Valmiki

In Hindu mythology, a sage who is
regarded as the first poet, and who is traditionally cited as the author of the
Ramayana, the earlier of the two great
Sanskrit epics. According to legend,
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Valmiki
Valmiki is a bandit in his early life. One
day, one of his victims asks him
whether his family will also share the
sins he is committing, and when
Valmiki finds out that they will not, he
has a change of heart. He sits down in a
secluded place and begins to do japa
(recitation), but his heart is so blackened by his sins that the only words he
can say are “mara mara” (“death,
death”). After a long time the syllables
become reversed, and by reciting
“Rama Rama” he expiates his former
sins. This recitation is so long that a
colony of white ants (in Sanskrit,
named “valmika”) builds a hill over
him, and when he emerges from this he
is given the name Valmiki.
After his emergence, Valmiki builds
an ashram on the banks of the Tamasa
River and lives a quiet life. He gives shelter to Sita after she has been exiled from
Ayodhya by her husband, Rama, and
also cares for her sons, Lava and Kusha.
One day when Valmiki is walking by the
Tamasa River, he sees a hunter shoot a
pair of courting Krauncha birds, and in
his intense anger, his rebuke to the
hunter comes out in verse; according
to legend, this is the first poem ever
composed. After this first verse
composition, the god Brahma appears,
and at Brahma’s encouragement Valmiki
composes the Ramayana.