Did Sage Valmiki Really Exist?

Did Sage Valmiki Really Exist ?

— Dr. Rajendra Buradikatti

To many people, such a question may sound childish. After all, who in India has not heard the name Valmiki? From young children to the elderly, everyone knows this name. So, it is not surprising if this question—“Did Valmiki really exist?”—appears silly at first glance. Yet, if we can distinguish between emotional belief and historical truth, the question no longer seems naive.

Whenever Valmiki Jayanti arrives, one particular line has been repeated endlessly by countless speakers over the years: that Valmiki belonged to the `Beda’ (hunter) community; that he was once a robber and murderer who later transformed into a great sage. But in recent times, as every community has grown more organised and assertive, members of the Beda community too have begun to see this oft-repeated claim as an insult to their identity. In some parts of North India, cases were even filed against those who made such statements without any evidence, forcing many to stop repeating this “legend.”

Meanwhile, some scholars proposed another theory—that Valmiki was originally born into a Brahmin family, abandoned as a child, and raised among the Bedas. However, even this claim lacks any firm historical basis. Critics have dismissed it as an elitist attempt to suggest that “only those born in so-called high castes are capable of great spiritual achievements.” Thus, rather than dwelling on emotional or sectarian arguments, this essay turns its attention to the intellectual and scholarly discussions about Valmiki, the Ramayana attributed to him, and its relation to the Mahabharata—to see how such inquiries have expanded our understanding.

THE TWO GREAT EPICS
The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the two monumental Sanskrit epics that have profoundly influenced almost every Indian language, including Kannada. Tradition attributes the Ramayana to Sage Valmiki and the Mahabharata to Sage Vyasa. Yet, scholars have long debated the historicity of these figures and the authorship of these works. Were Valmiki and Vyasa real individuals? Or are these symbolic names?

The term Valmiki comes from the Sanskrit `valmika’, meaning an anthill; while Vyasa means `compiler’ or `arranger.’ Many scholars thus believe that these are titles or epithets, not personal names. Kannada poet-scholar Dr. G. S. Shivarudrappa notes that the teacher of his own teacher Kuvempu, the renowned scholor, T. S. Venkannayya, held that these names likely did not refer to real people at all.

Whatever the truth, the fact remains that the two epics exist and have shaped Indian civilization. Scholars say they were composed to make the profound ideas of the Vedas and Upanishads accessible to the common people. To convey these complex concepts in a simpler, more appealing form, stories were created around heroic kings and warriors who were gradually deified. Thus emerged these grand epics.

SIZE AND AGE OF THE EPICS
There is considerable confusion about both the size and period of composition of these works. The Valmiki Ramayana now consists of around 24,000 verses, while the Vyasa Mahabharata contains nearly 100,000—making it roughly four times larger. Yet, scholars agree that the Mahabharata was not originally so vast; it began as a smaller poem of about 8,000 verses called Jaya. Over centuries, poets kept adding new verses and episodes suited to their times and contexts, gradually expanding it into the Bharata and finally the Mahabharata.

Scholars have debated when these epics were composed—some push their origins back to 300 BCE, others to around 700 CE, implying that they evolved over nearly a millennium. Some hold that the Ramayana came first; others insist the Mahabharata is older.

Kannada scholar A. R. Krishnasastry insightfully observed: “The story of Rama is indeed ancient. But the Ramayana must have taken shape during the period when the Bharata was evolving into the Mahabharata. Therefore, one may say both—‘the Bharata is older than the Ramayana, and the Ramayana is older than the Bharata’—and both statements would be correct in their own way.”

Clearly, these epics were not composed in a span of a few years, as modern works are. Rather, they evolved over centuries, refined by generations of poets who gave written form to oral traditions that had long circulated among the people.

THE MANY RAMAYANAS
It is said that India has a large versions of the Ramayana. Scholar A. K. Ramanujan famously discussed this in his essay Three Hundred Ramayanas. These versions are broadly classified into three traditions: Vedic Ramayanas, Jain Ramayanas, and Buddhist Ramayanas.

