Valmiki spends four shlokas naming jewellers, potters, feather workers, and physicians — because Rama belongs to every class, not just the warrior-king’s.

Kum. Shree Vayidehi, speaking at a Valmiki Ashram Ramayana conference, makes a close textual argument from the 83rd Sarga of Ayodhya Kanda: when Bharata sets out to bring Rama back from Chitrakoota, people from every occupation in Ayodhya — merchants, pot-makers, armsmiths, perfumers, doctors, weavers, barbers — follow him spontaneously, with joy, not by royal command. Valmiki names each community individually across four shlokas, and the speaker asks: why? Because in a single-pointed Kavya aimed only at Rama’s gunas, Valmiki is signalling that Rama has an individual connection with every Ayodhyan, regardless of occupation or birth.

The lecture traces this principle across three frames: Pre-Ramayana (the Rudra mantras of Taittiriya Samhita offering salutations to every community as an expression of one divine presence); Post-Ramayana (Ramayana writers from Kambar the weaver to Balram Das the farmer, Eritachin the fisherman, Ranganatha the warrior, and King Bhoja — drawn from every community and region, including Indonesian Muslims and Guru Gobind Singh); and history (from Chandragupta Maurya and the Vijayanagara founders to Shivaji and today’s President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Modi). The thread running through all three: the Ramayana’s vision of equality is not a modern imposition — it is the oldest continuous tradition.

About The Speaker:
Kum Shree Vayidehi is a young Harikatha artist who is known for her talks on the Ramayana. She is a student at Srimad Valmiki Ashram.