The Ramayana

A brilliant translation of the timeless epic

One of India’s greatest epics, the Ramayana pervades the country’s moral and cultural consciousness. Believed to have been composed by Valmiki sometime between the eighth and sixth centuries BC, the Ramayana tells the tragic and magical story of Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, an incarnation of Lord Visnu, born to rid the earth of the terrible demon Ravana.

An idealized heroic tale ending with the inevitable triumph of good over evil, the Ramayana is also an intensely personal story of family relationships, love and loss, duty and honour, of harem intrigue, petty jealousies and destructive ambitions—all this played out in a universe populated by larger-than-life humans, gods and celestial beings, wondrous animals and terrifying demons.

In her magnificent translation Arshia Sattar has successfully bridged both time and space to make this monumental ancient classic accessible to the present-day reader

About The Author
Arshia Sattar’s acclaimed English translations of Valmiki’s Ramayana and the Kathasaritsagara are Penguin Classics. She has a PhD from the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago and her areas of interest are Indian epics, mythology and the story traditions of the subcontinent. She teaches classical Indian literatures at various institutions all over India and writes on books for a number of journals and magazines

Valmiki is almost indisputably the author of the Sanskrit Ramayana even though it is quite likely that the story of Rama's life was in circulation before Valmiki gave it its present form. As a poet and composer, Valmiki acts within the story that he tells. Later legend has it that Valmiki was a bandit who was converted from his life of looting and pillaging by Rama's grace. His devotion then inspired him to compose and recite the story of Rama's adventures.

While it is impossible to establish conclusive dates for Valmiki’s life and there is nothing outside the Ramayana itself to prove that he was a historical figure, it is believed that this Sanskrit text was composed between 700 and 500 BC