Aranyaka Kanda is the third book in the epic Valmiki Ramayana. It consists of 71 Sargas or Cantos and around 2061 shlokas. Aranya means forest and details about everything the trio of Shri Rama, Shri Laxmana, and Maa Sita went through during their exile of 14 years from Ayodhya.

During their exile, the trio started their journey by moving southwards from Ayodhya through the Vindhya ranges in the state of ancient Avanti visiting hermitages of many rishis and staying there for a few days. They kept moving southwards and finally settled in the Panchavati region in the Dandaka forest.

A twist in events comes when Surpanakha, sister of Ravana was dwelling in the forest and came across the Kings of Ayodhya. Surpanakha was captivated by the exuberance and beauty of Shri Rama and tried to seduce him. When she failed to seduce both the kings from Ayodhya, she was angry and decided to hurt Maa Sita. When she was approaching Maa Sita, Lord Laxmana came in between to save her and in turn cut off Surpanakha's Nose and Ears.

When Surpanakha came back to her demon brother Khara, he decided to avenge her sister and went to attack Shri Rama. Shri Rama and Laxmana easily defeated Khara's huge army and killed all demon beings. Surpanakha decided to avenge her humiliation by approaching his elder brother, Ravana. She knew of Ravana's weakness for Women and illustrated Maa Sita Bewitching's beauty to Ravana. Ravana was aroused more by lust than anger to avenge his sister and decided to punish Shri Rama by abducting Maa Sita.

Ravan drew a plan with Maricha to abduct Maa Sita. He asked Marich to take the form of a beautiful golden deer, enchanted by its beauty, Maa Sita requested Shri Rama to get her the deer. Shri Rama went far off from the hut to get her the deer and left Maa Sita under Laxmana's guard. Unable to catch the deer, Shri Rama fired an arrow which killed the deer, upon his dying breath, Marich called out the name of Laxmana in the exact voice of Rama. When Maa Sita heard the cry, she asked Laxmana to go and help Rama, Laxmana was unsure and told that Rama is invincible and it was best that he obeyed Shri Rama's order. Maa Sita insisted on Laxmana and he obliged, he drew a circle around the hut using the tip of his bow called Laxman Rekha[Line Of Laxmana] as a protective shield.

Seeing Maa Sita alone and unprotected, Ravana found the perfect opportunity. He appeared in the guise of a hermit requesting alms from Maa Sita. Unaware of his devious plans, Maa Sita left the shield to aid the hermit and was then forcibly carried away by Ravana. Jatayu, a vulture and friend of Rama saw this and decided to fight Ravana and was mortally wounded by Ravana. Maa Sita kept her composure and dropped some jewels along the way to mark the trajectory.

Rama and Laxmana came back and learned about Sita's abduction from Jatayu who was on his last breaths. Being eternally devoted to Shri Rama, Jatayu told them of Ravana and died in the arms of Shri Rama. The Princes immediately sat on a journey to find Maa Sita. On their journey, they met an ascetic Shabari, who directed them towards Risymukha Hills where they met King Sugriva and Lord Hanuman.