A History of Sanskrit Literature c13.s2.6

c13.s2.6

The original part of the *Rāmāyaṇa* appears to have been completed at a time when the epic kernel of the *Mahābhārata* had not as yet assumed definite shape. For while the heroes of the latter are not mentioned in the *Rāmāyaṇa*, the story of Rāma is often referred to in the longer epic. Again, in a passage of Book VII. of the *Mahābhārata*, which cannot be regarded as a later addition, two lines are quoted as Vālmīki's that occur unaltered in Book VI. of the *Rāmāyaṇa*. The poem of Vālmīki must, therefore, have been generally known as an old work before the *Mahābhārata* assumed a coherent form. In Book III. (cantos 277–291) of the latter epic, moreover, there is a *Rāmopākhyāna* or "Episode of Rāma," which seems to be based on the *Rāmāyaṇa*, as it contains several verses agreeing more or less with Vālmīki's lines, and its author presupposes on the part of his audience a knowledge of the *Rāmāyaṇa* as represented by the Bombay recension.