{"id":2199,"date":"2026-07-13T13:20:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T13:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/?page_id=2199"},"modified":"2026-07-13T13:20:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T13:20:52","slug":"gauri-kulkarni-and-madhavi-narsalay","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/?page_id=2199","title":{"rendered":"Gauri Kulkarni and Madhavi Narsalay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">GAURI KULKARNI&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; gaurikulkarni608@gmail.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MADHAVI NARSALAY\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 madhavinarsalay@yahoo.com<br>University of Mumbai<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">THE SENTIENT FOREST AS A UNIQUE PERSONA IN THE <em>V\u0100LM\u012aKI R\u0100M\u0100YA\u1e46A<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This paper presents a new reading of the <em>Ara\u1e47yak\u0101\u1e47\u1e0da<\/em> in the <em>V\u0101lm\u012bki R\u0101m\u0101ya\u1e47a<\/em>, moving away from the common view that the forest is merely a passive background for the hero\u2019s journey. Instead, it argues that the Da\u1e47\u1e0dak\u0101ra\u1e47ya forest functions as a sentient entity with its own legal and strategic power. The study suggests that the successful rescue of S\u012bt\u0101 and the restoration of Dharma were not just human achievements, but were structurally dependent on the forest acting as a intelligence network. Drawing on ancient philosophical concepts, the paper establishes that the Da\u1e47\u1e0dak\u0101ra\u1e47ya possesses the \u201csentience\u201d required to serve as a legal witness. The analysis explains how the forest performs \u201cForensic Custodianship\u201d by intentionally stopping the natural decay of flowers to preserve evidence of the abduction. It also explores how the forest uses animal proxies to transfer its memory of the event to R\u0101ma, providing the vital directions he needs to continue his quest. Finally, the paper connects the forest\u2019s actions to the legal standards of the <em>Manusm\u1e5bti<\/em> and the strategic logic of the <em>Artha\u015b\u0101stra<\/em>. It demonstrates that the Da\u1e47\u1e0dak\u0101ra\u1e47ya provides the state\u2019s evidence and intelligence necessary to justify R\u0101ma\u2019s campaign as a righteous war (<em>dharma-yuddha<\/em>). Ultimately, this research proposes a model where the landscape itself acts as a guardian of truth, ensuring that justice is maintained by the entire ecosystem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GAURI KULKARNI&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; gaurikulkarni608@gmail.com MADHAVI NARSALAY\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 madhavinarsalay@yahoo.comUniversity of Mumbai THE SENTIENT FOREST AS A UNIQUE PERSONA IN THE V\u0100LM\u012aKI R\u0100M\u0100YA\u1e46A This paper presents a new reading of the Ara\u1e47yak\u0101\u1e47\u1e0da in the V\u0101lm\u012bki R\u0101m\u0101ya\u1e47a, moving away from the common view that the forest is merely a passive background for the hero\u2019s journey. Instead, it argues that the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2199","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2200,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2199\/revisions\/2200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}