Editing Ramayana (section)

===''Bāla Kāṇḍa''===
{{Main|Balakanda}}
[[File:The marriage ceremony of Rama and Sita.jpg|thumb|The marriage of the four sons of Dasharatha  to the four daughters of Siradhvaja Janaka and Kushadhvaja. Rama and Sita, Lakshmana and Urmila, Bharata and Mandavi and Shatrughna with Shrutakirti. Folio from the Shnagri Ramayana, early 18th-century. [[National Museum, New Delhi]]]]

The epic begins with the sage Vālmīki asking Nārada if there is a righteous man still left in the world, to which Nārada replies that such a man is Rāma. After seeing two birds being shot, Vālmīki creates a new form of metre called ''śloka'', in which he is granted the ability to compose an epic poem about Rāma. He teaches his poem to the boys Lava and Kuśa, who recite it throughout the land and eventually at the court of King Rāma. Then the main narrative begins.{{sfn|Goldman|1984|loc=Vol. I: Bālakāṇḍa}}

Daśaratha was the King of Ayodhyā. He had three wives: Kausalyā, Kaikeyī, and Sumitrā. He did not have a son and in the desire to have a legal heir performs a fire sacrifice known as Putrīyā Iṣṭi. Meanwhile, the gods are petitioning to Brahmā and Viṣhṇu about Rāvaṇa, king of the rākṣasas who is terrorizing the universe. Thus Viṣhṇu had opted to be born into mortality to combat the demon [[Ravana|Rāvaṇa]]. As a consequence, Rāma was first born to Kausalyā, Bharata was born to Kaikeyī, and Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna were born to Sumitrā.{{sfn|Goldman|1984|loc=Vol. I: Bālakāṇḍa}}

When Rāma was 16 years old, the [[Rishi|r̥ṣi]] (sage) Viśvāmitra comes to the court of Daśaratha seeking  help against demons who were disturbing sacrificial rites. He chooses Rāma, who is followed by Lakṣmaṇa, his constant companion throughout the story. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa receive instructions and supernatural weapons from Viśvāmitra and proceed to destroy [[Tataka|Tāṭakā]] and many other demons. Viśvāmitra also recounts much lore of the landscape, his own ancestors, and the ancestors of the princes.{{sfn|Goldman|1984|loc=Vol. I: Bālakāṇḍa}}

The party then decides to attend King [[Janaka|Janaka's]] sacrifice in the kingdom of [[Mithila (region)|Mithilā]], who has a bow that no one has been able to string. Janaka recounts the history of the famed bow, and informs them that whoever strings the bow will win the hand of his daughter [[Sita|Sītā]], whom he found in the earth while plowing a field. Rāma then proceeds to not only string the bow, but breaks it in the process. Rāma marries Sītā; the wedding is celebrated with great festivity in [[Mithila (region)|Mithilā]] and the marriage party returns to Ayodhyā.{{sfn|Goldman|1984|loc=Vol. I: Bālakāṇḍa}}