Valmiki

Valmiki is the traditional author of the Indian epic the Ramayana, though public information about his life is very limited: his dates, nationality, and education are not reliably recorded. Works attributed to him circulate widely, and six are held in this collection. Besides an English verse translation of the Ramayana and a two-volume French edition, they include the third volume, part two, of The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki. Works of Hindu literary compilation are also attributed to him, containing such pieces as The Book of Good Counsels and Nala and Damayanti, as well as Morte de Yaginadatta. These works largely take epic narrative and religious philosophy as their subjects, written in a solemn style steeped in ancient Indian literature, and they have had a profound influence on later Indian literature and religious culture.