Aadikavi Valmiki

Behind every epic creation, there is a creator. No great epic's mention is complete without its composer. Ramayan is one such composition that whenever remembered; Sage Valmiki's reference comes to our mind. He is revered as the aadi-kavi, i.e. maiden poet and that means Ramayan was the first poetic creation by any being. I feel blessed being born in the holy land of Kanpur where he created the legendary epic and gave resort to Devi Sita; mother of all the cosmos, in Bithoor, Kanpur.

Distressed by the poignant incident; where a mating bird-couple is hunted by a tribal hunter, killing the male bird ultimately, following words came out of his mouth contingently:

Maa nishad pratisthamatv, magamah shashwatih samah.

Yat kroranch mithunat ek, mawadhih kaammohitam.

‘Oh hunter with such cruel intentions you killed the passionate male bird who wanted to mate with his wife with love, therefore, you will never be at ease, you shall never find peace in your whole life.’

Little the sage knew those cursed words would actually form the base of an historical epic creation, the curse he gave was actually a verse and delivered from his mouth through a divine inspiration. Brahmm dev himself arrived at his hermitage and enlightened the sage about it, he directed Valmiki to script the legend of Bhagwan Ram in order to direct the world towards dharm and the rest we know is history.

Sage Valmiki's biography revolves around the creation of Ramayan. When talking about his own life, there's not much to throw light upon or to talk about. People today don't know much about his life as there's a lot that is yet to be known or understood and what we know is.... may be not a complete version.

To know about him, let's first look at the general view; it is said, initially he wasn't the same sage Valmiki as the world recognizes him today. In his earlier life, he was a dacoit named Ratnakar, who used to rob people of their belongings. Once sage Narad was roaming that place and the dacoit confronted him. Narad actualized him of his bad deeds and oriented him towards righteousness. Ratnakar then penanced for years and with the almighty's blessings received divine blessings. Later he was famed to the world as Valmiki.

That is what we all know, but when I went through the Valmiki Ramayan, I found the following facts:

There is no such mention of his dacoit life.
In the Ayodhya-Kaand, when Shri Ram reaches Chitrakoot Mountain, he met sage Valmiki and introduces himself along with Devi Sita and Lakshmarn. The sage welcomed them warmly helping them in choosing an ideal location to reside.
In the Uttar-Kaand, when he for Devi Sita's chastity, he manifested his identity as the tenth son of Varurn Dev.

Now there arises contradiction, above given points disown the dacoit theory of sage Valmiki as well as authenticates the fact that Valmiki was the contemporary and he is the actual composer of Ramayan, certified!

But again! yes, quite hilarious ain't so?
These two words('but' and 'again') occur repetitively keeping the plausibility of probabilities alive, as we must keep our reasoning open and explore the unexplored.

The reason I am implying so is due to the presence and prominence of sage Narad in both stories. Before the tribal hunter incident occurred, Narad ji visited Valmiki's hermitage and seeded the legend of Shri Ram in Valmiki's mind responding his inquisitive about a virtuous persona. It clearly depicts that sage Narad had a chief role in Valimiki's life and he enlightened his mind at various stages of his life like a true mentor.

We must also peruse that, how come son of a dev became a sage? Valmiki could have treasured a frolic life being Varurn's son, then under what circumstances he chose a life of a ascetic? As nothing much is given clear in our scriptures, here, it is also possible that may be, Valmiki wasn't a complete dev(mothered by a human for instance). May be! out of situations, an adrift Ratnakar became a dacoit who eventually was brought on the right track by Narad. He was destined for a higher purpose and Narad was his cicerone. The world will always beholden to sage Valmiki for composing Ramayan, portraying the actual character of Shri Ram which the world is not aware of completely.

Before signing off, let's bow to the divine feet of Devi Saraswati in this auspicious occasion of Navratra, who blessed sage Valmiki with true intelligence and foresightedness so he could deliver the saga of Ram-Janki.

The festival of Navratra is not just about visiting the temples and paying devotions to the nav-durgas, it is cognizing of SHAKTI within. Aadishakti, who is the prime source to the Gods and the creation, reveals herself in different forms to exhibit the various aspects of feminine, she is Bhagwati MahaLakshmi consort of Bhagwan MahaVishnu, preserving the balance.
Adishakti's element is present in every woman/girl, those who recognize it are virtuous and those who disregard it are damned for perpetuity.