Origins of Indian Storytelling

One of the best resources on the history behind the Ramayana I found, was Wendy Doniger’s The Hindus, An Alternative History.   Doniger relates how the stories such as the Ramayana were created and transmitted by charioteers in the army, who told these stories to the troops round the camps at night.  I can imagine that this was used to inspire the troops for   

the long marches and battles which lie ahead.  Further, I speculate that these stories may have sparked discussions by the soldiers, perhaps discussions of honor and duty.   Valmiki’s Rama would have been quite an inspiration to these men as his archetype is clearly that of the warrior hero.