Ramayana

An interesting article:

A real life hero, not figment of a poet’s imagination

(Saroj Bala, The Tribune, Sunday, October 12, 2003)

THE story of Shri Ram’s life was first narrated by Maharishi Valmiki in The Ramayana, written after he was crowned as the king of Ayodhya. Valmiki was a great astronomer because he made sequential astronomical references on important dates related to the life of Shri Ram indicating the location of planets vis-a-vis zodiac constellations and the other visible stars (nakshatras). A similar position of planets and nakshatras vis-a-vis zodiac constellations has not been repeated in thousands of years. By entering the precise details of the planetary configuration of the important events in the life of Shri Ram, as given in the Valmiki Ramayana, in the software named Planetarium corresponding exact dates of these events according to English calendar can be known.

Pushkar Bhatnagar, of the Indian Revenue Service, had acquired Planetarium from the USA. It is used to predict the solar/lunar eclipses and distance and location of other planets from the earth by the scientists and astronomers. He entered the relevant details about the planetary positions vis-a-vis zodiac constellations narrated by Valmiki and obtained convincing results, thus almost determining the important dates starting from the birth of Shri Ram to the date of his coming back to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile.

Valmiki has recorded in Bal Kaand Sarga 19 and shloka 8 and 9 (1/18/8,9) that Shri Ram was born on the ninth tithi of Chaitra month when the position of different planets vis-a-vis zodiac constellations and nakshatras (visible stars) was as under :- 1 Sun in Aries ii) Saturn in Libra iii) Jupiter in Cancer iv) Venus in Pisces v) Mars in Capricorn vi) Lunar month of Chaitra vii) Ninth day after no moon viii) Lagna as Cancer (Cancer was rising in the east) ix) Moon on the Punarvasu (Gemini constellation & Pollux star) x) Day time (around noon)

This data was fed into the Planetarium software. The results indicated that this was exactly the location of planets/stars vis-a-vis zodiac constellations on January10, noon time in the year 5114 BC. As per the Indian calendar, it was the ninth day of Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month and the time was around 12 to 1 noontime. This is exactly the time and date when Ram Navmi is celebrated all over India till date.

Shri Ram was born in Ayodhya: This fact can be ascertained from several books written by Indian and foreign authors before and after the birth of Christ e.g. Valmiki Ramayana, Tulsi Ramayana, Kalidasa’s Raghuvansam, Bodh and Jain literature etc. These books have narrated in great detail the location, the rich architecture and the beauty of Ayodhya which had many palaces and temples built all over the vast kingdom. Ayodhya was located over the banks of Saryu River with Ganga and Panchal Pradesh on one side and Mithila on the other side. Normally 7,000 years is a very long period during which earthquakes, storms, floods and foreign invasions change the course of rivers, destroy towns and buildings and alter the territories. Therefore, the task of unearthing facts is monumental. The present Ayodhya is shrunken in size and the rivers have changed their course about 40 km north/south.

Shri Ram went out of Ayodhya in his childhood (13th year as per Valmiki Ramayana with Rishi Vishwamitra who lived in Tapovan (Sidhhashram) and from there he went to Mithila, the kingdom of King Janaka. Here, he married Sita after breaking the Shiv dhanusha. Researchers have gone along the route adopted by Shri Ram as narrated in Valmiki Ramayana and found 23 places which have memorials existing even as on date to commemorate the events related to his life.

These include Shringi Ashram, Ramghat, Tadka Van, Sidhhashram, Gautamashram, Janakpur (now in Nepal) and Sita Kund etc. Memorials are built for great human beings and not for fictitious characters.

Date of exile of Shri Ram: In Valmiki Ramayana it is mentioned in Ayodhya Kand (2/4/18) that Dashratha wanted to make Shri Ram the king because Sun, Mars and Rahu had surrounded his nakshatra and normally under such planetary configuration the king dies/or becomes a victim of conspiracies. The zodiac sign of king Dashratha was Pisces and his nakshatra was Rewati. This planetary configuration was prevailing on the January 5, 5089 BC. It was on this day that Shri Ram had to leave Ayodhya for living in the forests for 14 years. He was 25 years old at that time (5114-5089) and there are several shlokas in the Valmiki Ramayana which indicate that Shri Ram was 25 years old when he left Ayodhya for 14 years of exile.

