A History of Sanskrit Literature c13.s2.15

c13.s2.15

The political conditions described in the *Rāmāyaṇa* indicate the patriarchal rule of kings possessing only a small territory, and never point to the existence of more complex states; while the references of the poets of the *Mahābhārata* to the dominions in Eastern India ruled by a powerful king, Jarāsandha, and embracing many lands besides Magadha, reflect the political conditions of the fourth century b.c. The cumulative evidence of the above arguments makes it difficult to avoid the conclusion that the kernel of the *Rāmāyaṇa* was composed before 500 b.c., while the more recent portions were probably not added till the second century b.c. and later.