Dear David,

Bob is of course best able to respond in the case of Rāmāyaṇa, but my impression is that the post-Vedic
use of the aorist is not so rare as you suggest. A good example to consider is Aśvaghoṣa, particularly in
Saundarananda, in which he displays his virtuosity in the conjugation systems by making plentiful use of unusual
aorist forms. In kãvya I rather doubt that this alone can be taken as evidence of antiquity. Rather, the aorist
seems to be deliberately employed to display erudition.

best,
Matthew