Valmiki
The Ramayana is traditionally attributed to the poet Valmiki, a sage and wise man who lived in ancient India. According to legend - and the Ramayana itself - Valmiki heard the Ramayana from a celestial source and wrote down what he heard. Valmiki also appears as a character in the text of the Ramayana. At the beginning of the poem, he learns the text from a divine figure and teaches it to two youths who turn out to be the sons of Rama; later, he is the one to champion the cause of the exiled...