Valmiki

Pugwood Budgin 337 1.

Desire Long ago, during the period of history documented in the Ramayana poem of Maharishi Valmiki, there were sages living in a forest known as Dandaka.

The sages were peaceful by nature.

They were not bothering anyone.

We sages are constantly harassed in the forest of Dandaka by the Rakshasa demons who wear different shapes at will.

Only you can protect us, O Rama.

Valmiki Ramayana.

Aranya Khand.

So, he Kuru Nandana, born in such a In the previous life whatever wisdom or whatever path that person has walked if that person has done some adharma or has got vasanas then for some time you will find that person even while growing up seem to be quite extrovert, could be someone who is just enjoying life.

They couldn't seem any spirituality in them, maybe not something really bad or wicked but in Valmiki's case we can see that.

And then Valmiki says also in the Ramayana, that actually he was the tenth son of the Prachetas in Bhagavad Gita, if those are words.

And there somewhere he got distracted and then turned out to be a thief.

Anyway, he goes through his karmas and vasanas and when those are exhausted, then suddenly it's like a miracle, like a revelation, like a wonder or an accident.

Beyond the law of karma, there is compassion, karuna.

That's how we see that a bilvamangal converts, then there is suddenly Valmiki, Ratnakar.

If the law of karma, he should not have ever written Ramayana, but he's picked out from the net.

And then there is grace, which completely cancels all the karma.

Anyone can chant.

Uh, we hear of a, a criminal like Valmiki in his previous life, Dasaratnaka.

Uh, we hear of the reformed sinners, Jagai and Madhai.

No? Uh, the, the...

Even if there is some mistake in a, in a devotee's performance of Shravan, Kirtan, and Vishnu Smaranam, there's no doubt he will achieve the supreme destination.

As a result of his past activities, [clears throat] Valmiki took birth as the dacoit Ratnakaar, but he chanted the holy name backwards.

Still, he achieved perfection.

[reading in foreign] Therefore, there's no question of anyone falling on this path of bhakti.

Nārada Rsi is guru, Prahlada Maharaja is his disciple.

His possibility is Nrsimhadeva.

From Nārada Rsi is guru, Valmiki is disciple.

His possibility is Lord Ramachandra.

Interesting.

These adaptations basically have taken parts from other oral traditions and not just stuck very favorably to Balmiki's version.

That's interesting.

I'm glad.

And they do it much efficiently when they transact.

I want to hear your perspective since you read the Adhyatma Ramayana, but I read a commentary on Valmiki Ramayana.

And in that commentary, one thing they talked about was the visceral sadness and the despondency that Rama felt when Sita had gone and how he was weeping in tears and he was desolate.

And I remember reading that commentary and thinking in some ways, this description of Rama is so much more thought-provoking than some of the other descriptions of Rama in that it almost talked about here is God incarnate.

Because you would expect, right, if you kind of think about it more simplistically, God incarnate, he should be chill and calm the whole time because he knows that things are going to work out, that it's prarabdha, everything is going to work out.

He should be Very, very stira.

But at least in the Valmiki Ramayana commentary I read, he was not stira at all.

Maybe he was, but at least outwardly, he had all of these human emotions.

There are many, many stories in Chinna Kathais where Swami says about how, you know, you alone are responsible for your actions.

And Swami tells that story of the transformation of the dacoit Ratnakara to, uh, Valmiki, where this is what actually wakes him up, when he's told that you alone are responsible for your actions.

Your family cannot come and share the sins that you're doing.

So certainly, spirituality is an individual journey.

I'm sure, I think on the other shows on radio you would have heard about this episode extensively, and there, this has been spoken about in Swami's presence, too.

But it's a very important episode, and I'd like to speak about a little detail.

The way I'm gonna speak about it is exactly how Valmiki has written it in the Ramayana, the way he has explained it.

It's about the episode which happens in Sundara Kandam of, uh, the Ramayana, where Hanuman has been chosen to be the emissary of Lord Rama and jump across the ocean.