It is written in 19 sargas (cantos), that can be regarded as being divided into three parts:[3] The work begins with a prayer: vāgarthāviva saṁpṛktau vāgarthapratipattaye / jagataḥ pitarau vande pārvatīparameśvarau //To Parvati and Parameshvara, the parents of the world, who are united like word and meaning, I pray, for the gift of speech fit with appropriate meaning.

Vasiṣṭha reveals that King Dilipa had once offended the divine cow Surabhi and has been cursed by her, and instructs him to care for her daughter calf, Nandini.

One day a lion appears, and when Dilipa raises his hand to draw an arrow and protect the calf, he finds himself magically frozen.

One day, Indumati is killed by a freak accident (when a garland of flowers falls on her), and Aja laments at length on losing her.

He lives in grief for eight years till his son comes of age, then gives up his body and is reunited after death with his wife.

This canto narrates the story of most of the Ramayana (its kāṇdas 2 to 6) in short, ending with the death of Ravana in Lanka at the hands of Rama.

But on hearing that the people of the kingdom murmur about the queen's character, Rama after some internal struggle decides to exile his beloved wife.

In the sage's hermitage, Sita gives birth to two sons Lava and Kusha, who grow up and are taught the Ramayana by Valmiki.

As they grow into youths, they come into the presence of Rama, who learns they are his children, and then Sita chooses to be swallowed up by the earth, her mother.

He defeats and subjugates local people along the way (presumably on his march through Central Asia) until he reaches the Vakshu, as the ancient Indians called the Oxus River.

There, Raghu's army battles the Hepthalites, or White Huns, whom the Indians called Hunas and Mlecchas (barbarians).

The Hepthalites are defeated, and the Raghuvaṃśa boasts of "The exploits of Raghu, whose valor expressed itself amongst the husbands of the Huna women, became manifest in the scarlet colour of their cheeks."

After crossing the Oxus, Raghu and his army encountered the Kambojas, an ancient Indo-Scythian people often mentioned in Indian texts.

The epic is composed in 21 Sanskrit metres, namely Anuṣṭubh, Indravajrā, Upajāti, Upendravajrā, Aupacchandasika, Toṭaka, Drutavilambita, Puṣpitāgrā, Praharṣiṇī, Mañjubhāṣiṇī, Mattamayūra, Mandākrāntā, Mālinī, Rathoddhatā, Vaṃśastha, Vasantatilakā, Vaitālīya, Śārdūlavikrīḍita, Śālinī, Svāgatā, Hariṇī.