A History of Sanskrit Literature c13.s2.13

c13.s2.13

It is further a noteworthy fact that the capital of Kosala is in the original *Rāmāyaṇa* regularly called Ayodhyā, while the Buddhists, Jains, Greeks, and Patanjali always give it the name of Sāketa. Now in the last book of the *Rāmāyaṇa* we are told that Rāma's son, Lava, fixed the seat of his government at Çrāvastī, a city not mentioned at all in the old part of the epic; and in Buddha's time King Prasenajit of Kosala is known to have reigned at Çrāvastī. All this points to the conclusion that the original *Rāmāyaṇa* was composed when the ancient Ayodhyā had not yet been deserted, but was still the chief city of Kosala, when its new name of Sāketa was still unknown, and before the seat of government was transferred to Çrāvastī.