This is the first of seven volumes that will present a complete and fully annotated translation of the Valmiki Ramayana. This great sanskrit epic of ancient India has profoundly affected the literature, art, religions, and culture of countless millions of people in South and Southest Asia-an influence that is perhaps unparalleled in the history of world literature. For the first time it has here been translated on the basis of the critical edition which is based on manuscripts representing all recensional traditions. In this first volume Robert P. Goldman, general editor of the translation, has written a major scholarly introduction and, in collaboration with Sally J. Sutherland, assistant editor, has given copious annotations dealing with the poem`s numerous textual and exigetial problems, drawing on the contributions of generations of Sanskrit commentators.