Ramayana - Our Hidden History - Part 1

Why this series?

It has been a deep desire for long to bring out multiple aspects of the Indian culture in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Many of us might have just read the abridged versions by authors like Rajaji, etc. and may not know the depth of science, social dynamics, historical aspects, geography, etc. depicted in these epics. This is a humble attempt at bringing such hidden aspects to the front..

Why Ramayana?

Ramayana is referred to as the 'Adi Kavya', the very first poem. The fascination to this epic has been there both in the Southern and Northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. Famous Sangam age poets like Kamban had translated the Ramayana from Sanskrit to Tamil to help reach more people. And no, there did not seem to be a conflict between Sanskrit and Tamil. The poets seem most of the time equally well-versed in both the languages.

So, my attempt starts here, but I may also refer to the other historical references while deciphering the Ramayana. Of course, I will provide the source in each case for the view am presenting here.

Reference to Varna system

राजवंशान्शतगुणान्स्थापयिष्यति राघव: ।
चातुर्वर्ण्यं च लोकेऽस्मिन् स्वे स्वे धर्मे नियोक्ष्यति ।।1.1.96।। 

Meaning: Rama will establish hundredfold royal dynasties and employ the four varnas to do their respective duties, in this world.

Corollary: This is the very first Sarga where briefly Sage Narada tells Sage Valmiki the essence of Rama's life history. Looking at this shloka, it is clear that the Varna system pre-dates Rama and that it was in some state of decay already. Hence he is called upon to employ people of the four Varnas to their respective duties - not by birth rights but by duties - in this world.

Source: https://www.valmiki.iitk.ac.in/sloka?field_kanda_tid=1&language=dv&field_sarga_value=1


Evolved Grammar of Sanskrit and Grammar in Ramayana

उदारवृत्तार्थपदैर्मनोरमैः
तदास्य रामस्य चकारकीर्तिमान् ।
समाक्षरैश्श्लोकशतैर्यशस्विनो 
यशस्करं काव्यमुदारधीर्मुनि: ।।1.2.42।।

Meaning: The renowned and sagacious sage composed a kavya with hundreds of charming verses, each containing equal number of syllables and excellent meaningful words set in metre, conferring glory on celebrated Rama.

Corollary: The grammar of the language should have been sufficiently advanced enough for one to write it in a certain metre. 

Source: https://www.valmiki.iitk.ac.in/sloka?field_kanda_tid=1&language=dv&field_sarga_value=2


चतुर्विंशत्सहस्राणि श्लोकानामुक्तवानृषि:।
तथा सर्गशतान्पञ्च षट्काण्डानि तथोत्तरम् ।।1.4.2।। 

Meaning: Sage Valmiki composed the Ramayanam in twentyfour thousand verses in six kandas and also Uttarakanda (consisting of five hundred cantos).

Corollary: People who are extremely proficient in English still struggle to get their words in a specific metre now. Yet here is Ramayana with 24000 shlokas in the same metre! It's a phenomenal achievement by any linguistic standards. That there are 24000 shlokas is mentioned in the Ramayana itself. This is like CRC checks in modern computer systems communication!

Source: https://www.valmiki.iitk.ac.in/sloka?field_kanda_tid=1&language=dv&field_sarga_value=4


Did the Vedas exist before Ramayana was written?

स तु मेधाविनौ दृष्ट्वा वेदेषु परिनिष्ठितौ।
वेदोपबृंहणार्थाय तावग्राहयत प्रभु:।।1.4.6।।

Meaning: Valmiki, the master, having found both Kusa and Lava endowed with intellect and accomplished in the Vedas initiated them into the Ramayana composed by him for the purpose of nourishing the Vedas.

Corollary: Some may get a question looking at this passage if it is true Vyasa was the one who compiled the Vedas! A very logical question - Krishna Dwaipayana was his name and he became Veda Vyasa because he 'classified' the Vedas into four as Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana. But it does not mean that Veda did not exist before Vyasa. It very much did. 

Vyasa himself talks about Valmiki and Ramayana in the Mahabharata. So, it is also clear that the Valmiki predates Vyasa and that Vedas predate even Rama's life story. Otherwise, there is no need for Valmiki to have mentioned it in this Shloka. It was also clear that even young children were taught Vedas because Lava and Kusa had already been proficient in Vedas before they took up the task of taking Ramayana to everywhere. 

Source: https://www.valmiki.iitk.ac.in/sloka?field_kanda_tid=1&language=dv&field_sarga_value=4

Science and Yogic Culture - Tasting the same divine

I happened to see some people under the guise of scientists making fun of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's comments on Twitter, by selectively taking them out of context and making videos out of it.

It is ironic that technology can be used by anybody to suit their needs but if one pays sufficient attention, the bluff can be easily called off.

Here is gem #1.

“Today modern science has admitted that it’s an ever-expanding universe or an endless universe, rather ever expanding is a yogic term, they are calling it a endless universe" ... admitted 😁 

Let's explore this first before going into others.

Till 1998, scientists did believe that the universe CANNOT be ever expanding. Till then, most popular Physicists thought the expansion of universe after the big bang would slow down and that eventually gravity would pull the parts of the cosmos back in. But then, they found that not only was the expansion not slowing down, it was speeding up. The universe was expanding at an accelerating rate.

