Valmiki is a great poet as well as a great sage. It is believed that he lived during the Treta Yuga period, the time of Lord Rama. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, which tells the story of Lord Rama, the prince of Ayodhya and the seventh Avatar of Lord Vishnu, who is also venerated and worshipped. The epic Sanskrit poem Valmiki's Ramayana has as many as 24,000 verses and is divided into seven chapters, or cantos. Significance of Sage Valmiki Despite his upbringing as a hunter, the holy saint Narada enlightened him about the purpose of his life and made him a revered sage. He is regarded as the forerunner of Sanskrit poetry. The Ramayana, Valmiki's work, is regarded as the world's first epic poem and as such, Valmiki is hailed as Adi Kavi, the world's first poet. Sage Valmiki's mythology The legend of Valmiki tells the remarkable story of how a vicious con artist became a great sage. He was born Ratnakara to the sage Prachetasa, but when he was young, he somehow got lost in the forest. He was discovered and raised by a hunter who went by the name Valia Koli. He became a hunter, got married, and had children as time went on.