The Ramayana, one of the two major Hindu epics, was composed by Rishi Valmiki. Various scholars have tried to find out whether there are any references to the Ramayana story or its characters before the Valmiki Ramayana. German Indologist Hermann Jacobi published a scholarly analysis of the Ramayana in 1893. In it, he proposed that the latter half of the Ramayana, which deals with Rama’s campaign against Ravana, was based on some mythological elements from the earliest Veda, the Rigveda.
In the Rigveda, Sita is mentioned as an agricultural goddess. She is a divinity of the ploughed field. She is adorned with lotuses and is the wife of the rain god. The character of Sita in the Valmiki Ramayana has some similarity to it. Sita is said to have emerged from the earth when King Janaka of Mithila was ploughing the land. At the end of Ramayana, Sita disappears back into the earth.
The depiction of Sri Rama in the Ramayana is somewhat similar to that of Indra in the Vedas. Rama’s fight with the demon Ravana has some reflections of Indra’s fight with the demon Vritra. In the Vedas, Vritra is shown as a personification of drought, who imprisoned the rivers of the world. Indra waged a war with him and liberated the rivers. In the Ramayana, Ravana imprisoned Sita, and was defeated by Rama. Another connection is Ravana’s son being called Indrajit, which means one who had defeated Indra. His being mentioned as the enemy of Indra is similar to Vritra being called an enemy of Indra.
Sri Rama belonged to the Ikshvaku dynasty. Ikshvakus are mentioned in the Rigveda and the Atharvaveda. A king Dasharatha is mentioned, and the word Rama also occurs several times. Janaka, who is the foster father of Sita in the Ramayana, is also mentioned in the Vedas as a realised soul. Hanuman, who is mentioned in the Ramayana as the chief of monkeys, is the son of Marut, the wind god. In the Vedas, Indra is assisted by the Maruts, storm deities. The name Sarama appears in the Vedas as a dog who crosses the River Rasa for Indra’s sake and locates the cows that have been captured. In the Ramayana, the name appears as a demoness who consoles Sita while she is imprisoned by Ravana in Lanka.
There is no unanimity among scholars as to whether the Valmiki Ramayana is based on some stories that existed prior to it. No proof can show it conclusively, but the occurrence of character names and slight similarity of plot suggest that it is possible that, to some extent, Valmiki may have taken inspiration from the Vedas.