Valmiki Ramayana refers to the solar eclipse at the time of war with Khardushan in latter half of 13th year of Shri Ram’s living in forests. Valmiki has also mentioned that it was Amavasya that day and planet Mars was in the middle. When this data was entered, the computer software indicated that there was a solar eclipse on October 7, 5077 BC (Amavasya day) which could be seen from Panchvati. On that date, the planetary configuration was the same as has been described by Valmiki i.e. Mars was in the middle, on one side were Venus and Mercury and on the other side were Sun and Saturn. On the basis of planetary configurations described in various other chapters, the date on which Ravana was killed works out to December 4, 5076 BC. Shri Ram completed 14 years of exile on January 2, 5075 BC. That day was also Navami of Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month. Thus, Shri Ram had come back to Ayodhya when he was 39 years old (5114-5075).

Ram Avtar, who had done research on places visited by Shri Ram during 14 years of exile and sequentially moved to the places stated as visited by Shri Ram in the Valmiki Ramayana, started from Ayodhya and went right upto Rameshwaram. He found 195 places which still have the memorials connected to the events narrated in the Ramayana relating to the life of Shri Ram and Sita. These places include: Tamsa Tal (Mandah), Shringverpur (Singraur), Bhardwaj Ashram (situated near Allahabad), Atri Ashram, Markandeya Ashram (Markundi), Chitrakoot, Parnakuti (on banks of Godavari), Panchvati, Sita Sarovar, Ram Kund in Triambakeshwar near Nasik, Shabari Ashram, Kishkindha (village Annagorai), Dhanushkoti and Rameshwar temple.

Recently, the Sri Lankan government had expressed a desire to develop Sita Vatika as a tourist spot. Sri Lankans believe that this was Ashok Vatika where Ravana had kept Sita as a prisoner (that was year 5076 BC). An American company engaged in exploring the oceans had put pictures on the Internet of a curved bridge, the ruins of which are lying submerged in Gulf of Mannar between Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka. The age of the stones used has been estimated at 17 million years, though the period of the construction of the bridge has still not been estimated.

Indian history has recorded that Shri Ram belonged to the Surya Vansh and was the 64th ruler of this dynasty. The names and other relevant particulars of previous 63 kings are listed on in Ayodhya Ka Itihas written about 80 years back by Rai Bahadur Sita Ram and the ancestors of Shri Ram have been traced out as under: Shri Ram, S/o King Dashratha, S/o King Aja, S/o King Raghu, S/o King Dilip and so on ——-)

From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Bengal to Gujarat, everywhere people believe in the reality of Shri Ram’s existence, particularly in the tribal areas of Himachal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and the North-East. Most of the festivals celebrated in these tribal areas revolve around the events in the life of Shri Ram and Shri Krishna.

During Ram Rajya, the evils of caste system based on birth were non-existent. Valmiki is stated to be a Shudra. Sita lived with him as his adopted daughter after she was banished from Ayodhya and Shri Ram’s children Luv and Kush grew in his ashram as his disciples. Valmiki was, perhaps, the first great astronomer and that his study of planetary configurations has stood the test of time. Even the latest computer software corroborated his astronomical calculations, proving that he did not commit any error. Shabari is stated to be belonging to Bheel tribe and the army of Shri Ram, which succeeded in defeating Ravana was also formed by various tribals from Central and South India. Facts, events and other relevant details relating to the life of Shri Ram are the common heritage of all the Indians.

Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031012/spectrum/main6.htm

Business of Conversions

It was one of those summer evenings of late 90s when there won’t be power in our town and all of our family members would sit together and have a chat. Mother would have finished cooking, father would have come back after meeting friends, and we would have finished the homework… We had given our upper floor on rent. At that time, two of the elder sons in the family had come to home and they were chatting. Suddenly we found the peaceful evening interrupted by a big argument broken between them. It came out that the younger brother was saying that India’s new-generation Hindus would become very intolerant because of government’s minority appeasement policies. While the elder brother shrugged him off saying, “Who has the time to think about religions?”

Today, the elder brother is well settled abroad and didn’t even invite his parents when he married there. Younger one had his own learning curve and after much struggle and a personal disaster, he survived all and is now well settled and lives in peace.

