Every one knows that RAMAYANAM  the well-known epic , was   authored   by VALMIKI , the great sage who lived in the same age  (Yuga)   of RAMA, i.e  Treta  Yuga. Valmiki was born into a Brahmin family. His name   given by his parents  was Ratnakara.   But, a gang of bandits abducted him from his family when he was a small boy and  was brought up  by   the  robbers  because of which he acquired all the evil qualities. He used to waylay the wayfarers  at knife point and  did not hesitate even   to kill them if they  resisted or did not surrender  voluntarily. All these atrocities  he  perpetrated  every day  with the sole purpose of looking after his wife and children.    One day,  sage Narada and his band of disciples were passing by that way and Ratnakara  stopped them and frisked them thoroughly for  looting their belongings. He didn’t get anything and the whole  search proved futile. Narada  told him that they were  sages who had renounced everything  and further, asked him  as  to   what for he was doing such a heinous crime everyday ? He replied that he was doing all these to look after his family and never brooded over the gravity of his action.  He convinced him   of   the seriousness of his crime that he alone had to carry the bundle of all his sins.  As Narada advised , he even checked up with his wife  as to whether they would share the sins as they partook his booty. But, they shrugged their shoulders and expressed their helplessness. So Ratnakara  enquired if there was any expiation( prayaschitam) to be  rid  of the committed sins.  He advised him then to go on  reciting  the sacred name  RAMA  indefinitely. He ,therefore, started  reciting the   name   and Narada too went about his  way. Instead of  the sacred  word RAMA , he was  uttering MARA, MARA  continuously  which cleansed  him of all his accumulated sins  and changed  him  to   be a sage afterwards.
 
Many decades and centuries elapsed and Ratnakara was fully covered by  an envelopment of VALMIKAM (ant-hill ) and was totally invisible.  One day Narada and his group of disciples  once again passed by the way and noticed the ant-hill. He recollected the whole incident and so just   instantly   wiped away the ant -hill to find a  bearded man sitting in the penancing posture. He could instantly  recognize it was none other than Ratnakara  and woke him up. He woke up as if from a siesta ( a brief nap) and prostrated Narada who named him VALMIKI as he was retrieved from the Valmikam. Narada blessed him and left the place.

One day, Valmiki was proceeding to the Tamasa river to perform his morning ablutions. A strange sight  put him to deep sorrow and agony. A hunter had shot an arrow and killed one of the crouncha   couple, ( crouncha means annil pakshi or Indian love birds) the male bird that was sitting on a branch   sharing love   and warbling so melodiously.  His resentment   thundered   out in the form of a hymn- sloka- as denoted under :-
 
               MAA  NISHAADA  PRATHISHTAAM 
               TWAGAMA : SASWATHISSAMAHA :
                 YAT CROUNCHA MITHUNAA  DEKA-
                MAVATHI  KAAMA MOHITHAM !
  
Means:-
“ Hey hunter , you shall  wander   about  homeless  all your life as you have separated the  love sharing crouncha couple with an arrow”. But, though the poem was very beautiful, Valmiki felt so sad as it came out in the form of a curse aimed at the hunter. Narada consoled him that  the  same poem could be converted into an auspicious one on  an appropriate  occasion. Brahma also advised him that the story of Rama should be written in the same style and gave him the intuitive power  to visualize the whole story of Rama and compose the epic in the form of  a biography. Accordingly, the entire meaning was interpreted as : Ma means Mahalakshmi. Ramayana will be remembered always through ages and even though Sita is separated by Ravana, he will be eliminated and Sita reunited with Rama and thus eternal prosperity will be restored   to  Ayodhya.
       
One day, sage Narada visited Valmiki at his hermitage and he was welcomed and extended all formal hospitalities. While exchanging pleasantries, Valmiki inquired :
 
 “O Narada the great seer of the three worlds,  is
there any  ideal person on earth living at present with all the virtues and noble qualities rolled together in him ?   I long to hear about him out of great curiosity. You are capable of knowing such a person”.

        
Narada at this sudden question  pondered   for a moment and then said  :-
“  O Hermit !  it  is normally very difficult to find   such a person with all virtues and noble qualities,   but,  I know of  such an exemplary person with all the requisite virtues and noble  qualities living contemporarily in this country. His name is Rama. He is the eldest son of king  Dasaratha(Dasaratha means one who can ride his chariot to all the ten zones as well as one who has achieved absolute control over all his ten senses) who belongs to the IKSHWAKU dynasty and the present ruler of Ayodhya.   Now, I will give you a detailed account of his qualities and virtues so that you can  visualize and   start writing his biography as he lives on” !.  Narada then started describing his sterling qualities and Valmiki listened to him with great  keenness and rapt attention.   
 
       
 ”The protagonist of our contemporary time is a person with a graceful personality. He has a dark complexion. He is very tall and has a  broad chest  and attractive physical features. He has very  broad muscular shoulders. He has symmetrical physical features.  He has a conch shaped neck and strong  and sturdy arms with well-muscled elbows. 
   