The Vedic versions were intended to make the spiritual wisdom of the Vedas and Upanishads—concepts like heaven (Svarga), liberation (Mukthi), and the soul (Atma)—comprehensible to ordinary people (Jeevathma and Paramathma). The Valmiki Ramayana is considered the representative of this tradition.

The Jain Ramayanas were composed to promote Jain philosophical ideas. In them, Rama, Lakshmana, and Hanuman are portrayed as Jains; Sugriva and Vali are not monkeys but warriors with the monkey-banner; Ravana is not slain by Rama but by Lakshmana; and Sita is said to be born from Mandodari’s womb. All key characters are shown as followers of ahimsa (non-violence).

The Buddhist Ramayanas, however, never gained much ground in India—especially not in Kannada regions—largely because no great Buddhist king ruled there to patronise them. Moreover, their narratives diverged sharply from popular beliefs. In the Dasaratha Jataka, for instance, Rama and Sita are brother and sister who later marry—a practice not unheard of in ancient times, as confirmed by certain Rigvedic references like the dialogue between Yama and Yami. Yet, such themes were unacceptable to later Indian society, and hence Buddhist versions faded away.

THE KANNADA RAMAYANA TRADITION
In Kannada literature, both Vedic and Jain traditions took root. Torave Narahari’s Torave Ramayana represents the Vedic line, while Nagachandra’s Ramachandra Charita Purana stands as the classic Jain version. In modern Kannada, both Kuvempu and Masti Venkatesh Iyengar retold the Ramayana, drawing inspiration from the Valmiki version but adapting it for contemporary sensibilities.

Masti, in his work Sri Rama Pattabhisheka, declared that he wished to “purify” the Ramayana by removing many elements that, in his view, were later additions that distorted the story. For example, he rejected the episode where Hanuman burns Lanka, calling it a fanciful interpolation added merely for excitement.

Kuvempu’s Sri Ramayana Darshanam, on the other hand, became a defining modern epic, honoured as the “Epic of the Century” for its humanistic message of universal peace. In it, Kuvempu reshapes the figure of Valmiki in profound ways.

KUVEMPU’S VALMIKI
In Sri Ramayana Darshanam, Valmiki hears Rama’s story from Sage Narada, and deeply moved, he goes to bathe in the river Tamasa. There, he witnesses a hunter killing a male krauncha bird as it mates with its partner. The female cries out in agony. But unlike in older tellings, Kuvempu’s Valmiki does not curse the hunter. Instead, he gently counsels him, recounting his own past: “Once I too roamed the forests, skilled in the art of killing; until the compassion of Sage Narada transformed my heart.”

Valmiki tends to the wounded bird until it recovers and rejoins its mate. Through this reimagined episode, Kuvempu conveys a powerful message: “Human beings commit wrongs not out of evil but out of ignorance. The remedy is education, not punishment.” Thus, Kuvempu’s Valmiki becomes a teacher, not a judge—a symbol of compassion and transformation.

Valmiki, the supposed author of the Ramayana, thus becomes both creator and character within his own creation. This very fluidity—of text and author, myth and meaning—is the true essence of India’s cultural tradition. To reinterpret and renew such works with time is not irreverence—it is the deepest form of respect.

WHY NOT A TEMPLE FOR VALMIKI TOO?

Everyone knows about the grand Ram temple built in Ayodhya—an event shaped more by politics than devotion. But few are aware that an equally magnificent temple dedicated to Valmiki himself stands in Punjab, near Amritsar on the way to Attari–Wagah border, at a place called Valmiki Tirth.

It is believed that this is the very site of Valmiki’s ashram, where Sita took refuge after being abandoned by Rama, and where her sons Lava and Kusha were born. A temple for them also stands nearby. The peaceful surroundings of the place are said to evoke the very spirit of the epic. If you ever travel that way, it is worth a visit.

FINAL WORD
So, to the question with which we began—“Did Sage Valmiki really exist?”—the answer, perhaps, is this: If you believe he existed, then he did. If you believe he didn’t, then he didn’t.

*****

Dr. Rajendra Buradkatti (buradikatti@gmail.com)

07 October 2025 (Valmiki Jayanti)