Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c29.252

c29.252

⁴ It is said they sang a poem composed by Vālmīki praising Rāma’s exploits before Rāma; and so kuśīlava came to mean a ‘minstrel’ (Mat 227, 119. MBh xiii, 90, 4280). This is not improbable, cf. the words, euhemerist, burke, boycott, bowdler. What they sang could not have been the present Rāmāyaṇa, which is a brahmanical production of much later date: see p. 202, note 1.