Valmiki’s Role in Ramayana
I have been advised not to go into details of the Valmiki Ramayana because, after all, "Ram was only an imaginary hero of a fiction." Nevertheless, I will continue to write about it for the following reasons.
Whether Ram was real or imaginary does not matter. What really matters is the mentality of the poet/author and his audience that accepts and praises the biography/story. This is because even fictions reflect the mindsets not only of their authors but also of the readers who deify the stories' characters. The story must be acceptable to most of the listeners (or readers) and therefore abide by the currently prevailing customs and norms. By carefully reading the fiction too we can know the value system of the people living in those times.
Not all fictions are written with noble goals. Some of them are propaganda on behalf of a ruler or a benefactor of the author. Valmiki Ramayana too is one of them. He wrote this epic to make people worship Ram. This is how he did it.
In the very beginning, he refers to Narad. Narad was another imaginary saint roaming all over and a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. He recommends Ram as a perfect person to write about. This itself inspires awe among the readers. A positive bias in favor of the hero of the story is created even before the story starts unfolding. It is then fortified by superlative adjectives profusely scattered throughout the text to enhance Ram’s image. Their repetitive use captures the minds of the readers. No wonder the multitudes of Hindus accepted Ram as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
Let us also review Valmiki’s role. The following is copied verbatim from the Hindi translation of VR as published by Gita Press. Gorakhpur. Since the reader probably knows Hindi, an English translation does not seem to be necessary.
'राजकुमार! मैंने दिव्य दृष्टिसे यह जान लिया था की सीताका भाव और विचार परम पवित्र है; इसलिए यह मेरे आश्रममें प्रवेश पा सकी है | आपको भी यह प्राणोंसे अधिक प्यारी है और आप यह भी जानते हैं कि सीता सर्वथा शुद्ध है तथापि लोकापवादसे कलुषितचित्त होकर आपने इसका त्याग लिया है' || २४ ||
(वाल्मीकि रामायण, उत्तर काण्ड सर्ग ९६, श्लोक २४ page 883)
Now consider this. Soon after he found Sitaji near his hermitage, Valmiki used his 'divine vision' to find out that Sitaji was pious. In that case, as soon as possible, he should have taken her back to Ayodhya and advised Ram to take her back as a chaste wife. He did not do so because he did not have the willingness and courage to speak up against injustice. He waited 12 years to reveal the above to Ram. Until then unnecessarily Sitaji had to live the ignoble life as a rejected sinner wife. The two boys were deprived of their father’s attention. Everyone in Ayodhya believed her to be an adulteress and probably dead.
After about 12 years Valmiki had gone to Ashvamedh Yajna. There, Ram sent him a message that if Sitaji’s character was pious and her mind was sinless, she should prove her innocence in front of all people. (वाल्मीकि रामायण, उत्तर काण्ड सर्ग 95, श्लोक ४ page 881) Valmiki agreed right away without consulting her because he believed that "for a woman her husband is god". (वाल्मीकि रामायण, उत्तर काण्ड सर्ग 95, श्लोक 10, page 881).
The next day, he asked Sitaji to provide the proof of innocence in the presence of many people. What happened then is detailed in 'The Irony of Ramayan' https://sites.google.com/site/tatoodi/the-irony-of-ramayan.
Our ancient forefathers did not have the proper concept for appropriate behavior of husbands towards their wives. Therefore, instead of condemning Ram's actions, they started worshiping him. And they are proud about it! At least I am not.