ॐ Hindu Of Universe ॐ
“God’s light is within you, It never leaves you.”
Valmiki Avatar
“Enlightened sage,” Ratnakar once said to Narada, “I’m plagued by profound grief that haunts me. Please, teach me how to rid myself of it.”
Narada, filled with compassion, shared the wisdom of a sacred mantra, Lord Rama’s name, with Ratnakar. He conveyed that through unwavering devotion and faith in the repetition of Rama’s name, Ratnakar could cleanse his mind and discover inner peace. Initially doubtful, Ratnakar’s heart warmed to Narada’s words, and he decided to embrace the mantra’s practice.
As Ratnakar began chanting, he heard ‘Mara,’ a word of negativity, instead of ‘Rama,’ which troubled him deeply. He shared his doubts with Narada.
“O sage, I can’t focus on this mantra; it becomes ‘Mara’ whenever I try to chant ‘Rama,’” Ratnakar confessed.
Narada, with compassion, replied, “Young one, I understand your problem. If you hear it as ‘Mara,’ then just chant ‘Mara,’ and soon you’ll hear ‘Rama.’”
Ratnakar chanted, “Mara, Mara, Mara,” and it began to work. Gradually, he heard ‘Rama’ instead of ‘Mara.’ With each repetition, his mind cleared, and peace filled his heart. He realized Narada was right; Rama’s name had transformative power.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Ratnakar continued chanting Rama’s name, transforming into a kinder, more compassionate person. He abandoned his life of theft, dedicating himself to devotion and service. You will get the full story of the transformation of Valmiki in avatars of Brahma, stories of India’s greatest Yogis.
Valmiki is the revered sage and author of the epic Ramayana. As an avatar of Brahma, Valmiki played a significant role in narrating the story of Lord Rama and his wife Sita. The Ramayana serves as a moral and spiritual guide that teaches the values of dharma, duty, and righteousness. Valmiki’s divine wisdom and knowledge of the Vedas were acquired through the Bhakti of lord Rama making him a prominent figure in Hinduism.
About Valmiki
Maharishi (the great sage) claims the distinction of being the author of the holy epic ‘Ramayana’, consisting of 24,000 verses. He is also believed to be the author of Yoga Vasistha, a text that elaborates on a range of philosophical issues. There are different versions regarding the time period and life of Valmiki. The Valmiki Ramayana is believed to be dated variously from the period 500 BC to 100BC. But at the same time Valmiki is also said to be the contemporary of Lord Rama. Sita took refuge in her Ashram where Lava and Kusa were born. Against this backdrop, the period of Valmiki is likely to date back to thousand of years.
There is much controversy regarding the life of Maharishi Valmiki. There is a age old belief th;at before turning into a sage Valmiki was a highway robber called Ratnakara. This widely accepted story has been explained in detail below. But a judgement given by Justice Rajive Bhalla of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the year 2010 could change an age-old belief about Maharsihi Valmiki. Justice Bhalla quoted the research done by the head of the Maharishi Valmiki Chair of the Punjabi University, Patiala, Manjula Sehdev, and said that,”actual facts appear to be lost in the mists of antiquity.” The judge stated the salient features of the research, saying that “from Vedic literature up to 9th century AD, there is no reference as such that Maharishi Valmiki led a life of a dacoit or highwayman.” It was also stated that in his own work ‘Ramayana’, Valmiki is called Bhagwan, Muni, Rishi and Maharishi and no reference of his highwaymanship is available there.
Early Life
Maharishi Valmiki was born as Ratnakara to sage Prachetasa. At a very young age, Ratnakara went into the forest and got lost. A hunter, who was passing by, saw Ratnakara and took him under his own care. Under the love and care of his foster parents, Ratnakara forgot his original parents. Under his father’s guidance, Ratnakara turned out to be an excellent hunter. As he approached marriageable age, Ratnakara was married to a beautiful girl from hunter’s family.
Turning into a Robber
As his family grew larger, Ratnakara found it next to impossible to feed them. As a result, he took to robbery and began looting people passing from one village to another.
