In terms of Time Ramayana took place after the Vedas.
However there is a view that The Ramayana was during the close of the final portions of the Vedas.
Krita Yuga,also called the Satya Yuga, which preceded the Treta Yuga when Ramayana took place.
It was considered to be perfect Yuga where people were Righteous to the core.
People had a Life span of 100,000 years.
There is no Avatar as there was no necessity.
But the question remains as to who were these people in this Yuga and where does Daksha fit in.
Now on to the Rig Veda and the Ramayana.
It will be an internal contradiction to have Ramayana quoted in the Rig Veda as Ramayana was later to Vedas.
Even if we accept the view that the Ramayana happened during the closing years of the Vedas, then what about yajur Veda which was practised in the Ramayana.
This can be resolved only if all the Vedas were grasped at the same time..
However there is reference to Ramayana and Rama in the Rig Veda.
There is a Rama Rahasya Upanishad in the Vedas.
Please read my post on this.
There is also a verse in the Rig Veda on the name Rama.
“14 This to Duḥśīma Pṛthavāna have I sung, to Vena, Rama, to the nobles, and the King.
They yoked five hundred, and their love of us was famed upon their way.
15 Besides, they showed us seven-and-seventy horses here.
Tānva at once displayed his gift, Pārthya at once displayed his gift; and straightway Māyava showed his.” XCIII Visvedevas.
Vena is the ancestor of Rama.
In the absence of Dasaratha reference, some dispute the name Rama as the Rama of Ramayana.
There is an interesting note found in the Bala Kanda of Ramayana.
Valmiki wrote that he wrote the Ramayana to expound The Vedas.
“kushiilavau tu dharmaGYau raajaputrau yashasvinau |
bhraatarau svarasampannau dadarsha aashramavaasinau ||
sa tu medhaavinau dR^ishhTvaa vedeShu pariniShThitau |
vedopabR^ihmaNaarthaaya taavagraahayata prabhuh ||
kaavyaM raamaayaNaM kR^itsnaM siitaayaashcharitaM mahat.h|
paulastya vadhamityeva chakaara charitavrataH||
(vAlmIki-rAmAyaNa–bAlakANDa 1.4.5-7)
The princes, the brothers, Kusha and Lava, were knowledgeable about Dharma and were glorious. Their voices were melodious and they lived in the hermitage of (vAlmIki). He (vAlmIki), established in good deeds, observed those two extremely intelligent (princes), skilled in the Vedas, and for the sake of expounding the Vedas, he composed and made them study the poem sampUrNa-rAmAyaNa (the entire rAmAyaNa) (containing) the great story of sItA and the slaying of rAvaNa.
These verses from the vAlmIki-rAmAyaNa clearly show that the sage vAlmIki composed the rAmAyaNa to expound the meaning of the Vedas.
Since rAmAyaNa is based on the Vedas, there must be mantras in the Vedas that correspond to the immortal story of rAma. It is with this objective that nIlakaNTha, the great commentator on the mahAbhArata, has presented, with his own wonderful commentary, the mantra-rAmAyaNa. The mantra-rAmAyaNa is a compilation of Riks from the R^ig Veda that narrate the story of rAma or the rAmAyaNa.”…
For this reason, vAlmIki bases the twenty-four thousand verses of the rAmAyaNa on the twenty-four akshhara’s (syllables) of the gAyatrI mantra (of the Vedas).
nIlakaNTha quotes from the agastya-saMhitA to further support the fact that the rAmAyaNa story is drawn from the Vedas:
vedavedaye pare puMsi jAte dasharathAtmaje |
vedaH prAchetasAdAsIt.h sAxAdrAmAyaNAtmanA |
tasmAdrAmAyaNaM devi veda eva na saMshayaH ||…
http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/articles/rig_vedic_ramayana/rig_vedic_ramayana-1.htm
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