Valmiki

Valmiki is the legendary ancient Indian sage, traditionally revered as the *adikavi*—the first poet—of Sanskrit literature. He is credited as the author of the *Ramayana*, one of the two great Sanskrit epics of classical India, and is said to have composed his verses in a moment of spontaneous inspiration that gave birth to the *shloka*, a form of metered verse that would shape Indian poetry for millennia.