Meeting with Narada and Transformation
One day, the great sage Narada, while passing through the jungle, was attacked by Ratnakara. As Narada played his Veena and sang praises of the Lord, he saw a transformation coming over Ratnakara. Then, he asked Ratnakara whether the family, for whom he was robbing others, will partake in his sins also. Ratnakara went to ask the same question to his family and on being refused by all his family members, he went back to sage Narada. Narada taught him the sacred name of ‘Rama’ and asked him to sit in meditation, chanting the name of Rama, till the time Narada came back.
Ratnakara followed the instructions and kept sitting in a meditative posture for years, during which his body got completely covered by an anthill. At last, Narada came to see him and removed all the anthills from his body. Then, he told Ratnakara that his tapasya (meditation) paid off and the God was pleased with him. Ratnakara was bestowed with the honor of a Brahmarshi and given the name of Valmiki, since he was reborn from the Valmika (the ant-hill). Sage Valmiki founded his ashram at the banks of River Ganga.
Receiving Lord Rama
One day, Valmiki had the fortuity of receiving Lord Rama, His wife Sita and brother Lakshman at his ashram. On Valmiki’s suggestion, Lord Rama built his hut on Chitrakuta hill, near the ashram.
Writing Ramayana
Narada visited Maharishi Valmiki in his ashram once and there, he narrated the story of Lord Rama. Thereafter he received a vision from Brahma in which the Lord instructed him to write Ramayana in slokas, which the sage readily followed.
Valmiki Was a Great Sage and Author of The Ramayana
Maharshi Valmiki, the author of the great Indian epic Ramayana, was a Hindu sage who lived around the beginning of the first millennium B.C. He is referred to as the ‘adikavi’, the original creator of the Hindu ‘sloka’ — a verse form in which most of the great epics such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas, and other works are composed.
How Valmiki Got His Name
He was a Brahman by birth belonging to the lineage of Bhrigu. Fate consigned him to a family of robbers which brought him up. Accidental contact with the Saptarsis — the Seven Sages and with the sage Narada changed his life. By the repetition of Ramanama or the name of Ram, he attained the supreme state of a ‘maharshi’ or great sage. Since a ‘valmika’ or an anthill had grown over his body during his long period of austerities and poised state of penance, he came to be known as Valmiki.
The Epic Vision
When the mythical sage Narada came to his hermitage, Valmiki who received him with due honor, posed a question — who was an ideal man? The reply came from Narada in the form of Samkshepa Ramayana which formed the foundation on which the magnificent 24,000 verse edifice was built by Valmiki. Then, immersed deep into this story, Valmiki left for the river Tamasa with his disciple Bharadwaj. The pleasant and placid river reminded the seer of the mature and modest quality of his hero. He visualized a pure and pious man’s mind reflected in the deep waters. In the next instant, he witnessed a heartless hunter mercilessly killing a male bird that was in love with its mate.
The piteous wailing of the distressed female moved the heart of the sage so much that he spontaneously uttered a curse on the hunter. However, this curse came out of his mouth in the form of a ‘sloka’, a perfectly metrical composition, which surprised the sage himself: “No — You shall not command any respect in society for a long time as you have shot dead an innocent bird engrossed in love”. The sage had turned into a poet.
Lord Brahma’s Command
His powerful emotions found an equally powerful medium for their manifestation. It was a spontaneous outburst of his inner voice motivated by divine will. When he returned to his hermitage, Brahma (the four-faced God, the creator), appeared to him and commanded him to compose an epic poem on the story of Ram as he had heard it from the great sage Narada, in his newly discovered meter. He also gave him the boon of the visions of all the incidents and the revelation of all the secrets connected with the story. Accordingly, Valmiki composed the epic, named it The Ramayana — the way or the conduct or the life story of Ram — the story of Ram’s march in search of truth and righteousness.
A contemporary of the heroes of the Ramayana, Maharshi Valmiki gives very little information about himself since he was a sage who had completely dedicated his life to contemplation on God and service to humanity. History has no account of his life except that he figures briefly and modestly on two occasions in the course of the epic he wrote:
Valmiki’s Cameo in Ramayana
He is one of the first sages whose hermitage Ram visits along with his wife and brother on his way to Chitrakoot after leaving Ayodhya. Valmiki welcomes them with love, affection, and reverence and utters just one-word ‘asyatam’ (be seated). He feels honored when Ram accepts his request and sits a while.
