Rama, the central figure of the Sanskrit epic the Ramayana, is a prince stripped of his inheritance and banished to the forest for 14 years on the strength of two old promises his father could not break. This episode builds a narrative biography from Valmiki's seven-book epic, composed roughly between the eighth and fourth centuries BCE, starting with Rama's birth as an incarnation of Vishnu designed to exploit a loophole in the demon king Ravana's invulnerability, his training in celestial weaponry under Vishwamitra, and the divine bow he snaps in half to win Sita.

The conversation follows the maidservant Manthara's manipulation of Queen Kaikeyi, Rama's emotionless acceptance of exile, and Bharata's decision to rule with Rama's sandals on the throne. It then covers the mutilation of Shurpanakha, the golden deer trap, Sita's abduction, the  ...