On the occasion of Valmiki Jayanti 2026, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan offered his reverence to Maharshi Valmiki — the ancient sage revered as the Adikavi (first poet) of Sanskrit literature and composer of the Ramayana — calling his ideals a timeless guide to righteous living.

Posting on Monday, 26 October, Chouhan wrote: 'I offer crores of salutations at the feet of Maharshi Valmiki on his Jayanti — the Adikavi who introduced all of humanity to the ideal character of Maryada Purushottam Prabhu Shri Ram, the composer of the great epic Ramayana. Your sacred thoughts teach and inspire all of us to conduct ourselves with purity, restraint, truth, and a complete and faithful observance of duty — and will continue to do so.'

The Adikavi who gave the world Ram's story

Maharshi Valmiki holds a singular place in Hindu tradition. Credited as the author of the Ramayana — one of the two foundational Sanskrit epics of ancient India — he is widely regarded as the father of Sanskrit poetry. The epic narrates the life and trials of Lord Rama, encoding values of dharma (righteousness), loyalty, and sacrifice that have shaped subcontinental culture for millennia. Valmiki Jayanti marks his birth anniversary, observed on the full moon of the Hindu month of Ashwin, and is celebrated with particular devotion by communities across India.

Chouhan's tribute and the BJP's cultural communication

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a four-term former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and one of the BJP's most recognised mass leaders, has consistently woven references to India's classical and spiritual heritage into his public communication. Paying tribute to saints, sages, and figures from Hindu epics on their respective anniversaries forms a regular part of the BJP's outreach calendar — one that underscores the party's public positioning around cultural continuity and traditional values. For Chouhan personally, such messages also resonate with a large rural and devotional voter base he has cultivated over decades in central India.

The minister's message specifically highlighted Valmiki's role not merely as a poet, but as a moral educator — someone whose depiction of Ram as the Maryada Purushottam (the upholder of limits and dignity) remains a living ethical reference point, not a historical footnote.

As cultural programmes and state-level observances mark Valmiki Jayanti across the country, Chouhan's tribute reflects the ongoing public invocation of classical wisdom in India's political and civic life — a tradition as old as the republic, and far older than it.