The other occasion is when Ram banishes Sita, it is Valmiki that shelters her and rears up her twin sons Luv and Kush. When they recite the epic poem in his royal court, Ram invites Valmiki and requests him to bring Sita along so she can prove her chastity before the elders and sages. Valmiki is offended yet keeps his composure and says Sita would comply with Ram’s wishes for he is her husband. While presenting Sita in the Mandapa (prayer hall) Valmiki utters words that highlight the penance and perseverance which Valmiki practiced his entire life.
In His Own Words
“I am the tenth son of the sage Prachetas. You belong to the great dynasty of Raghu. I do not remember to have uttered any lie so far in my life. I say that these two boys are your sons. I performed penance for thousands of years. I shall not accept the fruit of all my penance if there is any blemish in Maithili (Sita). I never entertained any ignoble thought, I never wronged any person, and I never spoke any vulgar word — I shall derive the benefit thereof only if Maithili is void of sin.”
A True Sage
Valmiki was truly a Maharshi. I Panduranga Rao describes Valmiki in these words: “He was purity, penance, benevolence, and meditation personified and the sole object of his dedication and contemplation was Man, a man leaves his selfish existence and lives for others identifying himself with the composite culture of the cosmic creation.” The only work available of the great sage-poet, The Ramayana, has established the poet’s timeless fame.
Bibliography
Makers of Indian Literature: Valmiki by I Panduranga Rao (Sahitya Akademi) 1994
Studies on Valmiki’s Ramayana by GS Altekar (Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute) 1987
Maharshi Valmiki by Chalasani Subbaro (Machilipatnam) 1988
Introduction to Sage Valmiki
Valmiki
Valmiki is a great sage and an equally great poet. He is believed to have lived in the time of Lord Rama, during the epoch Treta Yuga. He is the composer of the epic Ramayana, which narrates the story of Lord Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, who is also regarded and worshipped as the 7th Avatar of Lord Vishnu. Valmiki’s Ramayana is a colossal epic poem sung in Sanskrit and consists of as many as 24,000 verses spread across seven chapters or cantos.
Significance of Sage Valmiki
Though the sage grew up as a hunter, he got enlightened with his life’s mission from the holy saint Narada and became a much-revered sage. He is hailed as the harbinger poet of Sanskrit literature. His work Ramayana is considered as Adi Kavya, the first epic poem and hence, Valmiki, its creator, is hailed as Adi Kavi, the first poet that the world has seen.
Mythology behind Sage Valmiki
The legend of Valmiki gives a remarkable account of the transformation of a ruthless dacoit into a great sage. He was born as Ratnakara, to sage Prachetasa, but somehow was lost in the forest, when he was young. Found and brought up by a hunter under the name Valia Koli, he became a hunter, got married in due course and begot children.
However, unable to support his family, he soon began robbing travelers and people passing through the forests. He harmed them too and gradually he grew into a feared dacoit, merciless in dealing with those who landed in his hands. Once, the great sage Narada was passing through the region and Valia stopped him for robbing whatever he possessed. When Narada asked him whether he knew what he was doing, the dacoit replied that he had no option, as that was the only means that he knew of supporting his family. However, the smiling sage threw at him, a very pertinent question, asking if his family members, for whom he was committing such heinous crimes, would be willing to share the burden of the sins he was accumulating. Valia was taken aback by this poser, ran to his house, and was shocked to find that none in the family was willing to accept even an iota of his massive sins. Thoroughly disillusioned, he ran back, fell at Narada’s feet and pleaded with him to save him. Under Narada’s guidance, Valia made a clean break from his past, and undertook a very severe penance, meditating towards God without any other thoughts in his mind. Years rolled by and his body was entirely covered with anthills. At last, with all his sins dissolved, he blossomed into a great sage and was called as Valmiki, ‘the one, who was born out of the anthill.’
