SOURCE: Raphael, R. “Heroic Sublimity in Valmiki's Ramayana.” Indian Horizons 28, no. 3 (1979): 16-34.

In the following essay. Raphael argues that the Valmiki Ramayana is a sublime and heroic poem.

I have always been fascinated by the majestic grandeur of Vālmīki's Rāmāyana, for the Rāmāyana, besides being a splendid poem on a heroic theme, is also one of the most important sources of our living cultural tradition, a mirror of the highest ideals of the Hindu view of life and civilization. It gives a vividly realistic picture of the social, economic, religious and political aspirations and achievements of our ancestors, says Dr. S. N. Vyas in India in the Rāmāyana Age (Atma Ram & Sons, Delhi, 1967). Dr. Vyas adds that its “importance as a source for the reconstruction of the cultural history of post-Vedic India is further enhanced by the fact that … it...