Narada Muni and Valmiki

Devarishi Narada Muni had a part to play even in the composition of the Ramayana. Once, Narada Muni visited Valmiki’s Ashram. He was received with warmth and the two Rishis sat chatting with each other. Something had been worrying Valmiki for a long time.

Narada traverses / travels in all the three worlds. Valmiki thought that Narada might find an answer to his questions. He asked Narada: “0 great Muni, you are all knowing. You have studied the Vedas. Can you tell me if there is any man in this world who is virtuous, pious, ever truthful and tenacious? Is there anyone who wishes well or all living creatures and who are also a hero and a scholar? Such a man should be free from jealousy and be a man of invincible valor. He should be the most handsome among mankind. If there be such a man, please let me know.”

It was during this time that Valmiki queried Narada if he knew someone who is currently alive and has all the 16 virtuous qualities that a man can possess.

Gunavan = principled person
Viryavan = potential one
Dharmajnaḥ = conscientious
Krtajnaḥ = redeemer
Satya vakyo = truth-teller
Dhrudha vrataḥ = self-determined in his deed
Caritrena ca ko yuktaḥ = blent with good-conduct
Sarva bhutesu ko hitah = benign, in respect of all beings
Vidvan = adept
Samarthah = ablest
Eka priya darsanah = uniquely good-looking
Atmavan = courageous
Jita krodho = one who has controlled his anger
Dyutiman = brilliant one
Anasuyakaḥ = not jealous
Kasya bibhyati devah ca jata rosasya samyuge = even whom do the gods fear, when provoked to war

Narada beamed with a smile and replied: “0 yes. I understand you. You want to find out if there is a flawless perfect human being. It is no doubt difficult to come across such a man. But there is a man who has in himself all the virtues you have enumerated. He is Rama the king of Ayodhya.” That which was told by Rishi Narada was a very short version of Ramayana .He narrated what had happened till then and it came to be called as Samkshepa Ramayana. Then Narada went away.

Rishi Valmiki was thrilled to listen to the story of Sri Rama. He decided that Sri Rama was truly the greatest living being. With the story of Sri Rama still fresh in his memory, after the conversation with Narada, Valmiki along with his student Rishi Bharadhwaja went to Tamasa river to take a bath. As Valmiki was wondering, how he was going to expand the Samkshepa Ramayana into a detailed Purana, his eyes caught hold of two beautiful “crouncha” birds seated in the branch of a tree. As he was lost in the beauty of those birds, an arrow pierced through one of the birds and it fell dead instantly. The female bird wailed sorrowfully for the loss of her male. Rishi Valmiki was greatly moved by the misery of the stricken bird. Valmiki’s sorrow came out in the form of curse that targeted the Hunter who killed the bird.

The words uttered by Sage Valmiki as the curse was in accordance with perfect sanskrit grammar rules and so it was a Shloka. For a moment he was unsure how those words slipped out from his tongue.

Valmiki Maharishi recollects his curse to the hunter, which had come out in the form of a “Shloka”. Hence, his “Shoka” (Distress in his heart) came out of his mouth through a “Shloka” (Verse). To his utter amazement, he discovers that this shloka is perfectly within the rules and regulations of the Sanskrit language. He was in great regret that the first ever Shloka that he had recited was a curse to a person, rather than meaning something good. He starts to feel that this shloka should not be his first composition and this should be erased out.

On returning to his Ashram, sage Valmiki was pleasantly surprised to see that the Lord of creations – The four-faced Brahma with his brilliant radiance (Tejas) had descended from the heavens to pay him a visit.

“Valmeekarathatham drishtvaa sahasothyaaya vaakyataha!
Praanjalipprayatho bhudhvaa tasthou para vismithaha!!
Poojayaamaasa tan devam paadhya arghya aasana vandanaihi!!”

The above verse says that Valmiki Maharishi offers all the respects to Lord Brahma in the form of “Paadhya”, Arghya”, “Aasanam” (that is, in the form of water, a seat, etc.) and welcomes him (Vanadanaihi). After offering everything to Lord Brahma, Valmiki Maharishi stands at the side of him with folded hands.

Lord Brahma had a look at Valmiki Maharishi asked him if he’s sad about something. Valmiki Maharishi replies in the affirmative and continues to say that he composed a shloka recently with all the grammatical correctness, however it was a curse and not a good message. Lord Brahma smiles at him and tells him, “Do not worry, oh Valmiki!! I’ll help you to transform that bad shloka into a good one!” Upon hearing this, Valmiki Maharishi was surprised as to how he could do that!

