Shambuka

Some say that the character and his story are an interpolation which is not found in the original Valmiki Ramayana but in a later addition called Uttara Kanda.

[1][2][disputed – discuss] According to this version, Shambuka, a shudra ascetic, was killed by the god Rama (protagonist of the Ramayana) for attempting to perform tapas (austerities) in violation of dharma, resulting in the bad karma which caused the death of a Brahmin's son.

The gods praised Rama for this act and congratulated him for protecting their interests and for not allowing shudra to attain heaven in person.

[1][4] The Uttara Kanda - dated to post-Vedic period (3rd to 2nd century BCE)[11] is regarded an interpolation to the original epic.

[23][24] Authors such as Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi treat the character of Shambuka as an interpolation and creation of a later period.

"[21] Similar criticisms have been made for centuries: the eighth-century play Uttararamacharita portrays Rama as regretful, and as forced by duty to kill Shambuka to uphold the social order.

[30] Indian social activist and politician Periyar vehmently criticized Rama for his mistreatment of the Shudras, citing Shambuka's example.

[32] Multiple plays have reimagined the story, variously modifying it to depict Rama as a servant of the ruling class (T. Ramaswamy Choudary's Sambuka Vadha (1920)), to have Shambuka act as mouthpiece for anti-caste scholars (Thiruvarur K. Thangaraju's Ramayana Natakam (1954)), or to have Shambuka live and instead help the Brahmin who accused him to achieve enlightenment (Kuvempu's Shudra Tapasvi (1944)).