The Secret Life of Ramchandra of Ayodhya: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

The hero of teh Ramayan-the Sanskrit epic attributed to the sage Valmiki, but better known to Indians through later vernacular retellings such as the immensely popular Hindi Ramacaritmanas of the 16th century poet Tulsidas-is often regarded as a paragon of the sort of virtues catalogued in a credo I was made to memorize as a boy: "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent; " in short, as the Teagle Scout of Hindu mythology. Such a view was furthered by Victorian scholars of the Hindu mythology.