Adbhuta Ramayana
The Adbhuta Ramayana is a Śāktaḥ Sanskrit work. It is considerably more obscure than both the Valmiki Ramayana as well as Tulsidas’ Awadhi version entitled Ramacharitamanasa, northern India's most popular version of the Ramayana story.
Scholarly analysis of its content and text history has, to this point, been minor. Its significance lies in its traditional place in the body of Ramayana literature. It is not to be confused with the Kannada prose work of the same name by Nandalike Lakshminarayana.
The Adbhuta Ramayana is composed in 27 sargas of various metres, and only briefly recounts the traditional Rama narrative. The earliest episodes of Rama's life, as depicted in Valmiki’s original telling—such as the story of Rama's birth, his training with Vishvamitra, and the breaking of Shiva’s bow at Sita’s svayamvara—are omitted. This adaptation of Rama's life begins with his confrontation with Parashurama as he and his family returned from his wedding in Janakpura. The story glosses over other noteworthy events of the epic, focusing more on supportive stories intended to elaborate upon the major themes of Valmiki's primary work.
Sita is accorded far more prominence in this variant of the Ramayana narrative, and indeed two of its most notable contributions are an elaboration of the events surrounding her birth—in this case to Ravana’s wife, Mandodari—as well as her conquest of Ravana's older brother in the form of Mahakali.
Summary
Sarga 1
The rishi Bharadvaja approached Valmiki and asked him to narrate the story of Rama, reminding him that the Ramayana includes hundreds of thousands of shlokas, most of which have been unavailable. Bharadvaja asked to hear one of those secret stories, to which Valmiki agreed, noting that this version would emphasize the deeds of Sita, the incarnation of Prakriti. Valmiki emphasized, however, that Rama was the manifestation of the supreme, and that ultimately there is no distinction between Rama and Sita—they are one.Sarga 2
Parabrahma, the Supreme Being, Sat-cit-ānanda vigraha, is eternal and has many forms with the original and complete form being Śrīman-Nārāyana. King Ambarisha was a great devotee of Vishnu, and one day Vishnu offered him a boon. Ambarisha asked that he always remain absorbed in the supreme bliss of Vishnu, vowing in return that he would defend all of Vishnu's devotees. Vishnu was pleased and granted the boon, promising that his divine discus would always protect the king.Sarga 3
Ambarisha had a daughter named Shrimati, who was beautiful and famous for her virtues and good qualities. The sages Narada and Parvata each desired her for a wife, and so Ambarisha—unable to choose one without incurring the wrath of the other—arranged her svayamvara so that she could decide who should be her husband. Narada and Parvata then independently approached Vishnu, asking for each other to unknowingly appear in the disguise of a monkey, which only Shrimati could see. Vishnu agreed to both, and the two sages proceeded to Shrimati's svayamvara.Sarga 4
Narada and Parvata attended the svayamvara, both appearing to Shrimati as monkeys, but each imagining himself handsome and irresistible. Vishnu then disguised himself as a human, sitting between them. Shrimati saw the monkey-faced sages before her but of course did not recognize them as Narada and Parvata, and so was surprised when there was no sign of either sage. And so she chose the handsome youth between the two monkey-faced men.Narada and Parvata then realized what Vishnu had done and cursed him to be born on earth as a human, and to roam the forests searching for his wife—Shrimati reborn, who would be abducted by an evil being. Vishnu accepted, saying that he would be born as Rama, the son of Dasharatha. In the form of Rama, he would also forget about his divinity, his omnipotence and his infinite powers. However, around true devotees, like Parashurama and Hanuman, he might remember his true form temporarily.
Sarga 5
The Sage Kaushika became famous for his devotional songs, glorifying the greatness of Vishnu. His reputation spread far and wide, and many devotees from every caste became his disciple. His fame spread to the king of Kalinga, who demanded that Kaushika sing devotional songs to him rather than to Vishnu. Kaushika insisted that he could only praise Vishnu, and his disciples held that they could only listen to praises of Vishnu. The king became angry, took away their property, and banished them from the kingdom. When the end of their lives finally arrived, they departed to Satyaloka, the world of Brahma, who took them to Vishnuloka, the abode of Vishnu, where they lived eternally.Sarga 6
Vishnu once organized a great festival in honour of Kaushika, featuring many beautiful songs. Millions of celestial maidens attended, as well as Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, with her retinue of maid servants. When the featured singer Tumburu was accorded great honour and praise, Narada was offended; and when one of Lakshmi’s maids slighted Narada, he cursed Lakshmi to be born on earth in the form of a rakshasi. When Narada's anger subsided, he became remorseful, and soon thereafter Vishnu and Lakshmi came to assuage his sorrow. Vishnu recommended to Narada that if he wanted to be accorded the same respect as Tumburu, he should study singing with the great Uluka known as Ganabandhu, a master of devotional singing.Sarga 7
This sarga outlines the basic rules of expert singing. Narada had learned the skill of singing, and imagining himself an expert, he proceeded to the abode of Tumburu to better him. At Tumburu's home, he was confronted by a collection of beings with mutilated bodies, who explained that they were the embodiments of the musical notes that had been mutilated by Narada's inept singing. Narada realized that he was the victim of his own inflated pride, and sought Vishnu's advice.Vishnu suggested that he wander as a gandharva celestial musician singing the praises of the deity until the time of Vishnu's incarnation as Krishna. At that time, he should remind Vishnu of the incident. When Vishnu came to earth as Krishna and was reminded, he sent Narada to various experts until his command of music was almost perfected. Then Krishna himself taught him the best forms of devotional music and song.
Sarga 8
Ravana performed great tapas to please Brahma, the creator. When Brahma granted him a boon, he requested eternal life, but Brahma indicated that this was not possible. Ravana then asked that he be invulnerable to the deities, rakshasas, yakshas, and many other celestial beings; but he did not include humans in the list as they were, in his view, of no consequence. He also asked that he perish should he make advances towards his own daughter.Emboldened by Brahma's boon, Ravana began his attempts to conquer the three worlds, but his reckless behavior set in motion the events leading to the birth of Sita from his wife Mandodari.
The sarga ends with Janaka’s discovery of Sita in a field while preparing the ground for his yajna.