Also, it was sage Narada once again, under whose prompting that Valmiki undertook the task of writing the sacred text Ramayana, the life history of Rama, who was the symbol of righteousness, the embodiment of innumerable noble traits and a very important incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Valmiki was not only the author of the immense poem but also remained as an important character in it. Rama, while in exile in the forest, visited Valmiki in his Ashram along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, and it was only on his advice that they stayed in Chitrakoot, near the sage’s Ashram. Also, when Rama was constrained to banish his pregnant wife Sita to the forest, it was Valmiki who gave shelter to her in his Ashram, where she delivered her twin boys, Lav and Kush. Valmiki was also their teacher and Guru, who taught the young boys, all that the princes need to learn and master. He also told them the life history of Rama and was instrumental in them joining their illustrious father.
Blessings of Worshipping Sage Valmiki
Valmiki is a great saint who is revered and worshipped by people all over the country, and his idols can be seen in many temples, especially in the ones dedicated to Lord Rama. It is also believed that Valmiki did penance in Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, where a shrine is exclusively devoted to him. Worshipping him on his birthday can fill your aura with purity and happiness.
Events Related to Sage Valmiki
Maharishi Valmiki Jayanthi is observed in commemoration of the birth of this great sage. This occasion is also known as Valmiki Jayanthi and falls on the Purnima, Full Moon day in the month of Ashwin (Sep-Oct). People celebrate this day by taking out processions with the images of the saint poet, and by chanting hymns from his epic Ramayana and singing songs in his praise.
Maharishi Valmiki : Composer of Shri Ramayana
Introduction
Sage Valmiki is a great sage, a Brahmarshi; and he also gave the ‘Ramayana’ which the world can never forget. It is one of the great epics of the world. People of other countries read it in their own languages. The study of the ‘Ramayana can reform our lives. We can never forget Sage Valmiki who gave this great epic to us. Let us offer our salutations to that great sage and bard.
Sage Valmiki’s ‘Ramayana’ is the very first such poem in Sanskrit. Therefore, it is also called the ‘Adi-Kavya’ or – the First Poem; Sage Valmiki is also known as the ‘Adi-Kavi’, which means the First Poet.
The poet, who composed ‘Ramayana’ and taught the song and story to Lava and Kusha, was a great sage by name Sage Valmiki. How this man became a sage and a singer-poet is itself a very interesting story. Sage Valmiki’s Ramayana is in the Sanskrit language. It is a very beautiful poem.
Sage Valmiki’s ‘Ramayana’ can be sung. It is delightful to the ear like the sound of the cuckoo. Sage Valmiki has been described as a cuckoo on the tree of poetry, singing sweetly. Those who read the ‘Ramayana’ bow to the great Sage Valmiki first and then turn to the epic.
Writing of the Great Epic Ramayana
Sage Valmiki went to the river Ganga to bathe. A disciple by name Bharadwaja was with him carrying his clothes. On the way they came across the Tamasa Stream. The water in it was very clear. Sage Valmiki said to his disciple, “Look, how clear is this water, like the mind of a good man! I will bathe here today.”
Sage Valmiki was looking for a suitable place to step into the stream, when he heard the sweet chirping of birds. Looking up he saw two birds flying together. Sage Valmiki felt very pleased on seeing the happy bird couple.
Just then one of the birds fell down hit by an arrow. It was the male bird. Seeing the wounded one, its mate was screaming in agony. Sage Valmiki’s heart melted at this pitiful sight. He looked around to find out who had shot the bird. He saw a hunter with a bow and arrows, nearby. The hunter had shot the bird for food. Sage Valmiki was very angry. His lips opened and words came out: “You, who have killed one of a happy couple, may you not yourself live long!” A shloka was born out of his sorrow.
‘mAnishAda pratishTAtum samagah ssAshvatIssamAh
yat krouncha mithunAdEkam sokam avadhIm kAma mOhitam’
Meaning: You will find no rest for the long years of Eternity. For you killed a bird in love and unsuspecting
The sad plight of the birds had moved Sage Valmiki to curse the hunter, but yet he felt very unhappy, because he had cursed him. He expressed his sorrow to Bharadwaja who was with him. He was equally surprised that a shloka should have come from his lips. As he walked back to his ashram and also later, he thought only of the shloka.