Saul Perlmutter shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery that the universe was expanding at an accelerating rate. Perlmutter explains how supernovae and other astronomical artifacts are used to measure the expansion rate, and explains what physicists are learning about "dark energy" — the mysterious entity thought to be driving the acceleration.

The source for all the arguments above has been Published by National Public Radio (USA): https://www.npr.org/2013/05/10/182861376/exploring-an-ever-expanding-universe

Apparently, the critics of Sadhguru indeed have no clue that physicists themselves have changed their stance fairly recently and 'admitting' that this is an ever expanding universe.

Though the discovery was done in 1998, further studies were conducted thereafter and the Nobel prize was given in 2011 only. However, the expanding theory of universe was not an unknown phenomenon even before 1998. Professor Arthur Holmes (1895-1965), a geologist & professor at the University of Durham, writes regarding the age of the earth in his great book, The Age of Earth (1913) as follows:

"Long before it became a scientific aspiration to estimate the age of the earth, many elaborate systems of the world chronology had been devised by the sages of antiquity. The most remarkable of these occult time-scales is that of the ancient Hindus, whose astonishing concept of the Earth's duration has been traced back to Manusmriti, a sacred book."

Mr Holmes had already mentioned in his 1913 book about the Hindu calculation of the present age of the earth and the expanding universe theory from ancient Hindu calculations.

Dick Teresi is the author and coauthor of several books about science and technology, including The God Particle. He is cofounder of Omni magazine and has written for Discover, The New York Times Magazine, and The Atlantic Monthly. Here are his words about Indian culture's contribution to cosmology:

"Indian cosmologists are the first to estimate the age of the earth at more than 4 billion years. They came closest to modern ideas of atomism, quantum physics, and other current theories. India developed very early, enduring atomist theories of matter. Possibly Greek atomistic thought was influenced by India, via the Persian civilization."

One should go through Teresi's book from 2002 "Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science - from the Babylonians to the Maya" to better understand the intertwining of scientific and cultural aspects in ancient civilizations.

In the yogic culture, there are countless stories about the cycle of destruction of universe through Pralaya and Srushti the creation. Lord Shiva's Thandava dance is supposed to be a symbolism of the cyclical nature of creation / destruction and expansion / contraction.

According to Hindu Vedic cosmology, there is no absolute start to time, as it is considered infinite and cyclic. Similarly, the space and universe has neither start nor end, rather it is cyclical per Vedic cosmology. 

Modern scientists are making an assumption that what is infinite can only be cyclical, ascertaining their view of universe, deriving their theories out of Vedic scriptures.

The current universe is just the start of a present cycle preceded by an infinite number of universes and to be followed by another infinite number of universes. Modern Science, on the other hand, is still dealing with only the current universe. Actually, the ultra-modern theory of parallel universes originates from the idea of infinite number of universes.

Ancient Hindu scientists predicted that the cycle of creation and destruction continues forever & symbolized it in Shiva's form, as one who holds the drum that sounds the universe’s creation in his right hand and the flame that, billions of years later, will destroy the universe in his left.

In  his landmark TV series Cosmos, Carl Sagan called Hinduism as the only religion whose time-scale for the universe matches the billions of years documented by modern science. Sagan filmed that segment in a Hindu temple (Chidambaram Nataraja temple) featuring a statue of the god Shiva as the cosmic dancer, an image that now stands in the plaza of the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva.

So, clearly the joke is on those trying to make fun of Sadhguru with half-baked knowledge of both science and ancient Indian culture. 

True Science does not bother where its inspiration to genius comes from, only some fake scientists do. 

Em'power'ing!

A facebook post by a very good friend sparked a controversy and of course a conversation that triggered my thoughts today on what really is empowerment of women.

I believe, like most of the 'concepts', empowerment would mean so many different things to people at different times. This blog entry is just a rambling of what I feel about it in the Indian context.

If it was as in the early afghan invasion era, where women had to be protected carefully, even a woman freely walking around on her own might have been considered empowerment. Probably in the independence war era, it would have meant the same and more, women getting more or less equal opportunities to fight against the foreign oppression. This was also the time when the seeds of liberation were sprouting in more human pots than in several prior centuries.

What does it really mean now!? I feel it is about freeing women from the centuries of stranglehold on various fronts - cultural, educational, social and spiritual - more than ever.

My vision is simple:

- A child should not be discriminated against pursuing any sort of education she likes
- A woman should be able to freely go on the streets at midnight, as the Mahatma also wished for
- No woman should be ill-treated or physically abused, irrespective of the place being a house or a school or a bus or a train
- Every person, man or woman, should have the basic freedom of choice without any external pressure

It is said that in the vedic period, a woman could wear the sacred thread just like a man - not based on being born in a caste, but out of her own capability. A woman would dissolve her family at will and pursue a spiritual path because that was considered the ultimate thing everyone aspired.

It is shameful that such a free culture is more or less lost now. But if we can create back or restore a culture even closer to that state, that should be the minimum contribution from our generation to the next.