u/Remarkable-Piano-434

Do scholars generally read things like Hanuman flying or Rama’s divine weapons as narrative/mythic devices, even if it is believed there’s a historical part underneath the epic? And if so, is the agnipariksha also read as a literary device? What does that say about the patriarchal society back then?

Does that change how we should read Rama’s role in demanding it? Or is that a separate symbolism that might explain the culture/author’s assumptions about what counts as proof, but Rama (the character) still chooses to invoke it?

And what is the historical layer behind it? What did Rama actually do, if that part is read as symbolic?

I don’t get the logic of the purity test in the Ramayana. None of it was her choice, regardless of what did or didn’t happen during it. But Rama demanded public proof of her “purity” and the scene treats her body status as something that needs verification, it’s not framed as “did you betray me”, it’s framed as “prove that you are untouched”. When a woman returns from being held captive, the obvious assumption isn’t that she might have cheated it’s about what was done to her against her will. But the text frames it as “prove your purity,” as if infidelity were the live question rather than assault. Did ancient purity concepts even have a notion of consent, or was chastity treated as a physical state independent of will? And if it was like that it’s not expected of ram, someone that’s considered a reincarnation of god to consider one’s “purity” and check if she was assaulted or not.