Ramayana simplified: About the author of Ramayana: Maharishi Valmiki

Rathnakara was one among the ten children of Maharishi Prachetasa. At a very young age, he got lost in a forest and was brought up by a hunter. Rathnakara forgot his original parents. Rathnakara grew up, got married, had children but he was not able to feed them. So Rathnakara started getting involved in robbery and started looting people.

Once he was about to rob the Saptharishis (seven sages). He stopped the Saptharishis and demanded to give the things which they had with them. Saptharishis said that they didn’t have anything and advised Rathnakara that these kinds of activities are not good and asked him why he was getting involved in robbery. Rathnakara said that he was doing this for the benefit of his wife, children, parents, etc. so that he can feed them and lead a happy life together.

The Saptharishis advised asking his wife if she will take a share of the sin (or karmaphala) for what he was doing. Rathnakara asked the same to his wife and his wife replied that she won’t be ready to take up that sin. Rathnakara didn’t expect this and went back to the Saptharishis and sought their advice. As per the advice of the Saptharishis, Rathnakara started chanting the Rama mantra and later composed Ramayana.

Through a long period of austerities, he got his body covered entirely by an anthill (‘Valmika’) and through his continuous repetition of Rama nama he attained the supreme state of a Maharishi or sage and came to be known as Maharishi Valmiki.

The story of Rathnakara/Sage Valmiki teaches us 2 things:

• The influence of people like the Saptharishis: Through the advice of learned scholars like the Saptharishis, Rathnakara was able to transform himself into a great sage from a robber. So, it is very important that we seek the advice of ‘gurus’ or learned scholars to bring the light in us. Each one of us has immense potential in us, we can gradually light up our potential through gaining knowledge and seeking advise from great scholars. The importance of having ‘Satsang’ can also be seen here.
• We can get transformed to any higher state irrespective of the state we are in now. If a person is in a low state does not always mean that he has to remain low for the rest of his life. Through his own initiative, he can rise up to any heights as we saw the uprising of Rathnakara from a robber to a great sage, Valmiki.

Ramayana Simplified: Index