RAMAYAN

RAMAYAN   AND   MAHABHARAT

These two epics are perhaps the most popular of all the stories in Hindu holy books.  Both are very similar in many ways even though the actual events took place (if they did)  in two different Yugas. The main characters of both the epics are kings of small states in Northern India and battles were fought in each case. The basic issues were women in each case.  Let us discuss each epic very briefly.

NOTE: Even though, Gurbani has quoted some of the stories from the Hindu holy books, but Gurbani does not believe (and you will understand why when you see the impossibilities in the stories) in any of the epics or the other stories recorded in Hindu Holy books. Gurbani used the stories to illuminate the glory of Waheguru and some of the noble principles of living.

RAMAYAN

Birth of Rama: Dashrath was the king of Ayudhiya sometime in the Traita Yug. The city of Ayudhiya is in the present state of U.P. Dashrath had four sons from three wives as follows:  Rama from Kaushalliya, Bharat from Kaikayee, and Lakhsman (Luxman) and Shatrughan from Subhadra.(Actually, according to the story, Dashrath did not father any of his sons; they were born as a result of a potion that a sage gave to the queens to drink so that that they would bear children). All the four princes got e married to four sisters all of whom were the daughters of King Janak. According to the legend, the eldest Sita appeared from the land which the king Janak had to till for a yugg. Sita was married to Rama in a special ceremony called suvaiumber which means self-choice of husband by the bride.  However, the husband to be, has to fulfil some condition decided by the family of the bride.  In this case the condition was to lift a bow (that bow belonged to Lord Shiva and was inherited by the family) and load it with arrow.  The family knew very well that only some rare people could lift it as it was very heavy. There were many princes from far and near, but no one was successful including, Ravana, the king of Lanka, who had gone there as a suitor. Ravana was known to be a very strong and a blessed individual, but he too could not lift the bow. The interesting thing is that Sita was so strong that she could lift the bow even with her left hand.  Rama was the only prince who was successful, and in fact, he broke the bow because of which he got into trouble with Parshu Ram who got very angry because he was a great devotee of Shiva and did not like the fact that the bow was broken.  He tried to kill Rama with his axe, but Rama quickly touched Parshu Ram’s feet as a result of which the latter melted and forgave Rama. By meeting the condition of the Suvaiumber, Rama was able to win all the four princesses of king Janak – one each for the four brothers.

EXILE TO RAMA: Soon after the weddings of his sons, king Dashrath decided to pass on the crown to his eldest son, Rama. However, Kaikayee, the step mother of Rama had some other plans. She had earned a commitment from her husband, Dashrath,that he would grant three wishes of Kaikayee any time she wanted. Now was the perfect time for Kaikayee to ask for granting of her wishes. She reminded the king of his commitment, and proposed as follows:

(1) Her son, Bharat should be made the king

(2) Rama should be banished from the kingdom for 14 years

The king was shocked at the unreasonable demands, but he had no choice.

Rama gladly accepted the verdict and left home to spend the next 14 years in exile. His wife Sita, and his younger half-brother, Lakshman, also accompanied him. They spent their time in the jungles and finally settled at a place, Punchbutti, in southern India. The first thirteen years passed uneventfully, but in the last year ominous things began to happen.

KIDNAPPING OF SITA: Saroopnakha, a sister of Ravana, the king of Lanka, approached Lakshman and repeatedly asked him to marry her. Lakshman refused, but when she was relentless, he slashed her nose. She felt highly insulted and complained to her brother. Ravana got infuriated and vowed to avenge by kidnapping Sita. He hatched a plan and sought the help of an associate, Mirgeech, who had some magical powers.  Mirgeech turned himself into a golden deer, and went close to the small building where Rama was living with his wife and his brother.  When Sita saw the golden, she asked Rama too kill him for her. Rama tried to convince Sita that it was a trap and the deer was not a real thing. But Sita was not about to be convinced and insisted that the deer must be killed.  By the time Rama got his bow and arrows to chase the deer, the latter had gone away. It took Rama quite a while to spot the deer and kill him.  When Mirgeech was hit, he cried in a loud voice calling for Lakshman’s help.  Hearing that, Sita thought that Rama was in trouble, so she sent Lakshman to go after his brother. Lakshman left reluctantly to help Rama in case he was really in trouble.

When Sita was alone, Ravana availed of the opportunity to abduct her and take her to Lanka. Groorr, a huge bird Jatayu fought Ravana to free Sita, but got wounded and could not stop the abduction. Ravana locked up Sita in a secluded place in Lanka, but did not harm her in any way.  When Rama and Lakshman returned to the residence, they found Sita missing.  The wounded Jatayu explained everything to them. Hearing that, Rama decided to attack Lanka to free Sita.

