Thousands of years ago in a deep dark jungle there lived a daaku (dacoit) called Ratnakar. He would loot all the travelers who passed through the forest and people bought their lives by giving him everything they had. The few who tried to escape fell into the pits that the dacoit had dug up and other creatures of the forest would soon feast on them.
One day there came a holy man to the forest, Ratnakar rushed to him thinking that he may be carrying an idol with precious jewels adorning it and he raised his spear and told the holy man "Give me all the valuables you have got, otherwise I will cut you into pieces and throw you to the jackals" The holy man was not perturbed even in the face of such great adversity, he answered calmly "Do you think I have anything of value to you because these rags are all I have got" The calmness of the holy man's response surprised him but getting over it he said"Quick! quick, I am not the one to answer your questions, hand over to me whatever precious thing you have got" he swung his spear dramatically. "Very well then I have something precious but I will give it to you if you do this for me, go and ask your family if they will die in your place and take the burden of all the sins you are committing". Haughtily the dacoit replied, "My family shares all their loot so they will share my burdens all the same but if you want I will go and ask them, let me tie you up before I go so that you don't escape" The dacoit went home and asked all his family but everyone refused to partake in his sins, they all said that he alone was responsible in how he chose to do what he did. Daaku Ratnakar returned to the sage and told him their answer, he untied the holy man and told him "I set you free, go" the holy man stood up and told him "Nevertheless, let me keep my word, the word Rama is the only precious thing I have, the word Rama is the only word to salvation, chant Rama, Rama and you wont have to worry about anything in this world or after it" and the holy man left his way, a dacoit who had been killing and looting for so long Ratnakar started saying "Mara, Mara" and he went on chanting "maRamaRam" but such is the power of the word Rama is such that even though it was formed from the word for dead, it still bestowed peace on Ratnakar, so much so that the more he chanted the more peaceful he got and so he continued chanting it day and night to the point where one day he went so deep in trance that many days later an ant-hill formed over him but he continued to meditate on the mantra forgetting everything around him, even the passage of time and he finally attained his place as a Brahmarishi. As a result of being reborn from an ant-hill Ratnakar became known as Valmiki. Guru Valmiki wrote the epic in Sanskrit first describing the story of lord Shri Rama - Ramayana
One day there came a holy man to the forest, Ratnakar rushed to him thinking that he may be carrying an idol with precious jewels adorning it and he raised his spear and told the holy man "Give me all the valuables you have got, otherwise I will cut you into pieces and throw you to the jackals" The holy man was not perturbed even in the face of such great adversity, he answered calmly "Do you think I have anything of value to you because these rags are all I have got" The calmness of the holy man's response surprised him but getting over it he said"Quick! quick, I am not the one to answer your questions, hand over to me whatever precious thing you have got" he swung his spear dramatically. "Very well then I have something precious but I will give it to you if you do this for me, go and ask your family if they will die in your place and take the burden of all the sins you are committing". Haughtily the dacoit replied, "My family shares all their loot so they will share my burdens all the same but if you want I will go and ask them, let me tie you up before I go so that you don't escape" The dacoit went home and asked all his family but everyone refused to partake in his sins, they all said that he alone was responsible in how he chose to do what he did. Daaku Ratnakar returned to the sage and told him their answer, he untied the holy man and told him "I set you free, go" the holy man stood up and told him "Nevertheless, let me keep my word, the word Rama is the only precious thing I have, the word Rama is the only word to salvation, chant Rama, Rama and you wont have to worry about anything in this world or after it" and the holy man left his way, a dacoit who had been killing and looting for so long Ratnakar started saying "Mara, Mara" and he went on chanting "maRamaRam" but such is the power of the word Rama is such that even though it was formed from the word for dead, it still bestowed peace on Ratnakar, so much so that the more he chanted the more peaceful he got and so he continued chanting it day and night to the point where one day he went so deep in trance that many days later an ant-hill formed over him but he continued to meditate on the mantra forgetting everything around him, even the passage of time and he finally attained his place as a Brahmarishi. As a result of being reborn from an ant-hill Ratnakar became known as Valmiki. Guru Valmiki wrote the epic in Sanskrit first describing the story of lord Shri Rama - Ramayana
