Complete English Translation of Valmiki Ramayanam

Complete English Translation of Valmiki Ramayana "Ramayana"  means the story of Rama  and according to Hindu beliefs  it was the first epic written in Sanskrit by a great sage called Valmiki ,  who was  a contemporary of Rama.  Valmiki was a hunter who was  transformed in to a sage by  sage Narada. The restless Valmiki wanted to  write an epic  and sage Narada requests   him to write about Rama.  He agrees and Lord Brahma blesses  him saying that he would be by his  intuition able to see   every incident that took place in the life  of Rama.  He was confused as to which metere  he should adopt   for writing this  great book. One day he  sees a  hunter killing the male bird  of a bird  couple and the female bird cries  for its mate .Valmiki is moved and tells   a poem   Maa Nishada Pratistham Tvam agamah sāsvati Samaa Yat Krauncha mithunaad ekam Avadhi Kaamamohitam   Oh hunter, you killed one of the pair of Krouncha birds in love, And so for  years   to come you would never   be alive.   In the Anushtup metere.. And this poem (curse)  born out of intense sorrow  becomes the model   for the entire epic of Ramayana. Naturally  the first  chapter of Ramayana  , is the story of Rama in a nutshell as told by Narada  called  Samkshepa Ramayanam . The entire story of Rama  is   divided  in   to six books  (kanda) and each Kanda  is further divided in to Sargas. 1.Bala Kanda ( Book of Youth) [77 chapters] 2. Ayodhya Kanda (Book of Ayodhya) [119 chapters] 3. Aranya Kanda (Book of Forest ) [75 chapters] 4. Kishkindha Kanda (The Empire of Holy Monkeys) [67 chapters] 5. Sundara Kanda ( Book of Beauty ) [68 chapters] 6. Yuddha Kanda ( Book of War ) [128 chapter) The chapters in these books  have many slokas(verses)  all written in  Anushtup meter. The chapters are of differing length and so too are the  books. There   are 24,000  slokas  in the Ramayana. The shortest book  with about 2000 slokas is the Bala Kanda and the biggest book is Yudha  Kanda  with nearly 6000 slokas . Sage Valmiki is an expert in use  of Simile and metaphor  and almost throughout the narrative  , these are used . Valmiki  also  tells every  incident in great  detail as he loves to describe.  The description of the four seasons in the forest, the great description that  Sugreeva gives his monkeys about  the path that they have to follow in  search of Sita, the  descriptions of  the fauna and flora throughout the path  of Rama  are examples of these. Sage Valmiki prefers to concentrate  on  the story that  he is telling about and rarely relates us  stories within stories.  The  exceptions to this is the story of  Ganges  and birth of  Lord Subramanya    in the Bala Kanda, stories of the lineage of certain   sages like Viswamithra ,  Rama himself , Ravana etc.It is interesting also note that  for valour,Valmiki  most of the times quotes Indra or the Trivikrama  or Narasimha as the model.   He never mentions the great wars which sage Parasurama  another incarnation  of  Vishnu fought. The poet rarely tells in any part of the book about Rama  being  an incarnation of Vishnu or Lakshmana  as an incarnation of Adhisesha  etc  or refer to for one chapter  except in the  BalaKanda and another chapter  in the Yudha Kanda. Both these chapters  do not properly merge with the  narrative  and are contradicted immediately . Valmiki prefers to cut off  reference to a character  which  he thinks as not important. For example ,  not a single word in the entire epic   is spoken by the wives  of Lakshmana,  Bharatha  or Sathurugna and  Sumithra, the mother  of Lakshmana rarely speaks.  Not much is spoken by Kaikeyi after Dasaratha dies and so on. He also uses  different styles of expression for the characters of his narrative. For example   even Rama and Lakshmana do not talk in the same style. The Talk of Sita is  always sharp and impetuous and so on.  Valmiki is supposed to have composed  this epic  in the  Treta Yuga ie 869113 years ago . It is clearly mentioned in the  Ramayana    that the sage taught it to Lava   and Kusha, who were the sons of  Rama who were living with him and these two lads sing it in the assembly  hall in front of Rama.  But modern scholars think that Valmiki Ramayana was  written only in the 3rd or  4th century BC. In the book  itself the author claims  that   it is the first epic ever written. He has also written in Yudha Kanda "Whichever person of this world   reads or listens    to this  first book   which is endowed with Dharma  Would  be blessed with fame  and longevity  and it would fetch victory to the kings and this first book was written by  sage Valmiki. 128.107-128.108 Any person hearing   about the crowning of Rama, if he needs son he will  get son  , if he needs wealth  he will get wealth  , the king would win over  earth  and would become a  master over his enemies. 128..109                                                                                                                                                        Like Kausalya having Rama, Sumithra having Lakshmana  , Kaikeyi  having Bharata , women would become mothers to long living sons and  they would be always happy and live with sons and grandsons.                                                                                                                                         128.110-128.111 Any one hearing    Ramayana   would get very long life   and one who reads  about victory of Rama will never fail in any of his actions.                                                                                                      