Lord Brahma “Oh Rishi Valmiki, the words you uttered are not a curse at all. It was all Goddess Saraswati’s play with your tongue, the shloka you have uttered is due to my inspiration. Your mind is now mature enough for writing poetry. Please write in poetic form the story of Sri Rama as narrated to you by Narada. Your poetry will be acclaimed all over the world as the ‘Ramayana’ ”.

Lord Brahma went on to explain about the hidden meaning in the Shloka he had recited which Valmiki had thought to be a curse. It was that Shloka that served as a launch pad for Valmiki to write the Ramayana. Lord Brahma blessed him that he will be guided by a divine vision that will show him all about birth and life of lord Ram that included the future events too.

“Maa nishaada prathistaanthamagamah shaashwatheessamaaha!
Yath crouncha mithunaath deham avadih kaama mohitham!!”

Lord Brahma re-shapes the meaning of the above shloka in the following manner: “The two “Crouncha” birds that were sitting happily on the top of the tree are none other than Goddess Sita Devi and Lord Rama. But however a hunter by name Ravana separated them and if we pray towards the Lord who destroyed this Ravana, we can get all the goodness and prosperity in our life”

To be more precise, the word “Maa” in Sanskrit denotes “separation”, according to Valmiki Maharishi, because; let’s remember for a moment that he composed this shloka as a curse to the hunter who “separated” the two poor birds. But Lord Brahma uses that same “Maa” to denote “Maathaa Lakshmi” (Mother Lakshmi). Where does Goddess Lakshmi reside? She resides in the heart of Lord Vishnu! Hence, if we worship this Lord Vishnu who killed Ravana by his arrows, one would get all kinds of prosperity in this world. Hence we can see here that, if we change the context of one alphabet “Maa”, the entire meaning of the shloka changes!

Lord Brahma affixes this new meaning to the shloka and asks Valmiki Maharishi to “start writing”

Valmiki Maharishi was again surprised by this statement of Lord Brahma and asks him , “What should I write now?”

Lord Brahma asks him another question in response: “Didn’t Narada come before you? Didn’t he tell you the excerpts of the Samkshepa Ramayana already?” It’s only at this point that Valmiki Maharishi realizes the entire mystery what was going around him – It was the divine game that was taking shape, so as to make Valmiki Maharishi write the Ramayana.

The first ‘sarga’ or canto of Ramayana written by Valmiki contains one hundred shlokas. These contain a concise account of the Ramayana narrated by Narada. Valmiki converts 32 shlokas story into 24000 shlokas detailed epic. The Ramayana is one of the largest ancient epics in world literature. It consists of 24,000 verses (mostly set in the Shloka/Anustup meter), divided into seven Khandas (adi kanda, ayodhya kanda, aranya kanda, kishkindhya kanda, sundara kanda, lanka kanda and uttara kanda) and about 500 sargas (chapters). It is first and oldest adi-kavya (first poem) of the world.

This is the significance of Sanskrit language. Changing or replacing even one alphabet with another, the entire meaning of the shloka changes. Sanskrit language allows the writer to freely use any “Shabdaa” (phrase) anywhere in the shloka and any word at any place in the shloka. Such is the science behind this great language. In fact, the entire language of Sanskrit was not discovered or formulated as a language. It has only the rules and regulations (Vyaakarnam) and it’s upto the individual as to how to use these rules and regulations and customize them depending on the context.

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About Author:
Subhasini BA, is a Screenplay writer, Director, creative director, costume designer and producer, whose work has featured in some of the most prestigious film festivals in the country and internationally. She has collaborated on several film projects juggling different roles. 

In beginning of her career, she worked as Associate director and Costume Designer with the acclaimed director Girish Kasaravalli. She’s written and directed a documentary film on the famed Krishna Temple in Udupi, and also written plays, screenplays for films and short form content for some of the leading technology companies in India, including Microsoft, Akamai Technologies, LAM Research, and SAP. 

With Knowledge in Sanskrit, Subhasini is a seeker of the Eternal Truth / Santana Dharma, writes on dharma. She is passionate about History, Mythology, Philosophy and Spirituality. She believes Dharma is the manifestation of the natural strength of every living soul.
She lives in Cincinnati.

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