As regards his intellectual aspects and aesthetic values, he is very handsome with lotus shaped eyes filled with love and compassion, chubby cheeks, very  thick and dark hair, attractive smile, a charming visage and he has an over all pleasing appearance.

 He is very intelligent , an eloquent orator, able administrator and a man of justice and utmost jurisprudence and discipline. He is wielding a mighty bow and   carrying  a  quiver( the case for keeping the arrows ) on his back. He is very  valorous and well known archer and a fierce fighter in the battle field. He is dreaded by even celestials. He is very soft in conversation and gifted with the quality of patience like mother earth. He has great respect for his parents and love for his consort and siblings. He can subdue wrath within no time, promote human harmony and enchant anyone with his  soft conversation. He is celebrated for his absolutely impeccable manners.  He has absolute restraint over his senses. Every one praises his character, decency, honesty, integrity, probity and morality. He is an epitome of humility and above all an inimitable embodiment of DHARMA the most essential quality of a just king. His only concern day and night is the well-being as well as the symbiosis between the different sections of his subjects. He is very illustrious and more eruditely in all vedas, sastras and sciences. He is a great philosopher and endowed with enough intuitive abilities. He never nurtures ill- will towards anybody, but views everybody with equanimity , rectitude and fortitude. He can face the challenge of any exigency or adversity with courage. He is like the Himalayas in regard to stability and sternness. Hi face is always bland and ambrosial like the moon. But, his face is analogous to fire at the time of wrath.  His face is like the fully blown lotus that unfolds at the dawn when He wakes up and  curls up when He  goes to sleep at the dusk.( Rama goes to sleep by sunset every day. )He is equal to Vishnu and parallel to Brahma. He is  adored and respected by everyone in Ayodhya.  He is the incarnation of  Lord Mahavishnu.
 An exceptional and much lauded quality of Rama was that women also  had  equal rights and opportunities as well as freedom of expression  like men and  both men and women enjoyed equality in very respect during his reign.
These qualities are called the exceptional STERLING   QUALITES ( KALYANA GUNANGAL ) of  Rama, which can’t be found in ordinary human beings. So there is no wonder if Lord Rama possessed  all these  divine qualities as He Himself was an incarnation of Lord Narayana !

Now, RAMAYANAM  means Rama’s  Ayanam (journey )  meaning, Rama’s chivalrous journey  in quest of   SITA through the path of   DHARMA !
In any age, dharma is of paramount importance. All Vedas   hail and  emphasize it’s importance as it is closely related to KARMA . It teaches one what to do and what not to do. We should emulate the good   and glorious  examples of Dharmaputra, Rama or Krishna  and not the bad examples of Dhuryodhana, Kansa or Ravana. Dharma means, the  righteous path and Adharma is the path of violence which is unsavory for an ethical life. Dharma if followed with determination will always protect an individual like a lightning rod against evil thoughts and actions which help one to refine himself in every birth and attain the rare fruit of salvation, the final stage of renouncement  of Karma according to vedas. The quintessence of all religions and their scriptures upholds  the glory of  Dharma and teaches us to tread the right path, though the man in this Kaliyug(this is believed to be the 5552  year or so after the Kaliyug started) seems to prefer to deviate from the path of Dharma  and welter in the mire of sins and repeated sins ! ( the chatur yugas are-Kruta yuga(Satya yuga), Thretha yuga, Dwapara yuga and Kaliyuga. So this is
 believed to be  the last yuga  and afterwards the chaturyuga will repeat starting with kruta yuga,  with varying periods ).
 
Ramayana brings forth a cluster of  morals in various aspects not only for the people of India but also  for the whole world from the family point as well as the national point of view irrespective of religions .   Rama portrays the role of an exemplary protagonist though it is difficult to emulate his  noble example as a role model.    It has attracted even the corporate sector as regards governance and efficient management, team spirit and achievement of the desired results
 or goals  envisaged.  It also galvanizes the  team managers  to develop their leadership qualities  and hone up their innovative, explorative as well as communicative  skills as well as to redefine their  operational  strategies.    It can be applied  in  any field  as a    taskmaster  tool to bring about a new  paradigm.
  
Rama  and Ramayanam will  always be  remembered as   good example for all generations . Ramayanam and Mahabharatham , the  classic epics,  will last as long as humanity exists or as long as there is water in the oceans or as long as the Himalayas exist with   its   unremitting   splendor or   glory and majesty ! And, Valmiki  will continue to shine as the first  and   fore most  celebrated and illustrious  bard ( poet ) in the whole world !   These epics and mythologies,  Vedas and Upanishads are the greatest heritages  of India !  They carry the divine lanterns of noble thoughts and ethics indispensable for  enforcing  self discipline in  every human being. As the proudest citizens of this country , it is  our bounden duty to preserve these  legacies  and perpetuate and propagate their exceptional values !
 
                          
J A I  H I N D