ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 of this study laid out the problem under discussion: the dispute in Birmingham in February 2000, the legend at issue, the principles at stake. Chapter 2 contextualized the people involved: the origins of ‘untouchability5 in early India, the myths and politics of dalit self-representation, the implications for the Valmiki community in Britain. The next two chapters focused on texts. Chapter 3 located the implications of the name ‘Valmiki5 in early Sanskrit texts: a Sanskrit expert in the Taittirïya Pràtisâkhya, an ascetic rsi in the Mahâbhârata, the compassionate poet of the Vâlmlki Râmâyana and the enlightened saint of the Yogavâsistha. Chapter 4 traced each of the elements of what I have called ‘the Valmiki legend5, also in Sanskrit texts: the ascetic technique of immobility celeJ brated in the ‘termite-mound motif; the bhakti theme of sinner-to-saint transforJ mation through the power of God’s name; and the mará-mará mantra, with its implications of low status and ignorance on the one hand and the irrelevance of intellectual understanding on the other. It also raised the possibility of Vâlmïki’s àdi status.
