This article is read in the Seminar of Bharatiya Dalit Sahitya Akademi New Delhi (India)
This academi presented Maharishi Valmiki National Award-1995 to Dr. Dev singh Assur "Assur"
24 th September, 1995.
ADI KAVI BHAGWAN VALMEKI
AND
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The First Epic 'Valmiki Ramayana' is the first poetic
composition of this land. This is something of which the Indians can
rightly feel proud of because it is precious treasure of the country. It
is not only a book of poetry, but an encyclopedia of culture in which
religion; philosophy, politics and public dealings have been analyzed.
India is the only country which has been guiding the world in the fields
of religion and spiritualism. In India religion was so all pervading
that all the activities of the life like character, attitude, thinking
and reflection came within its parameter. Bhagwan Valmeki Ji set up a
number of ashrams for education in the different corners of the country
which were 'educational centres' in those days. He taught the people
about Ramayana through these centres. The unique tradition of his
education made spirit, body, thoughts and mind of the humanity, pure
healthy, clear and powerful. Bhagwan Valmeki Ji was the 'Chancellor' of
these ashrams. According to renowned commentator Neelkanth Ji, a person
who along with education feeds ten thousand students is called
'Chancellor'. His main ashrams were located in a thick forest near
'Tamsa' river. Goswami Tulsidas has sang praise for that ashram like
this:-
"Khag, mrig, vipul kolahal karheen, birhat baer mandit man charheen"
It means that the birds and animals were living
happily in the ashram of Bhagwan Valmeki Ji, leaving their natural
animosity. Tigers and deer, falcon and sparrow, mongoose and snake were
living together, leaving their traditional animosity.
The inspiration to work for the peace and prosperity
of humanity came to Bhagwan Valmeki Ji from an incident which occurred
when he was going to have a dip in the sacred 'Tamsa' river early in the
morning. This incident moved the heart of the great soul. He saw a paid
of cranes making love. At the same time an arrow came from nowhere and
pierced through the make crane and killed it. This incident moved the
heart of the great soul with such a strong sentiment that he uttered the
first words" anushtam chhand....maa nishad partishtan" on this earth.
The Great Poet, who felt the pain of the female crane in his own heart,
the ocean of compassion, The First Poet, to be revered in the morning,
who taught the traditions of the whole world, the messenger of religion,
worshipped by the rich and poor one and all, the writer of Ramayana is
the source of our culture. He is a see revered poet. The creative
writers of different ages have adopted his great works as the basis of
their creations. It is difficult to fine an equal to the same in any
language of the world. This is strange that Bhagwan Valmeki Ji has
himself written in the Ramayana "This epic will work as basis for the
poets of future." In the 8th century Muari wrote about Ramayana". It is
true that a number of earlier poets have used The Ancient Epic Ramayna
as a basis for their dramas, but they cannot leave it because it is
difficult for them to find such an ideal character." He wrote
further-"The First poet produced a treasure all the traders of poetry.
Raja Bhoj in the beginning of his 'Champuramayana'
has written "If even today the people take a little water from the
sacred Ganga brought by some Bhagirtha after a very hard meditation, to
satiate the thirst of their forefathers, why I cannot take a little of a
poetic Ganga, brought by the First Poet Mahrishi Valmeki Ji in the
ancient times and used that for the happiness and enjoyment of the
humanity".
The Grate Poet Kalidas has also respectfully
addressed Bhagwan Valmeki Ji (in the 4th century A.D.) as 'The First
Poet. Mahakavi Bhavbhooti said in his dram 'Uttar Ramayana' (8th century
A.D.): "The story of Valmeki Ramayana sanctifies after removing the
sins and adds to the welfare. Like the Ganga of this world it brings
betterment and is lovable. The poets should study the poetry of
Omniscient Valmeki Ji, which has been given the form of a drama and
projected through acting."
Acharya Sharagdhar, describing his benevolence, says:
'In the poets having the status of Inder, I may my respects to the
First Poet Valmeki Ji, whose creation Ramayana gives happiness to the
saint as the moonlight gives the pleasure to 'chokoris' (red flagged
partridge)." Simiarly Acharya Kshamander in the introduction of his book
'Ramayana Manjri'(10th century AD) writes in the praise of Bhagwan
Valmeki Ji: "Praise be to the First Poet whose glory is equal to the
creator in the world, who has composed the Epic Ramayana, which touches
the hearts of all the people. I bow my head to Bhagwan Valmeki Ji, who
created the supreme composition Ramayna, whose brightness like moon has
glorified all the three worlds." The annotator, Ramanuj has paid his
tribute to mahrishi Valemki Ji in these words : "aroohyea kavitshakhan
vandre Valmeki Kokilam" (I pay my respects to cuckoo bird like Valmeki
Ji)
.
