"Ratnakar, the bandit, became the poet Valmiki. Once when he tried to rob a sage, of his meagre belongings, he was told that no one else but he would suffer the consequences of his misdeeds. Repentant and reformed, he asked the sage for the way out of sin. He was told to recite Mara, mar (reverse of Rama). The bandit sat in penance and recited the mantra and forgot the world. An anthill enveloped him. When he was dug out, he was a realised soul and called Valmiki (one who came out of Valmike - Sanskrit for anthill). The urge to write Ramayana was triggered by Valmiki's sensitive reaction to the wailing of a bird, whose mate was killed by a hunter. The ideal society portrayed so realistically in the Ramayana by Valmiki made Gandhiji name the Utopia he envisaged for India: Rama Rajya!"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Valmiki
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Valmiki
46 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Valmiki →
Related Quotes
"Nothing. She is innocent and blameless. She has lived as Rama’s queen ten thousand years; before that Rama saved her …"
"Sanskrit: मां निषाद प्रतिष्ठां त्वमगमः शाश्वतीः समाः। यत्क्रौंचमिथुनादेकम् अवधीः काममोहितम्॥"
"Roman transliteration: mā niṣāda pratiṣṭhāṁ tvamagamaḥ śāśvatīḥ samāḥ yat krauñcamithunādekam avadhīḥ kāmamohitam"
"English translation: You will find no rest for the long years of Eternity For you killed a bird in love and unsuspecting"
"This is truly how I remember the ways of the world. Those words I cursed him with make a verse, and that verse could …"
"Sit by me."
"What a crime! There was not one bit of meat on that little bird. What use is a world run all wrong without a grain of…"
"In all this world, I pray thee, who Is virtuous, heroic, true? Firm in his vows, of grateful mind, To every creature …"
"And the high mandate of his sire. Led by the Lord who rules the sky, The Gods and heavenly saints drew nigh, And hono…"
"I have no companions here."