Valmiki has accomplished in Ramayana an immortal epic heralded as Adi Kavya since a literary accomplishment of such grandeur was unprecedented in the history of Sanskrit, the classical language of India. This work has also given him the honour of being deemed as the Adi Kavi or the first bard in Sanskrit.
Ramayana is an expository of morals that humans must adorn their lives with. Down the history, Ramayana has been translated in to several languagea nd is fevently read by the people of the earth across geographies. Valmiki was a great singer as well as a poet and therefore he has set this work in a way to be sung in melodious tunes.
There is an interesting background why Valmiki wrote Ramayana. Having taken birth in a noble Brahmin family, Ratnakar (the original name of Valimiki) fell in to bad company and evil ways and turned a robber. Once a sage passed by him who advised him to turn good. He too said that the sins he accumulated through such a life had to be atoned somehow.
Ratnakar went home and stated to his wife and children thus. I am involved in this robbery only for your sake. As you people share all my earnings, will you too share the sins I accumulate through this evil profession? They all instantly refused to do so and said it was left to him how he earned and they will never be able to account for his sins.
This incident turned Valmiki a noble man. He resorted to penance and a huge anthill covered him in course of time giving him the name Valmiki. Valmiki chanted the name of Sri Rama which transformed him into a noble soul. His austere life in the hermitage made him a great scholar and a singer.
Once when he was strolling in the silent forest enjoying nature, a couple of birds were singing on the tree happily. A hunter shot at the female bird which fell down dead causing agony to its partner. Moved by this pitiable sight, Valmiki cursed the hunter for causing the grave situation. The curse took form of a verse in Sanskrit. But, later repented for cursing him.
Meanwhile, Lord Brahma appeared in front of him and said he need not worry due to his act since it was divinely inspired by him. It was destined that Valmiki should compose the great epic of Ramayana, the story of Sri Rama's noble life and accomplishments on this earth. In fact, the curse from his lips became the first verse of the epic.
Valmiki learnt all about Sri Rama from his divine intuition and set the story to metrical composition. This long epic described the journey of Sri Rama and highlighted the morals and values that he demonstrated through his personal life as an ideal son, an ideal husband, an ideal brother, an ideal friend, an ideal enemy, an ideal fighter, and an ideal king. These values are for all times for the entire humanity to follow.
In respecting the sentiments of his his subjects, Rama sent his wife Sita in exile to the forest. In the forest, Valmiki gave her shelter in his hermitage and she gave birth to two children Lava and Kusha. Valmiki taught the epic to these children and they sang it for the first time in front of Lord Sri Rama himself. Thus, this epic is so special in several regards and Valmiki made it to install the lofty human values in humans for eternity.
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