The Adikavi, the poet ofpoets, of India, who gave the world the immortal epic, 'Ramayana'. Valmiki, wasnot always a saint, was born in a brahmin family and his name was 'Ratnakar'.He was an infamous bandit who lived in a jungle with his wife and children andno traveler who passed through the jungle was safe. If need be he neverhesitated to kill the innocent pilgrims to achieve his object.
One day Devershi Narada passed through the forest and as usual the bandit wason the look out for victims and as soon as he saw a sage approaching joyouslysinging and playing on his veena, Ratnakar jumped down before the sage andthreatened to kill.
The conversations between Ratnakar and Devershi Narada transformed Ratnakar. Hethen had a divine vision of Brahma, who urged Valmiki to use his potential tothe maximum and write the story of Ramayana. Those who have read Ramayana havebowed to Valmiki with great respect.