Dr. Shanti Kumar Nanu Ram Vyas writes: "By describing
the living traditions, ideals, worries, aspirations and sentiments of
an ancient era, the Valmeki Ramayana is a precious treasure of the
Indian Civilisation and Culture. It can be compared to a mountain from
the summit of which we can have a glance of the social, economic,
political, and religious and art activities simultaneously. The Epic of
The First Poet, Valmeki Ji depicts the undecided facts of the
contemporary Indian society so vividly which has no match in any other
source. Mahrishi Valmeki Ji is the creator of the national ideals. The
seeds of a great eternal culture, civilization, religion and truth, sown
by him are flourishing like giant trees even today."
In an issue of 'Dinmaan' weekly it has been written'
"if Indepdent India continues to give importance to human religion, as
inspired by Valmeki Ramayana, her future will be bright." Seeing this
impact the saying of A.A. Mc Donnel seems to be fully true: "No Product
of Sanskrit Literature has enjoyed a greater popularity down to the
present day the Ramayana."
M. Vinternitz in his book 'Valmeki Ramayana' writes the praise like this
"As perhaps no other Poem in the entire World
Literature has influenced the whole thinking
and writing of the folk through all the centuries."
He writes further:
"As long as the mountains stand"
And C.V. Vaidya has acknowledged this fact that he is the author of 'Valmeki Ramayana.
Shri Lakshmi Dhar has described Mahrishi Valmeki ji as the author of 'Prakrit Sutras' in 'Shat Bhasha Chandrika.
Dr. V.A.K. Ayyer, the famous scholar and the Director of
Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore has said: "Valmeki Ji has written a
book on 'akshar lakshya which is the basis of whole mathematic. He has
written in his book 'Hindu Shastra and Sanskar' at page 19:
"The first that calls for mention is the Encyclopedic
Shastra, which goes by the name of Aksharlakksha.
The authorship of this science is
attributed to Sage Valmeki.
All kinds of mathematics including modern geometry,
algebra, trigonometry,
physics or applied mathematics;
mineralogy, hydels;
the method of measuring air,
heat and even electricity;
geography etc. are said to have been treated."
Majority
of the scholars are of the view that besides being a linguistic expert
he had the knowledge of jyotish, music and medicines. He was a
forecaster as well as a dramatist. Therefore he is called the
omniscient. The First Poet Bhagwan Valmeki was apt in how many fields,
this question is answered in his book 'Ram Samvad' while translating
this book in English, Shri Devinder kamal, M.A. has written in its
preface: This ancient book is authored by Mahrishi Valmeki Ji. In its
every 'Sarga' is written it Sri Valmiki Vichitei Sri Ram Samvad'. He
writes that 'Sri Ram Samvad' is a small encyclopedia of world science
which was written at that time. It seems that its author had the
knowledge of universe, pregnancy and fetus, psychology, spiritualism and
sociology.
Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, after reading this book had remarked :
"This book appears to be
an important and interesting one".
On the publication of this book, the famous newspaper
The Tribune had commented: "One of the strangest books appearing lately
on the literary horizon of contemporary India is Shri Ram Samvad. This
book is a complete thesis on Hindu politics, economy &
jurisprudence. This remarkable book is verily a masterpiece of coherent
thinking, facile expression and originality of ideological convictions."
Thus after studying 'The First Epic Valemki
Ramayana', 'Yogavashishth', 'Aksharlaksha', 'Sri Ram Samvad' etc. books,
we come know about the great scholarly status of Bhagwan Valmeki Ji. On
research we come to know about his personality, his capabilities, and
his qualities. Bhagwan Valemki ji is a great saint, supreme yogi,
topmost poet, commentator and founder of the contemporary social
traditions and pillar of truth and justice.
Bharat Rattan Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar had said once,
"It is a tragedy of the Hindi speaking belt that
it has put Tulsidas on the throne
after ignoring Valmeki Ji.
The As long as the rivers are on the earth,
So long will in this World,
The Song of Ramayana continues to live."
Similarly Shri Anmath Nath Dutt, M.A. has written:
"No other literary work, except The Bible,
has such universa
impact as the Ramayana has.
There is no doubt that the
Great Epic 'Valmeki Ramayana' is like
the koh-i-noor diamond in the literary field".