Should we think about religion then?

The recent attack on Churches in Orissa and then Karnataka should not be seen in isolation. First, taking law in hands and attacking any place of worship is wrong – not tolerable by any means. But it would be madness if we try to douse the fire cause by electrical short-circuit by throwing water over it. We would get hit in return and fire will spread more…

At one time I was that innocent kid who used to think that Christian Missionaries were like Mother Teresa – helping the poor, educating them and in turn doing a service to our society. And then, I grew up. Diverse non-political literature tells the tales of how Christian missionaries lured the poor unsatisfied Hindus by showing them dreams and then booking them in their rolls…

Whenever I go visit the Siddhivinayak Temple in the evenings, I reach there taking a shortcut. The temple is mostly crowded, where people compete with each other to take a glimpse of the idol, to touch the idol for maximum number of times and this competition gets frustrating in peak hours. On the way back, I get to see a small gathering around a small temple-like structure. That structure is made on a land encroached from a playground – looks very much like the small temple that people make in order to grab government lands. People gather there, mostly ladies in sarees and they all pray as if they were singing aartis. They also burn incense sticks. The whole atmosphere looks exactly like as if happening in a Hindu temple, except that the idol is of Jesus Christ and not of Lord Krishna. This is just a small example.

The level to which the original practices of Christianity have been altered and customised to suit the local needs of India is amusing. It is said that at one point the missionaries were very frustrated, because there were no parallel to the Indian and Hindu mythology in their original religion. Indians grow up learning moral lessons from Ram and Krishna. From Hanuman to Goddess Kali – the diversification and the scope – the ambit and the touch points – of Hinduism are totally unparalleled. And when they realised this, then started the customisation of Christianity for India.

And hence on one hand, articles were written how Jesus may be an Avatar just like Krishna was, and on the other hand, attempts were made to prove to the younger generation that Hindu symbols and icons were nothing but pieces of fiction. The religion and philosophy which won the world over – by just one man – Swami Vivekananda – was shown as if it was confusing and not cultured enough. The younger generation, which is anyway going the Western way of life, has started seeing the world from a different angle. And hence, when asked to imagine a wedding – it is highly likely that a kid will think of “now you may kiss the bride” kind of ceremony. Kissing is cool, saat-phere is not so! Anyways ladies have started not using sindoor – lady Clinton never applies that! Innumerable websites have propped up – with conflicting views on Hinduism – with a hidden agendum of creating confusions among the younger generations.

On the other hand, the business is still business. So, all the missionaries will always work in states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa – where the untapped recruits lie. The argument is that – the adivasis don’t practice Hinduism formally anyway, so when they would accept Christianity, it won’t be called conversion! So, the record books get filled up.

In order to make the numbers they don’t focus on ‘quality’ – and hence there is a separate section called ‘Dalit Christians’ made up from the discriminated castes from Hindus. I won’t quote many articles here, but a small article will tell you the status: [Link]:

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As churchgoers dwindle in Europe—according to pollster Gallup International, attendance declined from 60-65% in 1980 to 20% in 2000—countries such as India with its enormous potential for conversion have become more important for the Vatican.

In the district of Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, P.B Lomiyo, editor of the magazine, Christian Restoration, says, “The clergy raise funds for schools for Dalits, but don’t give admission to them. When Dalits demand their rights, they react and encourage the parish to boycott the Dalits.”

R.L. Francis, president of the Poor Christian Liberation Movement says that it is because the Vatican has one lone interest in India: conversion. “They have only set up a business enterprise here,” he said, “... solely for promoting conversions, none for Dalit upliftment. We are asking the Vatican to stop all conversion in India for the next 100 years and spend the money on healing those who have already come to the faith.”

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The exact way in which petro-dollars are funding the global terrorist activities in the name of Islamic Jihad, the funds raised in the Western countries are spent in India in the name of carrying out the business of conversions.

And then there is also a growing breed of Christians in India who say that the Hindus who convert to Christianity shouldn’t be allowed into the faith because: when they couldn’t stick to their religion to birth, they won’t do great in the new religion also. First, this mentality is the same mentality where some of us close the door when we get inside the train. Second, it again is a sort of casteism, frowning at that poor adivasi becoming the same Christian that the learned professor is. And third, such persons forget that somewhere, one of their own ancestors had converted into Christianity! Jesus was neither born into India, nor did the Indian soil need him to be born here! A foreign religion brought in and spread with pounds and guns – is a ‘push’ process rather than ‘pull’ one.