While Sage Valmiki’s mind dwelt so intensely on the shloka that had sprung from his lips, Brahma, the Lord of Creation, appeared before him. He said to Sage Valmiki, “O great sage, the shloka which came from your lips was inspired by me. Now you will write the ‘Ramayana’ in the form of Shlokas. Narada has narrated to you the story of the ‘Ramayana’. You will see with your own eyes all that happened. Whatever you say will be true. Your words shall be truth. As long as there are rivers and mountains in the world, people will read the ‘Ramayana’.” So Lord Brahma blessed him and disappeared.
Sage Valmiki wrote the ‘Ramayana’. He taught the Shlokas first to the sons of Sri Rama, Lava and Kusha. They were born twins in Sage Valmiki’s ashram and grew up there.
Valmiki is celebrated as the harbinger of Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic, Ramayana. He is referred to as the ‘adikavi’, the innovative creator of the Hindu ‘sloka’, a verse form in which most of the great epics such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas, and other works were created. He was the only person in ancient India who was the scholar in both Sanskrit and Tamil.
Early Life of Valmiki
Valmiki was a Brahman by birth belonging to the family of Bhrigu. Valmiki was born as Agni Sharma. Valmiki was born with legendary tones and strings to become a Hindu sage. He was the 10th child of Pracheta. Maharshi Valmiki belongs from a Kirata Bhil community, which was essentially a backward caste community. According to myth, once he met with the great sage Narada and had a conversation with him on his duties. Motivated by Narada’s words, Agni Sharma began to perform self-punishment and recited the word “Mara” which meant “kill”. As he performed self-punishment for numerous years, the word became “Rama”, the name of Lord Vishnu. Huge anthills formed around Agni Sharma and this earned him the name of ‘Valmiki’.
Incarnation of Valmiki
Vishnudharmottara Purana says that Maharshi Valmiki was born in the Treta Yuga as an appearance of Lord Brahma who composed the epic Ramayana. He was later reincarnated as Tulsidas, who wrote the famous Ramcharitamanas, which was an Awadhi-Hindi description of the epic Ramayana.
Works of Valmiki
Valmiki used a lot of descriptions and metaphor in his works. His epics are very expressive. He used a mixture of short and long sentences that gives resourcefulness to his works. In one place, 38 lines (19 verses) make a single sentence. Perhaps the earliest retelling of Valmiki’s poem can be found in the pages of that vast ocean of stories that one acknowledges as the Mahabharata. When Dwaipayana-Vyasa, more popularly known today as Ved Vyas, composed his equally legendary epic, he retold the story of the Ramayana in one passage.
Maharishi Valmiki is acknowledged by various Indian communities as the author of the ‘Yoga Vasistha’; this specific piece of work was instructed to Lord Rama when he had turned cynical towards the world at large. The ‘Yoga Vasistha’ is an unsurpassed piece of text which discusses a broad array of philosophical issues. Moreover, it appears to have been penned more than 5000 years ago. In Valmiki’s hermitage he taught both girl and boy students. Valmiki is also known to have given Sita shelter after her deportation from Ayodhya.
Legends of Valmiki
Approximately three thousand years ago, Valmiki was residing in a remote forest ashram, practising asceticism with his disciples. Some days later, Valmiki witnessed a hunter, killing a ‘kraunchya’ (crane) bird. The crane’s partner was left disheartened and shed tears ceaselessly. Valmiki was overpowered by anger at the hunter’s action and grieved at the bird’s loss. After his anger and sorrow were cooled down, he was in a mood to question his outrage. After so many years of practising meditation and asceticism, he was not successful to master his own emotions.
