Notes
- Lakshmi rises from the sea with a phonograph.
- The cosmos: Shiva in a ring of fire, Brahma, Lakshmi and Vishnu resting on Shesha, Surya the sun god, Chandra the moon god, the beating heart of the universe, and Bhumi the earth goddess.
- San Francisco. We see Nina, her boyfriend Dave, and their cat. They are all very happy. The boyfriend gets a job in India.
- The three narrators argue about the date of the Ramayana. They also argue about whether it is true or not, and about where the story took place.
- King Dasharatha has three wives and four sons. Sita, daughter of Janaka, is Rama's wife. Queen Kaikeyi makes Dasharatha send Rama into exile. He dies of grief after Rama leaves.
- Despite Rama's warnings about the rakshasas in the forest, Sita goes into exile with him. The phonograph plays a song while they go into the forest where they live happily while Rama slays rakshasas.
- San Francisco airport: Nina kisses her boyfriend goodbye.
- The narrators discuss Ravana who stole Sita. Ravana some say was a good king, but they also compare him to Mogambo the Hindi film villain. Ravana was so devoted to Shiva that he played the veena (lute) for him with his intestines: this refers to the legend that when a string on the veena broke, Ravana used his own guts to continue playing so that he would not interrupt the song. He was the king of Sri Lanka, and there was an ancient land bridge connecting India to the island.
- Surpanakha is Ravana's sister. Angry at Rama, Surpanakha tells Ravana about Sita. Maricha tells Ravana to leave Sita alone but Ravana commands Maricha to become a golden deer to distract Rama so he can grab Sita.
- Sita is enchanted by the golden deer. Rama suspects a trick, but Sita begs him to pursue the deer.
- Sita sings about her love for Rama, while Ravana sneaks up on their forest hut.
- Ravana abducts Sita in his flying chariot.
- Sita drops her jewelry as a sign; Rama seeks her in the forest.
- Hanuman: The narrators discuss Vishnu's incarnation as Hanuman, and one narrator mentions Shiva's incarnation as Hanuman (the other narrators had not heard about that, and it is indeed a later tradition).
- Rama and Hanuman become allies. Rama sends Hanuman to look for Sita.
- San Francisco: Dave calls Nina to invite her to India.
- Sita is held captive in Lanka, and she weeps for Rama. She rejects Ravana's advances.
- Hanuman finds Sita in Lanka while Sita sings the blues. He sets Lanka on fire and then returns to Rama.
- The narrators argue about why Sita did not escape with Hanuman. Meanwhile, Nina goes to India.
- The narrators argue about whether the monkeys were monkeys or half-monkey and half-man. Rama leads his monkey army to Lanka.
- Sita sings with joy while Rama battles the rakshasas and slays Ravana.
- Nina arrives in India, but Dave tells her not to kiss in public. They don't kiss in bed either.
- The narrators discuss how Rama was cold to Sita after rescuing her.
- Sita and Rama are reunited, but he rejects her because she lived in another man's house. He sends her away. Sita despairs.
- Sita asks for a funeral pyre. The narrators argue about how to interpret this part of the story.
- Sita sings the blues while she undergoes a test by fire, protected by Agni the fire god.
- Rama asks for Sita's forgiveness.
- Nina and Dave are working in the same office in India. Nina goes to New York for a week.
- The narrators discuss the flying chariot, Pushpaka, that takes Rama and Sita back to Ayodhya.
- Sita sings the blues again: if you want the rainbow, you must have the rain.
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