MISSION AMONG THE POOR International, Inc.

 

 

Panta Ta Ethne

All the Peoples

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Debate

THE "TRI-R" ISSUE: RAM, RAM SETU, & RAMAYANA

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the poet Valmiki and an important part of the Hindu canon. It consists of 24,000 verses in 7 Kandas and tells the mythological story of Rama. Other famous versions of Ramayana include Shri Ramacharitamanas by Tulsidas in Old Hindi, Kambaramayanam in Tamil by Kamban, the Patala Ramayanam in Malayalam, and the Bengali Ramayana.

Rama, the hero of Ramayana, is a popular deity worshipped by Hindus. The poem is not a mere literary monument, it is part of Hinduism, and is held in such reverance that the mere reading or hearing of it, or certain passages of it, is believed by the Hindus to free them from sin and grant every desire to the reader or hearer. The heroic deeds of Rama and his exciting adventures have inspired generations of people. According to Hindu tradition, Rama is the 7th incarnation (Avatar), of the god Vishnu, who is part of the Hindu trinity. The main purpose of this incarnation was to demonstrate the righteous path (dharma) for the life on earth. 

I prefer to address the present issue emerged from the religio-socio-political context of India as a "Tri-R" issue (i.e., Ram, Ram Setu, & Ramayana issue). Can we consider Ram as a historical figure? Or, Is he merely a mythological creation of Valmiki? Why people die and kill for a figure who was created out of poetic imagination? This write up is an attept to discuss the hot-cake issues of the current Hindu-world concerning Ram, Ram Setu, and Ramayana.

I  The Hot-Cake Issue

Setu Samudram (from Sanskrit; 'Setu' means bridge, and 'samudram' means sea) is the sea that separates Tamil Nadu, India from Sri Lanka. It encompasses the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and a shoal of islands and bays that separate them called 'Ram Setu' ("Ram's Bridge", also known as Adam's Bridge). Hindus believe that this bridge was built by Ram of Ramayana. The bridge is 30 miles (48 km) long. Some of the sandbanks are dry and the sea in the area is very shallow, being only 3 ft to 30 ft (1 m to 10 m) deep in places, which hinders navigation.

The name 'Adam's Bridge' is due to an Islamic legend, according to which Adam used the bridge to reach Adam's Peak in Sri Lanka, where he stood repentant on one foot for 1,000 years, leaving a large hollow mark resembling a foot print. Both the Peak and the Bridge are named after this legend. The name first appeared in the 11th century, mentioned by Alberuni, in his Book of Roads and Kingdoms.

Setu Samudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP) is a project that has been approved by the Government of India and its work has been started near Kodand Ram Temple. In this project, Palk Gulf and Gulf Mannar will be linked by making a shipping canal through Rameshwaram Island. This will allow ships and boats to navigate in the passage between India and Sri Lanka without having to circle Sri Lanka (as is being done currently). This is supposedly going to reduce the maritine distance and also allow local sea ports to proliferate. Now, the construction of shipping canal for ships to navigate a shorter distance from Sri Lanka to India is got stuck with public spat and outcry of leaders on the existence of Adam's Bridge of Epic Ramayana.

The religious Hindus are opposed to the Setu Samudram Project. Not because they think it affect the marine biology or because it is expensive, but because they think that this Bridge is nothing but a construction by Lord Rama (of Ramayana) to invade Lanka.

II  The Mythology

The story goes that Ravana (a ten-headed King of Lanka), had abducted Sita to avenge the insult meted out to his sister Shurpnakha, whose proposal for marrying her was turned down by the Lord Rama. Nala on his part initiated the monumental bridge in the middle of the ocean. Assisted by his loyal devotee Hanuman (a monkey god), the Lord mobilized army of monkeys and built the bridge. It is claimed that this bridge is a marvel of engineering architects of the Indian engineers of that time. Ramayana (Book VI: Yuddha Kanda, Book of War, Chapter [Sarga] 22) describes the construction of Ram Setu in detail. Veda Vyasa refers to the Setu as Nala Setu (Mahabharata: 3.267.45). In Puranas, the importance of Setu is explained in great details, especially in Skanda Purana, Vishnu Purana, Agni Purana, and Brahma Purana.

The religious Hindus suggest that this Adam's Bridge between India and Sri Lanka is indeed the same bridge that Rama constructed. Some of them, in an attempt to gleefully satisfy this theory have even suggested that Rama and his cohorts existed more than 1.7 million years ago to coincide with the time (as archaeological survey suggests) this formulation happened.

III  Ramanization of Indian Society

The term Ramanization is my own terminology to describe the recent trend in the socio-political scinario of Indian society. In the last hundred years, Hindu organizations, groups, sympathizers, devout, radical, fanatical, communal, fundamental, et al, have been positioning Rama to be the icon for Hindus. Popularization of places related to Rama, stories of Rama, Issues like Rama Janmabhoomi, embracing Rama Rajya for Hindu Rashtra etc. were carried out on a massive scale. To help this further, the present generation of Indians grew up knowing Ramayana from the TV serial. They all have images to relate to thus accentuating the belief he really existed.

