Ram Charitmanas Lesson 1Ram Charitmanas Lesson 1 Ramcharitmanas consists of seven parts or Kāndas. The first two parts, Bāl Kāṇḍ (Childhood Episode) and Ayodhyā Kāṇḍ (Ayodhya Episode), make up more than half of the work. The other parts are Araṇya Kāṇḍ (Forest Episode), Kiśkindhā Kāṇḍ (Kishkindha Episode), Sundar Kāṇḍ (Pleasant Episode), Laṅkā Kāṇḍ (Lanka Episode), and Uttar Kāṇḍ (Later Episode). The work is primarily composed in the Chaupai meter (four-line quatrains), separated by the Doha meter (two-line couplets), with occasional Soratha and various Chand meters. Every chapter of the Ramcharitmanas begins with an invocation or Mangalācharaņ. It is customary of the Indian tradition of writing that the author begins a new book with an invocation to the Gods to ensure that the book is finished unhindered. The first three or four verses of each Kānd are typically in the form of invocations. Bāl Kāṇḍ begins with a hymn honoring the goddess Saraswati and the god Ganesha, the deities related to knowledge, wisdom, speech, and auspiciousness.