[INDOLOGY] Query: Theological significance of māra/rāma chant and syllable ontology

[JAMES RYAN]

Qu,
 
The rather late legend held that Valmiki was originally a robber who tried to rob the sage Narada. He was lead by him, I believe, to sit in penance and recite the Hindi marā marā, "I am dead. I am dead." This repetition resulted in him chanting ....rāmarāma... over and over. After sitting for a very long time an anthill, vālmīka, was said to grow up around him explaining his name as composer of Rāmāyaṇa. If memory serves, at some point someone passed by the anthill and saw gleaming in the anthill, which were his eyes, and poked them out, explaining why Valmiki was blind.
 
Unfortunately, I cannot give a book citation for this well-known legend, except for the Hindi book by Kamil Bulcke, Rāmkathā, Utpatti aur Vikās.  
 
Jim Ryan
Asian and Comparative Studies (Emeritus)
California Institute of Integral Studies
 

> On 02/23/2026 4:09 PM PST Robert P. GOLDMAN via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>  
>  
> The repeated “mantra” is not “māra” but “marā” the constant repetition of which in effect makes one recite "Rāma Rāma” leading to salvation. 
>  
> There is also a Hindi legend I heard once about a terrible criminal sentence to a painful death, who cried out in his agony  the Hindi word marā, marā (“I’m dying”) This had  the same salvific effect as  the repeated bur essentially meaningless (in Sanskrit)   marā in the Adhyātmarāmāyaṇam.
>  
> Dr. R.P. Goldman
> William and Catherine Magistretti Professor of Sanskrit Emeritus
> and
> Professor in the Graduate School
> Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies
> The University of California at Berkeley
> 
> 
> > On Feb 23, 2026, at 12:06 PM, Yang Qu via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
> > 
> > Dear colleagues,
> > 
> > I am currently researching the episode of Vālmīki's transformation through the māra/rāma chant, specifically as it is depicted in the Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa (2.6.64-92).
> > 
> > Beyond the phonetic palindrome, I am trying to trace the deeper theological and ontological significance of this inversion. I have come across secondary references suggesting a specific syllable breakdown where "ra" is associated with puruṣa and "ma" signifies prakṛti, but I have been unable to locate the primary Sanskrit sources (perhaps within the Rāma Rahasya or Rāma Tāpanīya Upaniṣad?) or the definitive modern scholarship that articulates this exact mapping.
> > 
> > I am aware that Frank Whaling discusses the theology of the name in The Rise of the Religious Significance of Rāma, but I unfortunately do not have access to a digital copy at the moment.
> > 
> > Would anyone be able to point me toward the primary texts that explicitly theorize this ra/ma syllable breakdown, or kindly share relevant scholarship (including Whaling, if possible)?
> > 
> > Any guidance or textual pointers would be greatly appreciated!
> > 
> > Best regards,
> > Yang Qu
> > 
> > 
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> 
> 
> Dr. R.P. Goldman
> William and Catherine Magistretti Professor of Sanskrit Emeritus
> and
> Professor in the Graduate School
> Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies
> The University of California at Berkeley
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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