The Ramayana (/ r ɑː ˈ m ɑː j ə n ə /; [1] [2] Sanskrit: रामायणम्, romanized: Rāmāyaṇam [3]), also known as Valmiki Ramayana, as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics of Hinduism known as the Itihasas, the other ...