A
real life hero, not figment of a poet’s imagination
- By Saroj Bala
Publication: The Tribune
Date: 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:
URL: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031012/spectrum/main6.htm
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