The obsession with Rama is a recent phenomenon as I already indicated, and more so since L K Advani's Rath Yathra (Chariot Jorney) and the Ayodhya episode. Rama became an icon they are going to die for, just the way Muslims are ready to die (and kill) for the sake of Muhammad. When the present Government, led by a Christian Italian-Indian woman Sonia Gandhi, a Sikh Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, the newly elected lady President who is an ally of the ruling Government (just months ago a Muslim President), and a current Muslim Vice-President, the Hindu political leaders are merely trying to awake the mass sentiments. While there is lot of evidence to suggest that Muhammad and Jesus existed and walked on this planet in flesh and blood, there is no evidence to suggest Rama ever walked on this planet.

IV  Politicization of Ramanism

Here I use the term Ramanism as a Hindu socio-political trend to exploit the massive religious feelings of the Indians in the universal level. At the nerve center of RSS's (a Hindu militant group) earlier emotive issue-Ram Temple-the BJP's (a Hindu political party) campaign for saving the Ram Setu fails to evoke passions. While a VHP (another Hindu militant group) leader may grab headlines by announcing a reward for anyone who could behead DMK Chief Karunanidhi (the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu state) for making objectionable utterances about Ram.

Says Mahant Gyan Das of the famous Hanuman Garhi Temple, "they just want to use Ram Setu as their bridge to power and money". Krishna Pratap Singh, a poet, sees in the Setu campaign "the same old style, the same old game, but a new pretence". There is no doubt that the VHP, BJP, and RSS are raising heat on the Setu with an eye on elections. The BJP and VHP "cheated the people" on the issue of Ram Temple. "Having realized that they cannot use the temple issue again, they are trying to use the Ram Setu to move sentiments". That further means, having lost Ayodhya as a political issue, they are now trying to take Setu as their political agenda to mobilize Hindus.

V  Where I Stand?

I may bring forth the following ten points as the more authentic and dependable arguments against the Hindu views of the Tri-R's, i.e., Ram, Ram Setu, and Ramayana:

(1) There is no evidence whatsoever in human history that there was any human population in the Indian subcontinent 1.7 million years ago

(2) These dates of Ramayana are ludicrous. Indus Valley Civilization which predates Ganges settlement (that spawned Vedic Civilization) is less than 6000 years old. So, if Rama ever existed he should have existed not earlier than 4000 BC.

(3) Modern societies, such as Kingdoms, cities, etc, did not appear before advent of agriculture. And that happened less than 12,000 years ago after the last Ice Age. Prior to that there were no settlements-no cities or towns, not even Ayodhya. Before that humans were hunters and gatherers. Hunter-gatherer societies do not exeed 100-200 people as a group. If they exeed, they usually break up and form new ones. Without massive resources such as labor, one cannot make such constructions. Labor came about only after advent of agriculture-because now, one man could produce more than for his own family, and hence artisans, laborers, musicians, kings, soldiers, can now be accommodated as part of the society.

NASA's Space Picture ('Ram Setu' or 'Adam's Bridge')

(4) The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that there is no historical and scientific evidence to establish the existence of Lord Rama or the other characters of Ramayana. Denying the Ram Setu or Adam's Bridge is a man-made structure, it said Ramcharitamanas (a translation of Ramayana from Sanskrit) by Tulasidas cannot be taken as a historical record to "prove the existence of the character or occurrences of events" depicted in it. According to C. Dorjee, Director of ASI, the bridge is a natural formation made of shoals and sand bars. "They have formed due to several millennia of wave action and sedimentation", reads the affidavit. Thus, the ASI ruled out its being the manmade (or monkey-made), construction.

(5) Same way the inference from NASA satellite pictures is that it is due to sedimentation of clay and lime stone. It is tombol in NASA language, connecting one land with another, and that it is from times when human habitation is doubtful. A NASA satellite picture (see the two pictures) has shown the existence of a stretch of land bridge in the Palk Strait  between the countries. NASA  has clarified that images of the area were being captured for several years and no scientific discovery has been made so far in respect of the formation known as Ram Setu. Dorjee stated that the petitioners had misread and misinterpreted the images released by NASA. This Ram Setu has been shown to be the pre-human structure, called tombol, a sand deposition due to natural process.

(6) Union Government of India admitted in late 2007 that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Ram. Minister of Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha (the Lower Legislature of the country) that there are no archaeological studies that reveal the existence of a Ram Setu bridge between India and Sri Lanka.

(7) The Supreme Court of India (the apex court of the nation) denied the arguments of the Hindu national leaders on the ground of the lack of historical, scientific, and archaeological evidences.

(8) Tamil Nadu State Chief Minister and DMK leader, Karunanidhi had questioned the existence of Ram while addressing a rally in Erode, saying that Ram is an imaginary character, and asked: "Was Ram a Civil Engineer?"

(9) Many people disputed that the Lanka mentioned in Ramayana is not the current Sri Lanka. Since mythology does not require any proof it can be modulated and constructed into a faith for political purposes.

(10) Even if there was a Ram in history, it is believed that Ram Setu was destroyed by Ram's army after crossing over to Lanka on the request of the sea god. After defeating Ravana, according to mythology, Ram and his army flew back by Pushpak Viman (a plane made of Flowers).

