The life of Valmiki before he became a Rishi.

As per Skanda Puran, There lived a poor Brahmin named Shamimukh. He had a son named Vishakh. The son was very cruel and of evil character who fed his family comprising of his parents and wife by looting and robbing. The parents were too old and totally dependent. Once when Vishakh was on his looting spree, The Saptrishis happened to pass through that forest. As was his habit, Vishakh stopped them and went near them in order to rob them of their belongings.

The Rishi's realising their situation were still very calm and serene. They all discussed amongst themselves that our chance meeting with this evil person should not go in vain if only they could instill some positivity in him. Rishi Angira came forward and started questioning him about his whereabouts and family. Vishakh surprisingly answered his query.

Then the Rishi inquired that when he carried this loot ladden money got through sinful means and was used to feed him and his family, Was he the sinned ?or his family would carry the brunt of these sins? Rishi asked him to go home and ask this question to his family members. Were the sins credited to his account or his family.

He went home and inquired from his family. His parents replied that in our younger days we fed you through our hard earned money. Now since we are totally dependent on you the brunt of sins cannot be shared by us since we eat,what you give us. You chose the sinful path of earning, so the sins too belong to you. The wife too replied the same way.

Vishakh went back to the forest and repeated the words that his family had conveyed. Already after hearing the rejoinder from his family, He felt remorseful.He begged the Rishi's to pardon him and asked them to guide him towards a meaningful path that would wash off his sins. So the Rishi's asked him to do tapasya and they gave him a secret four worded mantra. They asked him to chant this mantra to purify himself.

So Vishakh sat near the banks of river Devika and was so engrossed in his deep meditation that thousands of years passed by. He did not feel thirsty at hungry. In fact mud covered his full body and from far it looked like the snake Bambi. After thousands of years the Saptrishis came to the spot where they had encountered the evil man. They remembered the incident with Vishakh. They were surprised to hear the rendition of their secret mantra coming from the spot.

They were surprised since the sound was coming out of the mound of mud. Through their Tapobal they peeped inside and found Vishakh meditating. They fed him a herbal potion to bring his body in motion.Vishakh now became alert and recognized the Saptrishis. He wanted to return the loot money back to them and wondered if his family could pardon him. The Rishi's informed him that he was meditating for so long that his family was long dead.

They blessed him and said that through his worship he had attained in the Valmik(Ant heap) so he would be known as Valmiki all over the world and would write the Ramayana. They asked him to worship Bhagwan Suryanarayan since he presided the area where he got his enlightenment. He started his Surya worship and acquired a boon from bhagwan that Surya would permanently reside in that spot. Since then it is known as Moolsthan and will be revered as a tirth.

Those suffering from leprosy will find their disease destroyed by taking a dip in the river and worshiphing Surya there.