Valmiki

This article is about the Indian sage. For the Indian caste community, see Valmiki caste. For other uses, see Valmiki (disambiguation).

Maharishi
Valmiki
Sage Valmiki composing the Ramayana
Personal
Born
Agni Sharma
ReligionHinduism
Parent
  • Pracheta (father)
LineageRama Mantraraj[1] (mentioned by Govindaraja)
MovementDharmic movement called Valmikism is based on Valmiki's teachings
Notable work(s)Ramayana
Yoga Vasistha
Valmiki Samhita
Known forComposing the Ramayana
Guru of Lava and Kusha
Avatar of Brahma
Honors
  • Adi Kavi
  • Maharishi

Valmiki (/vɑːlˈmiːki/;[2] Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, romanized: Vālmīki, [ʋɑːlmiːki])[A] was a legendary poet who is celebrated as the traditional author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text itself.[3][5] He is revered as Ādi Kavi, the first poet, author of Ramayana, the first epic poem.

The Ramayana, originally written by Valmiki, consists of 24,000 shlokas and seven cantos (kaṇḍas).[6] The Ramayana is composed of about 480,002 words, being a quarter of the length of the full text of the Mahabharata or about four times the length of the Iliad. The Ramayana tells the story of a prince, Rama of the city of Ayodhya in the Kingdom of Kosala, whose wife Sita is abducted by Ravana, the demon-king (Rakshasa) of Lanka. The scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE,[7][8] and later stages extending up to the 3rd century CE,[9] although original date of composition is unknown. As with many traditional epics, it has gone through a process of interpolations and redactions, making it impossible to date accurately.

British satirist Aubrey Menen says that Valmiki was "recognized as a literary genius," and thus was considered, "an outlaw," presumably because of his "philosophic scepticism,"[10] as part of an "Indian Enlightenment" period.[11] Valmiki is also quoted as being the contemporary of Rama. Menen claims Valmiki is "the first author in all history to bring himself into his own composition."[12]

  1. ^ Srinivasha Shastri. Ramayana of Valmiki-With Three Ancient Commentaries-: Tilaka of Rama, Ramayanasiromani of Sivasahaya and Bhusana of Govindaraja. p. 9.
  2. ^ "Valmiki" Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  3. ^ a b Encyclopaedia of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Institute for Sustainable Development. 2000. p. 479. ISBN 978-81-261-0655-4.
  4. ^ O'Brien, John (2006). The Construction of Pakistani Christian Identity. Research Society of Pakistan. p. 125. ISBN 978-969-425-096-0.
  5. ^ Valmiki, Robert P. Goldman (1990). The Ramayana of Valmiki: An Epic of Ancient India. Vol. 1. Princeton University Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 0-691-01485-X.
  6. ^ "Valmiki Ramayan". valmikiramayan.net. Desiraju Hanumanta Rao & K. M. K. Murthy. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  7. ^ Goldman 1984, p. 20–22.
  8. ^ Pattanaik, Devdutt (8 August 2020). "Was Ram born in Ayodhya". mumbaimirror. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  9. ^ J. L. Brockington (1998). The Sanskrit Epics. BRILL. pp. 379–. ISBN 90-04-10260-4.
  10. ^ Menen, Aubrey (1954). "Introduction", The Ramayana, p.4. Charles Scribner's Sons: New York. [ISBN unspecified]. LCCN 54-35716.
  11. ^ Menen (1954). "The Indian Enlightenment", p.9.
  12. ^ Menen (1954). "The Heritage of the Gluttons", p.81.


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