Synopsis This transcreation was planned as a companion volume to author's condensed English version of The Mahabharata of Vyasa . It employs the same principles of, approach and handling; for what was intended to be really just a pleasure-giving version of Valmiki’s epic. The structural, genealogical and other complexities of my Mahabharata version necessitated a long, interpreting introduction. The Ramayana is much shorter and, because of its compactness and other reasons, simple. The speed of Valmiki’s story and the chastening clarity of its character-sketching-the Mahabharata has a cast of thousands, the Ramayana a very manageable handful of characters – speak for themselves. The less interposing and inter-preting, the better.