Rama

===Other texts===
[[File:A relief summary of Ramayana at Hindu temple cave 16 Ellora India.jpg|thumb|left|The Rama story is carved into stone as an 8th-century relief artwork in the largest Shiva temple of the [[Ellora Caves]], suggesting its importance to the Indian society by then.<ref name="vatsyayan335">{{cite book |author=Kapila Vatsyayan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Ar2Qfr-UeQC&pg=PA339 |title=The Ramayana Revisited |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-19-516832-7 |editor=Mandakranta Bose |pages=335–339}}</ref>]]Other important historic Hindu texts on Rama include ''Bhusundi Ramanaya'', ''Prasanna raghava'', and ''Ramavali'' by Tulsidas.{{sfn|James G. Lochtefeld|2002|p=555}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Edmour J. Babineau|url=https://archive.org/details/loveofgodsociald0000babi|title=Love of God and Social Duty in the Rāmcaritmānas|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=1979|isbn=978-0-89684-050-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/loveofgodsociald0000babi/page/85 85]–[https://archive.org/details/loveofgodsociald0000babi/page/85 86]|url-access=registration}}</ref> The Sanskrit poem ''[[Bhaṭṭikāvya]]'' of Bhatti, who lived in [[Gujarat]] in the seventh century CE, is a retelling of the epic that simultaneously illustrates the grammatical examples for [[Pāṇini]]'s ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' as well as the major figures of speech and the [[Prakrit]] language.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bhaṭṭi|title=[[Bhaṭṭikāvya]]|publisher=[[Clay Sanskrit Library]]|year=600|isbn=978-0-8147-2778-2|location=[[New York City|New York]], [[United States]]|pages=22.35|translator-last=Olliver|translator-first=Fallon|orig-year=2009}}</ref>

Another historically and chronologically important text is ''[[Raghuvaṃśa|Raghuvamsa]]'' authored by [[Kalidasa]].<ref name=":1">{{harvnb|Dalal|2010|p=323}}.</ref> Its story confirms many details of the ''Ramayana'', but has novel and different elements. It mentions that Ayodhya was not the capital in the time of Rama's son named Kusha, but that he later returned to it and made it the capital again. This text is notable because the poetry in the text is exquisite and called a ''Mahakavya'' in the Indian tradition, and has attracted many scholarly commentaries. It is also significant because Kalidasa has been dated to between the 4th and 5th century CE, suggesting that the Ramayana legend was well established by the time of Kalidasa.<ref name=":1" />

The ''Mahabharata'' has a summary of the ''Ramayana''. The Jainism tradition has extensive literature of Rama as well, but generally refers to him as Padma, such as in the ''Paumacariya'' by Vimalasuri.<ref name=cort313/> Rama and Sita legend is mentioned in the Jataka tales of Buddhism, as ''[[Dasaratha Jataka|Dasaratha-Jataka]]'' (Tale no. 461), but with slightly different spellings such as ''Lakkhana'' for ''Lakshmana'' and ''Rama-pandita'' for ''Rama''.<ref name= Francis325>{{cite book|author1=H. T. Francis|author2=E. J. Thomas|title=Jataka Tales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WYjRAwAAQBAJ |year=1916|publisher=Cambridge University Press (Reprinted: 2014) |isbn=978-1-107-41851-6|pages=325–330}}</ref><ref name="cowell78">{{cite book|last1=Cowell|first1=E. B.|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.553497|title=The Jātaka: Or, Stories of the Buddha's Former Births|last2=Rouse|first2=WHD|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1901|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.553497/page/n94 78–82]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author-link=Suvira Jaiswal |first=Suvira|last=Jaiswal|title=Historical Evolution of Ram Legend|journal=Social Scientist|date=1993|volume=21|issue=3 / 4 March April 1993|pages=89–96|doi=10.2307/3517633|jstor=3517633}}</ref>

The chapter 4 of ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'', chapter 112 of ''[[Padma Purana]]'', chapter 143 of ''[[Garuda Purana]]'' and chapters 5 through 11 of ''[[Agni Purana]]'' also summarise the life story of Rama.{{sfn|Rocher|1986|p=84 with footnote 26}} Additionally, the Rama story is included in the ''[[Vana Parva]]'' of the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', which has been a part of evidence that the ''[[Ramayana]]'' is likely more ancient, and it was summarised in the ''Mahabharata'' epic in ancient times.<ref>{{cite book|author=Buitenen|first=J. A. B. van|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2QG_ZgsM13IC|title=The Mahabharata, Volume 2: Book 2: The Book of Assembly; Book 3: The Book of the Forest|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|year=1973|isbn=978-0-226-84664-4|pages=207–214}}</ref>