128.112 He who hears     this epic which    was composed long ago  by sage Valmiki    with attention and with control over anger  would be able to cross over  all difficulties with ease.                            128.113  He who hears   this epic    which was composed long ago   by sage Valmiki    would meet all his relatives after a long journey and would become happy  with their relatives.                                128.114 By the grace of Raghava , all the boons that they pray for would be realized    and all gods   would be pleased     with those who listened to it.                                                                                     128.115 To those living in their home , all  obstacles would be removed   , a king would win over earth   and a man who lives outside his home would  become comfortable.                                              128.116 "Menstruating women  hearing this would get  matchless and excellent sons    and one who worships it and reads it   gets relieved of all sins and would live long.                                                 128.117 The Kshatriyas with bent head should salute and listen to it and the Brahmins should read it every day regularly   and there is no doubt   that the listener  and reader of the entire Ramayana will get immeasurable wealth and birth of a son.                                                                    128.118-128.119  Rama is indeed Lord Vishnu who is eternal .Rama, the chief of Raghu clan   is the primeval God  , the very strong Hari,the lord Narayana and Lakshmana  is Adhisesha  .  Rama  would  always love  you on reading this.                                                                                                                                                   128.120 Please narrate   this great story which occurred long- long ago without any fear.  You would be safe.  Let the power of Lord Vishnu increase.                                                                                                   128.121 By analyzing and listening to this epic all Devas would become happy with you and by listening to Ramayana, your manes would get pleased.                                                                                         128.122 To those persons who write this collection on Rama written by great sages with devotion,residence in heaven is assured.                                                                                                                                128.123 By listening to this auspicious work of literary merit one gets increase in  family prosperity,increase in wealth, grains, superior-women, great happiness    and acquisition of wealth in this earth.                                                                                                                                                                  & nbsp;128.124 This great work should be listened to by good people seeking wisdom,long life,  health,fame, love from brothers,intelligence,welfare and splendor.                                                                  128.125       This great story has been in summary form repeated in almost all the  eighteen Puranas   as well as in Mahabharatha   as well as Bhagwatha,. Only  in Brahmanda Purana it is written in extenso and that version written by   sage Vyasa  is called the Adhyathma Ramayana  or the spiritual Ramayana. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adhyatma_Ramayana. I had the good fortune of translating it from Malayalam to English http://rajathathas.blogspot.in/  Sage Vyasa from the beginning assumes that Rama is an incarnation of  Lord Vishnu and there  are large number of prayers addressed to God Rama  by various characters  in the book as against no prayer addressed to Rama   in Valmiki Ramayana. In this version  Rama who knew Sita   would be  abducted asks to her to live  in fire  for that year and the Sita whom  Ravana abducted was a mere  image . Possibly   at this very time another  book called Adbutha Ramayana (Wonderful Ramayana )  also came out. People believe that  it was written by Valmiki himself . It is much smaller    and has only 27  chapters. It is supposed to be narrated by Valmiki to  sage Bharadwaja. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adbhuta_Ramayana) Another version of Ramayana called Ananda Ramayana is also credited  to be written by sage Valmiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda_Ramayana Unlike the usual names  of books it has  a different names  to the books  of the narrative. Here also Rama is considered as God and there are several  prayers addressed to him.      I do not know when the translation of this very great epic was started.  In almost all the Indian languages there  is a translation available.  One reason possibly is that people already assumed that Rama was an  incarnation of Lord Vishnu  and he lived the life of an ideal man (Maryadha Purushothama.). Here is a partial list of all those great translations.  Most of the translations did not agree  with Valmiki , that  Rama was a  human being. They   also could not tolerate   a Rakshasa  carrying away Sita,  physically touching her , as   she was a goddess. Tamil Nadu - The Tamil Kambaramayanam, a popular version,written by  poet Kamban in the 12th century.Karnataka - The Kannada versions of the Ramayana - the Kumudendu Ramayana(a Jain version), written in 13th  century and the Kumara-Valmiki Torave Ramayana, written in the 16th  century. There is another version titled Ramachandra Charita Purana  written by Nagachandra during the 13th century. Two prose works by  Nanadalike Lakshminarayana ('Muddanna') entitled Adbhuta Ramayana (1895)  and Ramaswamedham (1898).