For a while he had abandoned all hope, but then he recollected the story Narada had recited to him. He thought about the significances of the story, about the options weighed by the protagonist and how he had indeed demonstrated great command over his own thoughts, words, deeds and feelings. Valmiki felt inspired by the reminiscence and was filled with a calm composure, such as he had never felt before. As he recalled the tale of that perfect man of whom Narada had spoken, he discovered that he was enumerating it in a specific metre and rhythm. Right away, Valmiki resolved to compose his own version of the story, using the new form of metre, that others might hear it and be as invigorated as he was.
After all, this was not his story; it was a tale told to him; a tale of a real man and real events. At this point, Valmiki was visited by Lord Brahma himself. The Creator of the universe assured him to set his worries apart and begin framing the work he had in mind. Lord Brahma instructed Valmiki to recite the tale of Rama as he had heard it from Narada. Lord Brahma also instructed him to recite those deeds of Rama, his adventures, his battles, the acts of Sita etc. Valmiki had that intention to write as per instructed, so that Rama’s tale may prevail on earth for as long as the mountains and the rivers exist.
He began to write his poem. He titled it, ‘Rama-yana’, meaning literally. The first thing Valmiki realised after wrapping his composition was that it was incomplete. During his time and age, a bard would generally recite his compositions himself, possibly earning some favour or payment in coin or kind. But Valmiki knew that while the structure of the story was his creation, the story itself belonged to all his countrymen. He recalled Brahma’s exhortation that Rama’s story must prevail on earth for as long as the mountains and the rivers exist. Hence, he taught it to his disciples, among whose numbers were two young boys whose mother had sought refuge with him years ago. Those two boys were Luv and Kusa. In time, destiny brought them before the very Rama illustrated in the poem. Rama recognised at once that the poem mentioned him and comprehended that these boys could be none other than his sons by the ostracised Sita. Valmiki himself then appeared before Rama and adjured him to take back Sita.
Valmiki’s Sanskrit rendition of the tale was a luminous work under any parameter, ancient or modern. Its appeal, beauty and originality are honestly matchless. It is a true masterwork of Indian literature, the ‘adi-kavya’ which stands as the fountainhead of Indian cultural proof.
Life & Works Of Maharishi Valmiki
One of the biggest contributions of sage Valmiki to Hindus is the historic epic of Ramayana. Originally Ramayana was written in Sanskrit, by Valmiki in form of Slokas and is known as Valmiki Ramayana. It contained 24,000 verses The Valmiki Ramayana is dated variously from 500 BC to 100 BC, but, over years as there have been many interpolations and redactions it is nearly impossible to date its origin accurately.
There is also a religious movement called Valmikism that is solely based on Valmiki’s teachings and principles.
His early life:
Maharishi Valmiki was born as Ratnakara to sage Prachetasa. At a very young age he went to the forest and got lost. A hunter that was passing by saw him and took him under his own care, over the years he forgot his original parents under the parenthood of his newly found parents. Later when he grew up, he was married to a girl from a hunter’s family.
Turning into a robber:
Being bought up in a poor hunter’s family, he didn’t have any measures to feed his family, so he started to hunt in the forests. He robbed the people passing through the forests.
Meeting Narada:
One day when saint Narada was passing by the forest, he was attacked by Ratnakar. While Narada was playing his Veena and praising Lord Rama, he saw a transformation in Ratnakar. He then asked Ratnakar, if the family for which he was robbing others ,will share his sins also. Ratnakar went to his home and asked the same question to his family, to which he received a negative answer.
He immediately went back to Narada, Who taught him to meditate with chanting the name of Lord Rama, till he came back.
Ratnakar got so immersed in the mediation over years that when Narada returned, he saw that Ratnakar was totally covered by ant-hills. He immediately removed all the ant-hills from his body and told Ratnakar that his Tapasya has paid of and that the Lord was pleased with him. Ratnakara was bestowed with the honor of a Brahmarshi and given the name of Valmiki, since he was reborn from the Valmika (the ant-hill). Sage Valmiki founded his ashram at the banks of River Ganga.
Maharshi-Valmiki.jpg
Writing Ramayana:
One day when in the ashram of Valmiki, Narada narrated him the story of Lord Rama. After that Valmiki received a vision from Brahma in which the lord instructed him to write Ramayana in form of slokas, Which he obediently followed.