सदूषणापि निर्दोषा सखरापि सुकोमला ।
नमस्तस्मै कृता येन रम्या रामायणी कथा ॥
Though there is a character Dushan, meaning evil, (the name of a demon), he is innocent, a character Khar meaning harsh is very tender and not harsh. We bow down to the narrater of such beautiful story of Ramayana.
Beautiful Ramayani story praised in this Shloka means Ramayana रामायणम् written by Maharshi Valmiki. Ramayana is known as the first (Adi) poem and Maharshi Valmiki the first poet (Adi Kavi) in Sanskrit literature. It is said that Valmiki was much grieved seeing the she Krauncha wailing and weeping for he karauncha shot by an arrow of a hunter, and this Shloka emerged spontaneously. This grief resulting in this Shloka is the source of inspiration for writing the epic Ramayana. (मा निषाद प्रतिष्ठां त्वमगम्: शाश्वती: समाः। यत्कौक्चमिथुनादेकमवधी: काममोहितम् ॥ It means, oh ! hunter, you will never experience peace and be steady in your life for infinite years as you have killed one from the couple who were in an infatuated condition.)
Ramayana is the work depicting the movement or the life of Rama. There are seven chapters in it, namely: Balkand, Ayodhyakand, Aranyakand, Kishnidhakand, Sundarkand, Yudhhakand and Uttarakand. There are totally twenty four thousand Shlokas spread over these seven 'Kands' chapters. The time of its construction is believed to be earlier than five hundred B.C.