Wars of the Imagination

The Uttarakāṇḍa, the Mahābhārata and Revisionist Military History

Abstract

Robert P. Goldman's article examines the military and political episodes narrated in the Uttarakāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, arguing that these often-overlooked sections represent a later revisionist effort to portray Rāma in a manner more akin to the imperial model presented in the Mahābhārata. The article highlights contradictions between the Uttarakāṇḍa's depiction of Rāma as a powerful overlord with numerous vassal kings and its earlier books, which show him relying on a simian army without seeking support from Ayodhyā. Goldman analyzes the Uttarakāṇḍa's depiction of a vast, unutilized Kosalan army prepared for the Lankan war, Rāma's initial desire to perform a rajasuya (typically preceded by military conquest), and the subsequent narratives of Śatrughna's conquest of Madhurā and Bharata's genocidal campaign in Gandhara. These episodes, the author contends, are belated attempts to retroactively construct Rāma as a cakravartin-like figure, expanding Kosala's influence across the subcontinent, a stark contrast to Vālmīki's earlier portrayal of a deontologically ethical monarch focused on righteousness rather than territorial expansion. The article suggests that the Uttarakāṇḍa's imaginative reimagining of Rāma's military and political career was likely influenced by the grand imperial visions presented in the Mahābhārata.