The The name Ramayana is composed of two words, Ra-ma and ayana Rama, the name of the main figure of the epic, has two contextual meanings. In the Atharvaveda, it means 'dark, darkcoloured or black' and is related to the word ratri which means 'darkness or stillness of night'. The other meaning, which can be found in the Mahabharata, is 'pleasing, pleasant, charming, lovely, beautiful'. The word ayana means travel or journey. Thus, Ramayana means "Rama's journey" with ayana altered to yana (due to the amalgamation of "a" in Rama and the "a" in ayana, as per the Sanskrit grammar rule of internal sandhi).
The Ramayana, also known as Valmiki Ramayana, as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics of Hinduism known as the Itihasas, the other being the Mahabharata. The epic narrates the life of Rama, the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu, who is a prince of Ayodhya in the kingdom of Kosala. The epic follows his fourteen-year exile to the forest urged by his father King Dasharatha, on the request of Rama's stepmother Kaikeyi; his travels across forests in the Indian subcontinent with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana; the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana, the king of Lanka, that resulted in war; and Rama's eventual return to Ayodhya along with Sita to be crowned king amidst jubilation and celebration.
Scholarly estimates for the earliest stage of the text range from the 7th to 5th centuries BCE, and later stages extend up to the 3rd century CE, although the original date of composition is unknown. It is one of the largest ancient epics in world literature and consists of nearly 24,000 verses (mostly set in the Shloka/Anustubh metre), divided into seven kanda (chapters). It belongs to the genre of Itihasa, narratives of past events (pura-vrtta), interspersed with teachings on the goals of human life.
There are many versions of the Ramayana in Indian languages, including Buddhist and Jain adaptations. There are also Cambodian (Reamker), Indonesian, Filipino, Thai (Ramakien), Lao, Burmese, Nepali, Maldivian, Vietnamese, Tibeto-Chinese, and Malay versions of the Ramayana.
Scholarly estimates for the earliest stage of the text range from the 7th to 5th centuries BCE, and later stages extend up to the 3rd century CE, although the original date of composition is unknown. It is one of the largest ancient epics in world literature and consists of nearly 24,000 verses (mostly set in the Shloka/Anus.t.ubh metre), divided into seven ka-n.d.a (chapters). It belongs to the genre of Itihasa, narratives of past events (pura-vr.tta), interspersed with teachings on the goals of human life.
The Ramayana was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry and the Hindu life and culture, and its main figures were fundamental to the cultural consciousness of a number of nations, both Hindu and Buddhist. Its most important moral influence was the importance of virtue, in the life of a citizen and in the ideals of the formation of a state, romanized: Ramarajya, a utopian state where Rama is king) or of a functioning society/ realm.
The name Ramayana is composed of two words, Rama and ayana Rama, the name of the main figure of the epic, has two contextual meanings. In the Atharvaveda, it means 'dark, darkcoloured or black' and is related to the word ratri which means 'darkness or stillness of night'. The other meaning, which can be found in the Mahabharata, is 'pleasing, pleasant, charming, lovely, beautiful' The word ayana means travel or journey. Thus, Ra-mayana means "Rama's journey" with ayana altered to yana (due to the amalgamation of "a" in Rama and the "a" in ayana, as per the Sanskrit grammar rule of internal sandhi).
Scholarly estimates for the earliest stage of the available text range from the 7th to 5th centuries BCE, with later stages extending up to the 3rd century CE. According to Robert P. Goldman (1984), the oldest parts of the Ramayana date to the early 7th century BCE. The later parts cannot have been composed later than the 6th or 5th century BCE, due to the narrative not mentioning Buddhism (founded in the 5th century BCE) nor the prominence of Magadha (which rose to prominence in the 7th century BCE). The text also mentions Ayodhya as the capital of Kosala, rather than its later name of Saketa or the successor capital of Shravasti. In terms of narrative time, the action of the Ramayana predates the Mahabharata. Goldman & Sutherland Goldman (2022) consider Ramayana's oldest surviving version was composed around 500 BСЕ.
Books two to six are the oldest portion of the epic, while the first and last books (Balakanda and Uttara Kanda, respectively) seem to be later additions. Style differences and narrative contradictions between these two volumes and the rest of the epic have led scholars since Hermann Jacobi toward this consensus.
The Ramayana belongs to the genre of Itihasa, narratives of past events (puravrtta), which includes the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, and the Puranas. The genre also includes teachings on the goals of human life. It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal son, servant, brother, husband, wife, and king. Like the Mahabharata, Ramayana presents the teachings of ancient Hindu sages in the narrative allegory, interspersing philosophical and ethical elements.
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