List of Abbreviations ix
Preface xv
Guide to Sanskrit Pronunciation xvii
PART I INTRODUCTION
1 Prelude to the Ayodhyakanda 3
2 Synopsis of the Ayodhyakanda 6
3 The Central Issues 9
4 A Problem of Narrative and Its Significance 25
5 The Philosophy 33
6 Aesthetic and Literary-Historical Considerations 37
7 The Characters 48
8 The Women of the Ayodhyakanda 53
9 Dasaratha 58
10 Rama 64
11 The Text, Annotations, and Translation 74
PART II AYODHYAKANDA 77
PART III NOTES 325
Glossary of Important Proper Nouns and Epithets 529
Emendations and Corrections of the Critical Edition 533
Bibliography of Works Consulted 535
Index 549

This is the second volume of a translation of India's most beloved and influential epic saga, the monumental Ramayäa of Valmiki. Of the seven sections of this great Sanskrit masterpiece, the Ayodhyakä¿a is the most human, and it remains one of the best introductions to the social and political values of traditional India. This readable translation is accompanied by commentary that elucidates the various problems of the text-philological, aesthetic, and cultural. The annotations make extensive use of the numerous commentaries on the Ramayäa composed in medieval India. The substantial introduction supplies a historical context for the poem and a critical reading that explores its literary and ideological components.

Robert P. Goldman is the William and Catherine Magistretti Distinguished Professor of Sanskrit and Indian studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and general editor of the Ramayäa Translation Project. Sheldon I. Pollock is the Arvind Raghunathan Professor of South Asian Studies in the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University. His books include The Language of the Gods in the World of Men and A Rasa Reader.