RELIGST 1J03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Dasharatha, Ravana, Lakshmana

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Religious Studies
• Course: RELIGST 1J03
• Professor: Joe Larose

Document Summary

According to indian tradition, the ramayana was written by valmiki. The story is supposed to describe true events. This of course is a traditional point of view, however we will be using an academic point of you instead. The scholarly answer to who wrote the ramayana is a mystery. We don"t know who wrote it and how many people contributed to it. Keeping in mind that we are using an indian classic perspective, the brahmans wrote it because its written from their point of view. Its also likely to be written by an elite author because it focuses a lot on kings, warriors etc. Its also written by a man based on the way it describes females. In the story the handmaid puts the idea in her head. Kaykaiy saved dasaratha life on the battlefield so in return for her saving his life he gives her two boons (wishes).