So this retelling of Rama's story starts out by telling how the original author, Valmiki, got involved in the story. In this beginning, Sita is being exiled, though she doesn't yet know it. This part of the story wasn't part of Narayan's Ramayana though, so it's new to me. Valmiki is unhappy in the world because cruel things happen, including a bird in love getting killed even though it had little to no meat on it. Brahma comes to visit him and tells him this sadness has made him a poet and he needs to use that to write Rama's story which will defeat time. Valmiki composed the Ramayana and taught it to Rama and Sita's twin sons (who were living in his hermitage after Sita's exhile). When they were old enough they sang it at Rama's yearly get together in the forest and Rama came and listened.
This time, we get to see the very beginning of the story instead of just Rama's birth. We start off with Dasaratha offering sacrifice to get sons, just like last time, but this time it then shifts to Indra and Brahma discussing the problem of Ravana after the battle in heaven. They come up with a solution: Rama.
This is my favorite part because we get to see much more detail about the backstory and the gods in this version.
Image Source: Dasaratha announces the birth of his four sons.
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