Coming back to the incidents of attacks on Churches in India, given the historical background, there is much mess within the surface, as much blood flows over it. Unrestricted conversions don’t only change the religions and places of worship, but also changes attitudes, creates group formations, sows seeds of disharmony in the village system, and results in hatred on both sides: nothing that Jesus wanted.

It is historically proven that India has suffered whenever the Hindus have become weak from inside. Attacks on Somnath were not only because the invaders Muslims had better ammunitions – it was also because the Hindus were not united and had become too custom-oriented. I wonder if today, the same case is being repeated: this time the invaders are not outsiders: it is our own elected governments who would act in great loss to the country by not acting up.

Our governments have proven that unless people protest and do violence, they won’t hear them. This happened recently in Jammu when young Hindu men committed suicides and families spent days on the roads protesting, and then only the government listened to their demands. This sets a bad example and it is sad that we are all loving towards that direction.

Today, we all remember the religious riots in Gujarat as attacks on Muslims – and we don’t remember how it all started – Hindus being burnt alive enclosed in a train. Why? Because it makes us better ‘intellectuals’ if we speak like ‘true’ seculars. Even our scriptures told us: "satyam bruyat priyam bruyat na bruyat satyam apriyam"! So we all choose to speak the lovely truth. And we keep the bitter truths in the closet. And then one day the closet gets opened and such incidents happen...

Orissa violence started when a Hindu saint was murdered whose influence on the tribal people was causing resistance to the conversion drives of Christian missionaries. What happened afterwards was sad. No one has the right to burn any place of worship. The government should act fast and stop all the violence that is going on: no one can justify the violence against Christians or burning of the Churches.

But even then, some one will have to take bold steps to stop this business of conversions.

But even after all said and done, one brother will shrug it off and go settle abroad – may be he will also become a ‘true’ Christian one day…

The Godmother of India

Thanks a lot to all the members of the UPA, especially to Sonia Gandhi and Man Mohan Singh; now we have Shibu Soren as the Chief Minister of an Indian state.

Shibu Soren, held guilty of conspiracy, kidnapping and murder, was sentenced to life imprisonment and he was to give a fine of Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the widow and daughters of the diseased.

This is just the beginning of execution of the 'deals' that the government had to make in order to avoid an election year in 2008.

Wonderful days ahead...

[Link]

Three Men – Three Destinies…

One man standing who became the Tank Man…

Do you know who Tank Man was? Tank Man, or the Unknown Rebel, is the nickname of an anonymous man who became internationally famous when he was photographed during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in China.

Students were protesting against the authoritarian rule of the Chinese Communist Party and wanted democratic reforms. Govt had sent tanks to suppress the students’ movement. At that time, a fleet of tanks were moving towards the square where students were protesting. This man simply walked up to them, and stood in front of a column of 5 Chinese tanks and thus prevented their advance!

What happened to this Tank Man? He could have been one of the hundreds of students, workers, physicians, and children later found dead, shot in the back…

One man is enough… And one tank is not…

One man’s speech – and the after effects…

We all know about the famous speech of Omar Abdullah in the parliament during the trust vote for UPA. He had spoken about how he regreted once being part of the communal NDA/BJP and now he had decided to be with the secular force Congress. He also talked about how the Left parties who were against NDA/BJP then were now joining hands with the BJP.

There, along with wise words, he had also said this, referring to Amarnath land controversy: “Woh hamari zameen ka muddha tha. Hum apni zameen ke liye lade. Aur hum marte dum tak apni zameen ke liye ladhenge!” (That was an issue about our land. We fought for our land. And we will fight for our land till our death.)

(Meaning that the land of J&K is the land of the locals and any Govt of India has no right to take or use the land for any purpose like giving shelter to the outsider (non-Kashmiri) Indians who come there to visit the shrine)

After the speech, Mr. Abdullah says:
“Frankly, my speech was neither rehearsed nor designed to appease anyone. I just spoke what I felt. But to tell you the truth, I was very angry at not being given a chance to speak. I thought to myself that while people were openly talking about an MP being worth Rs 20-25 crore, here I was, not getting even 20 seconds to speak. It was a speech that I almost missed.

