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Debendra K. DashDipti R. Pattanaik 45claims of authorship and ownership of texts. A deeper ideologicalanalysis is called for to map the contours of the problematic field inquestion.Section V: Texts and Ideologies“The king of spirits said, ‘there have been as many Ramas asthere are rings on this platter. When you return to earth, you will notfind Rama. This incarnation of Rama is now over. Whenever anincarnation of Rama is about to be over, his ring falls down. I collectthem and keep them. Now you can go.’ So Hanuman left.”This is how the story cited in Ramanujan’s essay “ThreeHundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts onTranslation” ends. The story narrates how one day Rama’s ring felloff, made a hole on the ground and vanished into the nether world.Asked to go in search of the ring, Hanuman arrived there and metthe king of spirits. As the king of spirits was asking him to chooseRama’s ring from amongst a bunch of identical rings, the time ofthat particular Ramayana was over. Then the king explained toHanuman that since that particular Ramayana was over, by the timehe returned, Rama would be gone. In addition, there are numerousRamas as there are several Ramayanas. This story signifies theexistence of multiple discourses around a single theme in the Indianmythological and epistemological tradition. This multiplicity ofdiscourses not only challenges the contemporary notions ofauthorship and ownership of texts but also counters the traditionalperception of classical Indian episteme as being conservative,stifling any kind of growth. There are at least four distinct literarytraditions around the myth of Rama. The central tradition aroundValmiki’s text is apparently conservative with liberal strains hereand there. Rama the protagonist is represented in this tradition, notas the ultimate Godhead but as the best among humans. The example