Sunday, December 5, 2010

Valmiki




By tradition, the Ramayana is attributed to a forest sage and poet by the name of Valmiki.   According to Dr. Vyas in his book India in the Ramayana Age, the story goes that one day this Valmiki was meditating in the forest.  During these meditations, Valmiki becomes focused on a male and female bird engrossed in romantic play.  This scene is violently interrupted by the errant arrow from an unseen archer, which deprive the female bird of her mate.  Valmiki is crushed by the tragedy and utters a poetic curse to the hunter:
No fame be thine for endless time,
 Because, base outcast, of thy crime,
Whose cruel hand was fain to slay
One of this gentle pair at play.

No comments:

Post a Comment