The other creation of Bhagwan Valmeki is 'Yoga
Vashishth'. In its praise, the great scholar of India, Swami Ram Tirtha
Pramahans had said in America had referred to Yoga Vashishth' while
talking about the Ancient Indian Spiritualism:
"One of the Greatest Book and the most wonderful
according to me, ever written
under the sun is 'Yogavashishth'
( in the words of God realization, Delhi edition, Vol, III, page 295).
It is impossible that a person who studies this book he may not have the feeling of knowledge and oneness with all.
Dr. Bhikhan Lal Attrey, in his book 'Yog Vashishth and its Principles 'writes at page 28:
"This book is one of the supreme
works of Indian Literature.
It is full of precious gems, the
more on delves deeper
in this ocean, the more valuable
things he finds in it.
The ore on goes deeper the lesser it is."
This is written by Mahrishi Valmeki Ji, the creator
of Ramayana. Mr. T.G. Manket writes in his book. The Vashishth
Ramayana-A study': The First Poet Mahrishi Valmeki is the author of
Yogavashishth. Acharya Kedar Nath Tripathi writes in his book on
Yogavashishth that the author of this book is Bhagwan Valmeki Ji.
Pt. Janki Nath Verma writes in his article; 'Eminence
and propriety of Yogavashishth', There is no book which can match
Yogavashishth. This book is supreme not only in Indian Literature but
the writings throughout the world from the angle of find knowledge,
analysis and logical angle, its writer, whomsoever he may be is either
God or he has achieved godly level. The accept it as the work of Bhagwan
Valmeki Ji is justified.
If the falsehood comes to an end on this earth and
the truth becomes prevalent, the humanity can get rid of pain and
worries and one can attain the purpose of ones life. 'Valmeki Darshan'
is such a study of which shed the dark clouds of ignorance engulfing the
heart and mind of the. In fact in the present age if any book has the
power to take the humanity off from the path f death and destruction to
lead to the path off life, the only book capable of doing this is
'Yogvashishth Maha Ramayan'.
Shri Rai Bahadur in one of his articles in the praise of 'Prakrit' says;
"As Gargya, Galv, Shaklya and Panini
etc are the master of Sanskrit, similarly Mahrishi
Valmeki ji is the maser
of 'Prakrit Ramayana'. He had also authored
'Prakrit Ramayan.
"In the Vedic Literature there is a reference of
'Vyakaran Valmeki people
of this belt will remain backward
till they do not replace Tulsidas by Valmeki Ji".
The compositions of Bhagwan Valmeki Ji give right
direction to the humanity. Food grains and wealth are unduly wasted on
account of unseen gods and false and blind followings and rituals.
'viklavo veeriya heeno ya : sdaiv manuvatate"
Only cowards and incapable persons depend upon fate.
The strong persons never worship destiny. 'ashtapitre devtye nityayen
prasritojan: Those who believe that the donation of food given at
'shradha' goes to the forefathers, they only waste the food. Can a dead
person eat the food. 'pitruhi samtikant putro ya sadh manyte: The books
and persons preaching for the traditions like performing of yagyas, to
do prayers and worship, to give alms and to become ascetic by leaving
ones family just to please the gods are the creations of clever people
are for furtherance of traditions of alms and charity in the people. 'sa
naste parminyatat karu budhi mahamate' : There is this world only, no
other world is there. Therefore take care of what is present, forget
about the next world or what is not there'.'ye samudyog mrityujy sthita
daiv prayana' : Those people who do not make effort and leave everything
on the gods, they are wasting their religion, wealth, energy and
deliverance-all the four capacities. Those lazy persons are their own
enemies. By ignoring their existing gods, to whom they can serve-their
mother, father and teacher, how the worship of the invisible gods can be
logical. There is no other god on this earth who can equal the parents
and the teacher, because by serving them one can gain religion, wealth
and energy.
This story of Epic Ramayana is preaching the lesson
of human welfare to the whole humanity throughout the world. This Epic
is like that huge Banyan tree, which has grown to an enormous scale by
piercing the crust of this earth and is standing loftily to provide
shelter to the humanity. The readers and the poets even today not only
enjoy the depths of sweetness of the poetry of the First Poet, Bhagwan
Valmeki Ji, they are also moved in their hearts by the eternal song. The
entire poetic world agrees with one word that this Epic has established
an ideal for the whole humanity. This is the road on which we can lead
the humanity on the path of peace. The first Poet, Bhagwan Valmeki ji,
through his creations has laid the high road of welfare for the whole
human race.
Dr. Dev Singh Assur
"Assur"
Valmeki Research
Centre.
Sangrur- 148001 (PB),
India
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