage of Vasista and attacked him". Vasista took out his h h Brhmadandam. All the astras that Kausika aimed at Vasista were absorbed by the Brhmadandam and were rendered ineffective. Vasista angrily shouted at him, "Stand there; Oh, Kshatriyal". Finding that his h power was inferior to that of the Brahmin sage Vasista, Visvamitra though a Kshatriya king, wanted to attain the status of Brahmin by 34

performing penance 62. He did penance and Brahma declared him Raja Rsi. Still not satisfied with this, Visvamitra continued penance. At this time the king Trisanku who wanted to go to heaven with his physical h form approached Vasista at first, but Vasista had turned down his request. Trisanku went to the sons of Vasista and requested them to perform a yaga by which he could directly ascend to heaven 63. The sons h of Vasista were not prepared to oblige King Trisanku and when the King spoke to them about his idea of resorting to another guru, Vasisha's sons became angry and pronounced a curse by which he became a Candala. Having become a Candala, Trisanku decided to fall at the feet of Visvamitra and get into heaven with his help. Visvamitra, as the name indicates was a friend of all (Visva-universe, mitra-friend). He extended his favours to Trisanku and promised to send him to heaven, by his powers of penance 64. Visvamitra decided to perform a sacrifice. He invited many sages. When the news reached Vasista's sons, they started humiliating Visvamitra. When Visvamitra came to know of this, he cursed all the sons of Vasista to become hunters and to eat only dead bodies. Hence Vasista's sons, the eldest of them being Mahodaya, turned into crude hunters 65. Visvamitra was able to send Trisanku straight upto the heavens in spite of being a Candala. Devendra and the other gods did not wish to allow Trisanku to enter 35

heavens; so they threw him down from heaven. When Visvamitra he looked at Trisanku who was falling down, said, "Stand there". So Trisanku stood stranded in the sky. Visvaa mitra created with the strength of his penance, another Svarga for him exclusively 66. The Gods now grew terribly afraid of Visvamitra and pacified the angry Kausika. They allowed Trisanku to stay in the place where he was now by the stars positioned head down, the stars surrounded on all sides created by Visva mitra. The Gods then went back to their places 67. Leaving the southern direction, he then went over to the west and performed penance steadily. Once again a disturbance arose to his penance. King Ambarisa had lost his cow reserved for his yaga. Hence he had offered thousands of cows to sage Ricika and obtained his son Sunasepa in return 68. Sunasepa was actually the son of Visvamitra's sister. When he fell at the feet of Kausika, the Sage decided to save him. He called his own sons and asked them to take the place of Sunasepa, but they refused. The Sage got angry and cursed them to become demons like the sons of Vasista. Then he called Sunasepa to his side and taught him two mantras by which he would be able to please Indra and Upendra³. This would enable the king to get his boons from the Gods and there would be no need to sacrifice Sunasepa 69. Visvamitra continued to perform penance for a thousand years. Brahma gave him the title of h 36

"Risi" and it was then that Menaka came there and the sage fell in love For with her. He lived with her nearly for ten years. He forgot all about his and penance. He realized the folly of not doing the penance ✓ started e performing penance severly. Through his penance, he obtained the title "Maharisi""70. Once again the Devas sent Ramba. Visvamitra became so angry that he cursed Ramba to become a statue. This curse took away much of his penance. Then Visvamitra made a resolution that he neither would neither fall a victim to kama nor to krodha. He controlled even his breath and was fully absorbed in penance". From the North, he came over to the East and performed penance for a thousand years, without taking any food. When he was about to take some food at the end of that period, Indra came there to test him and begged of him the food. Visvamitra readily gave him the food. He once again started performing penance. Brahma was fully satisfied and declared Visvamitra a Brahma Risi. Still the Sage was not contented. He wanted the great sage Vasista the great sage Vasista to accept Brahma's declaration and acknowledge him a Brahma Rishi. Vasista complied with his demand". King Janaka thus came to know the mighty powers of Visvamitra through this story narrated by Satananda, his preceptor. Janaka greeted the great Visvamitra, Rama and Laksmana. He then said that they would meet again the next day 73. 37 37

