The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa as Ādi-Kāvya: Literature, Philosophy, and Governance Ideals

Abstract

The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa is universally revered as the Ādi-kāvya, the first classical Sanskrit epic, for its seamless integration of poetic artistry, ethical inquiry, and governance philosophy. This research paper re-examines the Rāmāyaṇa as a multidimensional text an aesthetic masterpiece, a treatise on dharma, and a foundational articulation of political ethics. As literature, the epic codifies the earliest standards of Sanskrit poetics using metre, imagery, and rasa, while crafting characters who embody literary archetypes of virtue, loyalty, conflict, and heroism. Philosophically, the Rāmāyaṇa places dharma at its moral core, portraying human action as a negotiation between personal duty, social responsibility, and cosmic order. Through the episodes of exile, suffering, and moral testing, Vālmīki articulates a virtue-ethical framework in which integrity, compassion, and self-discipline guide ethical decision-making.