Terms & Conditions

Last updated: July 28, 2026

Legal, attribution, and licensing information for the Valmiki Ramayana Digital Seeding Project.

Project Purpose

The Valmiki Ramayana Digital Seeding Project is a non-commercial, educational initiative dedicated to:

Preservation: Digitizing the complete Sanskrit text of the Valmiki Ramayana for long-term accessibility
Accessibility: Providing the epic in multiple Indic scripts and modern English for global research and cultural audiences
Education: Supporting scholarship, cultural understanding, and public knowledge of classical Sanskrit literature
Open Research: Making the text freely available without paywalls or commercial restrictions

The project is not affiliated with any religious institution, sectarian organization, or commercial entity. It is governed by scholarly principles of textual preservation and fair use.

Sanskrit Text License

The Valmiki Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit text (composed ~500 BCE – 100 CE), predating all copyright regimes. The text itself is public domain globally.

This project asserts no copyright over:

Original Sanskrit text in any script (Devanagari, Telugu, Tamil, etc.)
ITRANS (ASCII transliteration) of the Sanskrit text
Verse locators (।।1.N.M।।)
Structural metadata (sarga titles, verse counts)

Users may freely:

Copy, redistribute, and modify the Sanskrit text
Create derivative works (commentaries, translations, analyses)
Use for commercial purposes (published editions, apps, etc.)
No attribution required (though appreciated)

English Translation License

This project synthesizes English translations from public-domain and Creative Commons sources, including:

ramayana.info (Creative Commons licensed)
valmikiramayan.net (Public domain adaptation)
wisdomlib.org (Creative Commons licensed)
Wikisource Griffith (Public domain — Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1870–1875)

License of synthesized translations: Creative Commons BY 4.0. Users may use, redistribute with attribution, and create derivative works, but may not claim sole authorship or remove attribution. Commercial use is allowed with attribution.

Project License: MIT

Copyright (c) 2026, Project JV (Valmiki Ramayana Digital Seeding). Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files, to deal in the software without restriction, subject to the standard MIT conditions. The software is provided “AS IS”, without warranty of any kind — see the Disclaimer for details.

User Terms & Conditions

Free Access

The project provides free, public access to Sanskrit text in ITRANS and Indic scripts, synthesized English translations, and sarga metadata. No login required. No paywalls. No hidden fees.

Permitted Uses

Read verses online via the web application
Download verse data for offline use
Create research summaries, notes, commentary
Share links to specific verses
Publish academic papers citing verses
Create derivative works (commentaries, apps, editions)
Translate into additional languages
Redistribute with proper attribution

Prohibited Uses

Remove or obscure attribution to source translations
Claim sole authorship of the project or translations
Violate individual source licenses (e.g., CC-BY requires attribution)
Use for defamation or hate speech targeting any religion or community
Spam project servers with automated requests

Intellectual Property

What We Own

Web application code (MIT licensed), build scripts and tooling (MIT licensed), project documentation (CC-BY 4.0), and curation/synthesis methodology.

What We Don’t Own

Sanskrit text (public domain), Griffith translation (public domain), source translations (CC-BY / CC-BY-SA licensed), and third-party libraries under their own licenses.

Accessibility & Accommodation

The project supports multiple Indic scripts, plain-English translation, and responsive design. Report accessibility issues to accounts@srisudarsana.org.

Changes to Terms

The project may update these terms over time; the “Last Updated” date above reflects the most recent change. Continued use after changes implies acceptance.

Questions & Contact

Email: accounts@srisudarsana.org

Summary

Sanskrit text: public domain, use freely
English translations: CC-BY 4.0, use with attribution
Web application code: MIT License
Documentation: CC-BY 4.0
Cost: free, no paywalls
Affiliation: independent, no religious or commercial affiliation
Accuracy guarantee: none — provided “as is”; see Disclaimer