GETTING READY FOR ATTACK: Rama had made friendship with some monkey-men during his exile. These monkey-men offered their help to Rama in his mission. Another monkey-man, Hanuman, also brought his small army to help Rama. Hanuman told Rama that he was a devotee of the latter, and in fact, he was born to assist Rama. Hanuman’s name at birth was Bajrang Bali, and he was the son of the wind god, Vayu, as a result of which he could fly and could increase his size many fold.  He was a tough guy.  Remember, he swallowed the Sun when he was still a boy.

BUILDING OF BRIDGE: Lanka is an island country, so a bridge was needed to connect India with Lanka. According to Ramayan, Rama advised his army to write his name on rocks and throw them the sea, when they did that, the rocks began to float and formed a bridge.  The whole army crossed into Lanka where Ravana’s forces were waiting for them. Ravana is said to have 100,000 sons and 125,000 grandsons.

A huge battle ensued in which along with many others, Ravana’s talented son, Megh Nath was killed.  Megh Nath was so talented that he had even defeated god Indra in a battle.

LAKSHMAN WOUNDED: On the other side, Lakshman received a life-threatening spear wound and had very low chance of survival.  It was already late at night, so Rama was very worried for his brother. He began to cry, but a local physician consoled him and gave him some hope. He advised that a life-saving herb grows on Himalayas, and if that could be fetched before the sun rise, Lakshman’s life could be saved.  The Himalayas are about 3500 km from Lanka which was a very long distance to cover.

HANUMAN FETCHES LIFE-SAVING HERB: Because Hanuman could fly, he volunteered to do the job. He reached the Himalayas all right, but could not recognize the herb. So, he flew back with a part of the mountain having a whole bunch of different herbs. He did make in time!   So, he

must have covered at least 700 km/h on the average not including the time taken  to locate the herb and carve out that part of the mountain.

Lakshman’s wound healed up quickly as result of which the enemy forces lost courage to fight and they began to drop like flies. However, despite their best efforts, Rama’s army could not kill Ravana.  Bhabheekhan, a brother of Ravana, who had become a devotee of Rama and had defected to join Rama’s forces, knew the secret behind Ravana’s ability not to die. Ravana had Amrit (the liquid of immortality) in his navel. So, until he was hit at the navel, Ravana would not die. Bhabheekhan told this secret to Rama, who then aimed his arrow at Ravana’s navel thereby killing him.

Rama’s victory enabled him to free Sita. The control of Lanka was handed over to Bhabheekhan.

WELCOME IN AYUDHIYA: After, the victory, Rama began to travel back to Ayudhiya with Sita and Lakshman because their banishment period was about to end. They reached Ayudhiya sometime in October or November of the same year. To express their joy on the return of the royal family from the exile, the people of Ayudhiya welcomed the family by lighting up lamps.  This is the main cause of celebration of Diwali by the Hindus.

SITA TAKES CHASTITY TEST: Sadly, the happy story did not end here.  Sita had to prove her chastity because she had been in the confinement of Ravana who was considered an evil man. Sita had to walk through fire to prove that which she did. But soon after that, Rama expelled her from his life because a washer man had taunted him.

SITA’S EXPULSION: Sita left Ayudhiya and came to Punjab where a low caste ascetic, Balmiki by name, gave her refuge. Before he became an ascetic, Balmiki was a criminal and did all the despicable deeds. Sita was happy to stay there, but soon began to feel very lonely and wanted some children.  So, Balmiki took two straws of grass and brought them to life in the form of two young boys – Luv and Kush. When Luv and Kush achieved adulthood, they defeated the army of their father, Rama. The place where Sita stayed with Balmiki is near Amritsar and is called Ram Teerath.  Balmiki is said to have written the Ramayan.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS: The story leaves a number of unanswered questions

1. The births of Rama and his brothers, and that of Sita indicate that they were not the biological children of their respective fathers. Not only these important people, but most of the Hindu gods and goddesses have also been shown to have unnatural births. For example, Lord Brahma; his son, Naarad, who was born out of the thigh of his father; Ganesha who was created out of dirt by his mother, Parbati; goddess Luxmi who was found from the sea when it was churned, and many more including Bhisham, all the Pandavas, and Karan. Gurbani does not believe in such unnatural births.

2. Sita is considered to be a goddess, so why was she fooled in believing that Mirgeech was really a deer of gold?

3. Sita is shown to be much stronger than Ravana (remember that Ravana could not lift Shiva’s bow, but Sita could lift that easily even with her left hand), so how was Ravana successful in forcibly carrying her?

4. When Mirgeech called for Lakshman’s help in Rama’s voice, why could not Rama also call telling Lakshman that everything was fine?

5. When Sita had proven her chastity by walking through fire, why was she expelled from the kingdom?

6. Again, the way Luv and Kush were born is highly ridiculous. How can they be called sons of Rama or even Sita?

7. How did Hanuman tore apart Himalayas to bring the life-saving herb?

There are many more questions like these, but they are enough to show the extreme weakness of the story.