Maharishi Valmiki : A Sage who wrote Ramayana
Maharishi Valmiki, admired as the first poet of Sanskrit literature. Earlier he was a dacoit named Ratnakara who robbed and killed the people.
But since the time he met Narad Muni he changed completely.
Due to his deep meditation he was named as Valmiki. Once when he was meditating, mediators made their home around his body. The day when he completed his Sadhna, he came out of the the house made by mediators. The house of termite is called Valmiki, hence Maharishi became famous as Valmiki.
The date of his birth is not known, but the belief says that he existed in the era of Lord Rama.
Ramayana says that Maharishi Valmiki met Lord Rama during his exile.
It is also said that when Sita was banished, she was sheltered by Valmiki and where she gave birth to the twin son of Lord Rama. Maharishi Valmiki was the one who taught Ramayana to them.
Today Rishi Valmiki holds an important place in the Hindu Mythology.
Ramayana, originally written by Valmiki has 24000 Shlokas and 7 Cantos (Khand) including Uttar Khand. Ramayana is composed of 480,002 words. It tells the story about of a Prince Rama whose wife Sita is abducted by Ravana, the king of Lanka.
Sundara Kanda is the fifth book in the Hindi epic The Ramayana. It shows the adventures of Hanuman. The original Sundara Kanda is in Sanskrit and composed by Valmiki
The concise Ramayana of Valmiki is a condensed version of a long epic, written between 750 and 500Bc consisting 50000 lines of Sanskrit verse.