VI  My Biblical Standpoint

It is my standpoint that the Bible in its entirety is inspired by God's Spirit through human authors and constitutes the revelation of God's truth to humanity. It is wholly true and trustworthy in all that it affirms. Whatever the Bible, rightly interpreted, is found to teach, we are bound to believe and obey. It is our supreme authority in every matter of belief and conduct. From this strong foundation, I am viewing the "Tri-R" issue. The following two arguments, I consider, are very important when we tackle with the issue:

(1) Biblical creation story does not support a 1.7 million years of human history. The date of Adam's creation (according to Genesis account and various historical documents, Adam was created about less than 10,000 years ago) does not match with this account. Modern scientific researches suggest a date for the beginning of agriculture about less than 12,000 years ago (i.e., after the last Ice Age). If we accept this scientific theory, then we have to date the life of the First human less than 12,000 years ago. Biblical narratives support the view that the first humans were peasants. Genesis account (2:15) says: "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it". In Genesis 3:17, God also speaks to Adam, "...through painful toil you will eat of the earth". If the scientific theory about the beginning of agriculture, and the biblical narrative about the creation of human beings as peasants are linked, then the suggested date can be considered for a reasonable solution. Some minority scientific circles argue that 'could there have been human creatures, commonly called "Pre-Adamites", living on earth before God created Adam?' This argument must be repudiated on the basis of the following grounds: (a) the lack of Biblical, scientific and historical proof for Pre-Adamite living; (b) science proved that the Period of Ice glaciers was not appropriate for human living; and (c) scientific evidence that the beginning of agriculture just less than 12,000 years ago (so also the life of humans). In short, the myth of Ram and his life about 1.7 million years ago, according to the Hindu scriptures as well as the general Hindu public, is not supported by any historic, geographical, archaeological, or scientific evidences.

(2) Ramayana contradicts the Biblical creation story by presenting monkeys as the active characters throughout the narrative picturization, especially at the point of building the Ram Setu. Hanuman (also known as Anjaneya, a mighty monkey), a high-minded Sugriva (king of the leaders of monkeys), Nala (an architect monkey), and a large army of monkeys, planning, toiling, and finally constructing a bridge across the sea, are beyond human comprehension. Even in the postmodern age of development, building a bridge between India and Sri Lanka will find considerable difficulties or even remain as an impossibility. Are these monkeys supernatural beings or part of the hominids suggested by the evolutionists? Let us see what the theory of evolution suggests... 

According to Evolutionists, all organisms on earth are descended from a common ancestor or ancestral gene pool. Evolutionary ideas such as common descent and transmutation of species have existed since 6th century BC, when they were exponded by Greek philosopher Anaximander. After the publication of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species in 19th century, the theory came in stiff conflict with the Biblical Creation story (i.e., The Evolution vs. Creation debate is often referred to as the "Great Debate"). Darwin recognized that the most controversial aspect of evolutionary thought is its application to humans. Human evolution has its fashionable specimens that lead from small ape-like creatures to Homo sapiens. The evolutionists propose 12 popular hominids (creatures in-between ape and human that evolutionists believe used to exist) on the process. The most alleged links are: (1) Australopithecus Afarensis or Lucy; (2) Homo Erectus; (3) Perking Man; (4) Homo Habilis and the like. Nine of the 12 popularly supposed hominids are actually exinct apes/monkeys and not part human at all. The final three supposed hominids put forth by evolutionists are actually modern human beings and not part monkey/ape at all. Therefore, the 12 of the supposed hominids can be explained as being either fully monkey/ape or fully modern human, but not as something in between. Human evolution has many issues, including the realities of genetics, biochemistry, design theory, irreducible complexity, DNA Structure, and information systems. However, the reality of the human fossil record alone is enough to reject the theory of human evolution all together.

Bible says: "So God created human in His own image, in the image of God he created human; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27). Also in Genesis 2:7,8, and15, God's purpose for the creation of human is clearly portrayed. The Bible does not support any kind of evolutionary aspects in its creation stories of the heavens and earth in all their vast array, and the creation of human beings. While evolutionists state that life resulted from non-life, matter resulted from nothing, and humans resulted from animals, the Biblical creation story is absolute in stating that God created everything out of nothing (Creation Ex-Nihilo). Both the Biblical accounts and the modern scientific evidences (i.e., 20th-century science had made the compelling discovery that, at some point, the universe began) are ample to disprove the theory of evolution all together. In sum, the hominidic kind of beings appeared in the pages of Ramayana, for planning, toiling, and constructing the Ram Setu, had lived hardly ever in the annals of human history.

In recapitulation, the "Tri-R"  issue raised by the Hindu communities around the globe is baseless. There is no Biblical, historical, scientific, archaeological, or chronological evidence to prove the existence of Ram or construction of a Ram Setu, so also the reliability of the entire story of Ramayana. A faith that is based entirely on a 'mere myth' should not be taken over against the developmental projects like SSCP.

 

 

 

 

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5807 I-10 West
SAN ANTONIO, TX 78201
ph: 210-525-9954