After that, I have been flooded with phone calls, letters and requests for interviews. Everyone in Kashmir, including some hard-liners in my own party, appreciated my speech. Yes, it was a moment that one cannot get even in a million years.”

“The National Conference took a stand that the land cannot be given away.” “My party is hoping that the people are fed up with six years of coalition rule and will give us a clear mandate. I am not even thinking of pre-election tie-ups right now.”

Latest: The video of his speech has been watched a record number of times and Mr. Abdullah plans to write a book on the events around his speech!

Politicians will make speeches. And will fall in love with them. And we Indians still think that those who speak well are good leaders. Like kabootars kept repeating: Shikari aayega, jaal bichhayega, dana dalega, usme fassna mat. But do we still keep getting trapped?

One man’s poem and the after effects…

Kuldeep Raj Dogra, in his mid-30s, was participating in a hunger strike at Jammu's Parade Ground. He decided to do something tragically dramatic: He consumed poison, stood up to read out a passionately patriotic poem he had penned, faltered and fell dead.

It was his way of registering his protest against Omar Abdullah's speech in Parliament... he was incensed by the National Conference leader's duplicity.

The police panicked. They forcibly took away Dogra's body to his hometown, Bisnah, 15 km from Jammu, and tried to cremate it using old tyres, kerosene oil and liquor. His widow Shilpi tried to prevent the cremation and raised a hue and cry. The police have been accused of insulting, abusing and assaulting Shilpi to silence her. But a huge crowd gathered and snatched Dogra's body from the police. It was taken to Jammu and the situation subsequently just went out of control. Since then, the Hindu intifada has gathered both force and speed.

Don’t you think we Indians can do it better than the Chinese? And in the mess of Kashmirs and Maharastras, can we still recognize our India?

Three Men – Three Destinies

Three men and three different destinies… The Man walking up to the Tanks – got a bullet in his back and is still anonymous, The Man talking his speech got a million appreciations and is a youth icon, and The Man who was a poet, got to drink poison…

Note: This piece quotes some portions from the following pages, with due acknowledgement and credit to the original articles: One man standing: Link1, Link2, One man’s speech: Link, One man’s poem Link.

UPA and Nuclear Deal

A no-brainer’s Analysis

The basic premises:

· Deal or no deal – Indian public was not ‘affected’ by the nuclear agreement.
· Indians wanted the government to survive, because they didn’t want frequent elections and hence the political instability.
· Indians wanted government to control rising prices (inflation) and would punish all those who play the game while the household compromise.

If UPA had lost the trust vote:

· Left parties would be villain – for playing politics for 4 years and then making the government fall on a non-issue.
· BJP would be a villain – for opposing the nuclear deal just for the sake of playing the role of a non-supportive opposition.
· Congress would gain – for it sacrificed the government for an issue which it believed was good for the nation – for it was defeated because the Left met the BJP in politics of opportunism.

Now that UPA won the trust vote:

· Everyone knows that they procured MPs in order to win votes.
· Everyone knows that they have a history of bribing MPs just to remain in power, after the JMM/Shibu Soren issue last time.
· Everyone knows that they can do anything to remain in power – and don’t have any ideology, however controversial the ideologies can be.

Things to watch for in coming times:

· How the corporate houses that sponsored the bribery of MPs get paid.
· How the government pushes its scheme of Caste based reservations in some new innovative places, apart from the old agenda of reservations in private companies.
· How the government manoeuvres the Setu Samudram project to start off, though it will never complete the project (some conflicts are made never to be solved, for perpetual political gains).
· How in order to control prices, the government destroys India’s industrial growth. How the mediocrity of policy planners would seek short term results at the cost of long term damage to economy.
· How a terrorist waiting for his execution will live more under the Indian hospitality.

Some positive things that Indians will realise:

· Indians will grow more disenchanted from the power politics.
· That the governments play with their hard earned money while their farmers have to commit suicides.
· That no matter how Harvard educated they come, politicians will remain politicians.
· That politics is a thing not worth discussing in blogs too :)