Visvamitra, Rama and Laksmana came to the place where all the princes had assembled. Then Janaka told them of how the great bow of b Siva was given By the Devas to Devaratha, one of his ancestors. That bow could not be lifted by any king on earth. Visvamitra asked Janaka to show Rama that bow 74. He also said that Sita was obtained from the earth, when he was ploughing the field. She was not born of any human mother. Janaka had made an announcement that whoever bent the bow would get Sita. No king in the world could lift it. Janaka said that if Rama could bend the bow, he would get Sita married to him 75. Breaking Siva's invincible bow Rama looked at the bow and lifted it. As he bent the bow, it broke. Rama thus won Sita, much to the admiration of all the people assembled there 7. Janaka wanted to give away Sita in marriage to Rama. So he sent his ministers to Ayodhya to inform King Dasaratha all about Rama's valour and of his readiness to give Sita in marriage to Rama". Dasaratha was very happy to know this. He decided to start the next day to Mithila to celebrate the marriage. All the ministers and people were very happy to hear of Rama's marriage 78. Dasaratha brought with him much wealth, gold and other riches. With a huge army he reached Mithila. He was received by King Janaka and was keen about the celebration. He spent a happy day there 79. Janaka's brother 38

Kusa dvaja came there. He had two daughters. It was decided to get these two daughters married to Bharata and Satrugna. Laksmana was to marry Urmila. The priests of Dasaratha and Janaka listed out the entire line of kings, as is the custom of listing out the ancestors just before the marriage⁹0. DASARATHA'S ARRIVAL TO MITHILA ing to Dasaratha performed the rituals like the gift of cows, Nandi etc., the day before the marriage. On the third day after the Nandi the actual marriage was to take place³¹. Dasaratha performed all the poojas under the instructions of Visvamitra and Vasista 82. Bharata's maternal uncle Yudhajit came to Mithila. Dasaratha received him. They entered the marriage hall. The marriage ceremony was performed with great care by sage Vasista 83 MARRIAGE FESTIVITIES Rama married Sita. Laksmana married Urmila. Mandavi was married to Bharata, Srutakirti was married to Satrugna. They performed all the marriage rituals with great reverence. The Gods were so pleased with these marriages, that they poured down a rain of flowers 84. After the marriage, Visvamitra felt that the purpose of his visit was served. Therefore he returned to the Himalayas to continue his 39

penance. Dasaratha along with the new pairs of brides and bridegrooms started towards Ayodhya. He was upset by the various omens that portended evil. He also learnt of the measures of relief from L these dangers, from his guru Vasista and others. The earth was trembling and the gale was blowing. The sky was overcast with darkness. All the people coming along with Dasaratha were terribly afraid at these sudden indications. The frightening Parasurama appeared and approaching Rama with the roaring words, "Oh son of Kausalya"86. Parasurama said that there were two bows created by Visvakarma- one was given to Siva while the other was given to Hari. The bow that was given to Siva had already lost its power by the humkara (loud noise) of Hari and was given to the ancestors of Janaka "You have now broken that bow. I have got the other one from Ricika. If you are able to string it, then face me in fight 87. Rama heard the words of Parasurama and took up the challenge. Rama said, "You went about killing all the Ksatriyas just because you wanted to wreak vengeance upon them for killing your father. But I shall not surrender to you meekly". So saying, Rama took the bow from Parasurama's hands, bent it, stringed it and fixed the arrow within a trice 88. 40

PARASURAMA'S PRIDE VANQUISHED Now that Rama had fixed the arrow in the bow, he needed a target. Since Parasurama happened to be a Brahmin and was the son of his guru Visvamitra's sister, Rama could not kill him. Hence, Parasurama offered all the merits which he had earned till then, as its target and left to Mahendra mountain for performing penance 89. Rama gave the great bow to Varuna and comforted his father Dasaratha. He reached the palace, much to the joy of all the people there⁹0. BHARATA'S DEPARTURE TO KEKAYA Later Bharata's maternal uncle took Bharata and Satrugna to Kekaya country. Now Rama and Lakshmana were in Ayodhya, carrying out the orders of Dasaratha earnestly and thus pleased him. Rama was an ideal husband to Sita, showering much love and affection over her⁹. By reading or listening to the Balakanda of this work, one would surely earn the grace of Rama, and procure all things desired. Rama is sure to dwell in the heart of his devotees and absolve their sins committed unwittingly". Thus ends the Balakanda in the Sundara Ramayana composed by Sundaresa Sastri born to Janaki and Subramanya⁹³ 41