Sages

Vālmīki

The first poet. The poet appears inside his own poem.

Bāla Kāṇḍa 1.2.15Vālmīki (primary text)In the text

Illustrated portrait of Vālmīki, The first poet — Illustration

Vālmīki is the poet-sage the tradition calls ādi-kavi. In Bāla Kāṇḍa he asks Nārada for a model of virtue, and Brahmā later tells him to compose Rāma's story. His hermitage returns near the end of the story, in Uttara Kāṇḍa: it shelters Sītā, and his pupils carry the poem to Rāma's court.

Primary text: Śrīmad Vālmīkīya Rāmāyaṇa, Gita Press, Gorakhpur. Later traditions and living-tradition associations are labelled as such. Return to the Rāmāyaṇa World.