[14] Assam - Saptakanda Ramayana, The Assamese Katha Ramayana or  Kotha Ramayana in 14th century by Madhava Kandali. Bengal - The Bengali Krittivasi Ramayan written by Krittibas Ojha in  15th century. Orissa - The Oriya Dandi Ramayana or Jagamohan Ramayana was adapted  by Balaram Das in the 16th century. Maharashtra - The Marathi Bhavartha Ramayana written by Eknath in the  16th century. There is also reference of a Ramayana being translated into  old Marathi during the 12th or 13th century. Goa - Ramayanu written by Krishnadasa Shama in 15th century in Kardalipura,  Goa in Konkani, manuscripts found in Portugal.[11][12] Awadh - The Ramcharitmanas written by Goswami Tulsidas in the 16th  century is the Ramayana version popular in North India. Kerala - The Malayalam language Adhyatma Ramayanam Kilipattu written by  Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan in the 16th century and "Mappila Ramayanam."  among the Muslims. There is also a Kannassa Ramayanam which is much earlier to these. Gujarat - The Tulsi-Krta Ramayana is a Gujarati adaptation of Tulsidas'  Ramcharitamanas in 17th century, by the poet Premanand Swami. Urdu version called the Pothi Ramayana was written in 17th century. Jammu and Kashmir - The Kashmiri Ramavatara Charita was written in 19th  century. Andhra Pradesh - The Sri Ranganatha Ramayanamu was adapted by Buddha  Reddy and is the Telugu version of the Ramayana. The Molla Ramayanamu  was adapted by poetess Molla. Nepal - The Nepali language Bhanubhakta Ramayana written by Bhanubhakta  Acharya in the 19th century. The Nepal Bhasa Siddhi Ramayana was written  by Siddhidas Mahaju in the 20th century.               I was  requested to do this translation by Sri Lakshmanan ,who   is running a commercial firm called Celextel specializing in supplying Hindu  religious  items and ,  also maintains   a great web site of  the spiritual library   of  Hindu religious works. I was little reluctant   because of my age  (at that time 73) but he assured me that God  would take care of it .   I who believe that  all my  works are  done by God , using me as an  instrument  started with the job about a year back. I found that already  several translations of this great book was available   in the web.I decided  to read them and  do my own translations based on my understanding of those   great translations. Here are the translations that I used:-   http://www.valmikiramayan.net/   www.ramayanabook.com/.../SPONSOR_PACKAGE_RAMAYANA1.pdf   http://archive.org/details/ShrimadValmikiRamayan-SanskritTextWithHindi Translation-DpSharma10          http://valmiki.iitk.ac.in/index.php?id=translation   http://ancientvoice.wikidot.com/src-vrm:ram1-1                Since   the people of India were charmed by the   story of Rama,  there are very large number of prayers   where Ramayana  is given in a nutshell.  The most famous is the Eka Sloka Ramayana   Aadho Rama thapo vananu gamanam, Hathwa mrugam kanchanam, Vaidehi haranam, jatayu maranam, Sugreeva sambhashanam, Bali nigrahanam, samudhra tharanam, Lanka pureem dahanam, Paschad Ravana Kumbha karna madanam, Ethat ithi Ramayanam   Once Rama went to forest, He chased the deer, Sitha was kidnapped, Jatayu was killed, There were talks with Sugreeva, Bali was killed, The sea was crossed, Lanka was burnt, And later Ravana and Kumbha karna, Were also killed. This in short is the story of Ramayanam.           The next well known prayer containing the Ramayana is the very  famous Nama Ramayana. http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/ra4.htm.  Apart from there  are  very many other great  prayers giving Ramayana  in a nutshell. Some of them are 1.Ragothamashtakam http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/ra2.htm 2.Sri Rama Mangala  Sasanamhttp://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org /ra14.htm 3.Rama Narayana Sthuthi (Malayalam)http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrother hood.org/ra19.htm 4.Raghu Veera Gadhyam http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/ ra31.htm 5.Pasurappadi Ramayanam (Tamil)http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood .org/pm5.htm 6.Sri Ramodantham http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/pm3.htm 7,Spatharishi Ramayanam http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Saptha_rishi _Ramayanam 8.Gayathri Ramayanam http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org /pm32.htm     My deep sense of gratitude to all those  great people who have done this  labor of love . I acknowledge all of them.I might have used some words and  also some whole sentences from these great works.My translation totally depends   only  on their translations.         My God,you dictated me to do it and you did it and I have been an  instrument in your hand. How can I ever repay  this great  blessing from you.  You all can now read  my translation in to English  of Valmiki Ramayana in   my blog  http://englishvalmikiramayanam.blogspot.in/2014/01/index-to-contents.html (AS SENT BY Mr.Muralidhar.S.J. in his e-mail to this blogger). ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ JAATH CHODH - DESH JODH!! SAB KA SAATH - SAB KA VIKAAS!! QUALITY FIRST - QUANTITY LAST!!