Ramayana
An ancient Hindu epic composed by Valmiki which narrates the life story of Lord Rama.
By Valmiki
An ancient Hindu epic composed by Valmiki which narrates the life story of Lord Rama.
By Valmiki
The Ramayana, also known as the Valmiki Ramayana, is a Hindu smriti epic poem from ancient India, traditionally attributed to the sage Valmiki [2]. Composed in Sanskrit [12], it belongs to the Itihasa tradition, a category of narrative literature interspersed with teachings on the goals of human life, alongside the Mahabharata [2][4]. One of the largest ancient epics in world literature, it consists of nearly 24,000 shlokas divided into seven kāṇḍa [2].
The poem narrates the life of Rama, the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu and prince of Ayodhya, tracing his fourteen-year exile, his journeys across the Indian subcontinent with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, the abduction of Sita by Ravana, king of Lanka, and Rama's triumphant return to be crowned king [9]. Its principal characters include Hanuman, Dasharatha, Kaikeyi, and several others central to the unfolding drama [10].
The Ramayana exerted a profound influence on later Sanskrit poetry and on Hindu life and culture more broadly, with its main figures shaping the cultural consciousness of both Hindu and Buddhist nations [6]. Its most enduring moral legacy concerns the importance of virtue in individual conduct and in the ideals of just governance [6].
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