Below the surface of the heroic narrative of kings and warriors and the triumph of good over evil, the heart of the Ramayana beats with the tender love story of Rama and Sita.

Rama and Sita's love blossoms and grows during their years in the forest, as they learn more about each other and themselves. But the challenges they face in exile, both physical and emotional, take their toll, and by the time they return to Ayodhya, a shadow has been cast upon their love. The consequences are cataclysmic.

Through these remarkable essays, we see Rama and Sita at their most human and their most vulnerable -- as they face the pain of separation, the darkness of misunderstanding and suspicion, and tragic loss -- and, therefore, at their most accessible as exemplars of the culture they have come to define.