Why is Ramayana important to understand History in true perspective?

All exponents of Ramayana have done it a great injustice by failing to understand its historical value and ignoring evidences of progress in science and technology the epic cites.Critical studyof the epic not only gives us deep insight into how mankind came into existence, it tells us much more about the geographical and historical landmarks. Take for example, the true location of Lanka mentioned in Ramayana. People have been led to believe that Ceylon or present Sri Lanka is the Lanka mentioned in Ramayana. Skeptics even doubt if Ram ever left the coast of India. However serious research shows that Ravans Lanka was actually situated in Sumatra islands. Before the British tongue vulgarized its name, Andaman Islands were known as Hanuman Dweep. According to an age old legend cherished by the Islanders, it was so called because Hanuman had come there searching for Sita and had rested on the island for a while. Now the question is, If Sita was held captive in what is now Sri Lanka just a hop away, what made Hanuman cross all the 400 plus nautical miles of the Ocean to reach Andaman? Another researcher provides the answer. In an article published by historian Prof. M.S. Adhikari, in November 1927 issue of The Indian National Herald, he proves that the region called Rakshsalaya of which Lanka was the capitol city, was located in Sumatra- Malayan Islands on the strength of followings, 1. Vayu Puran (48/20/30) and Brahmand Puran mention that Lanka is in Malaya Dweepa. 2. Bhaskaracharya (a renowned ancient scholar) holds that Lanka is in South and is a niranshadesh. (Lit: the country without degrees i.e. on 0 degree latitude or equator). Sumatra is on equator while present Sri Lanka is on 8 degrees North Latitude. 3. Ramayana states that the ocean of 100 yojan separates Lanka from Bharat. One yojan equals 8 miles. Sumatra is 800 nautical miles in Southeast from India. 4. The natives of Florij Island (one of the Malayan islands) used to identify themselves as Rakkhah, which is the vulgarized form of the Sanskrit term Rakshasa. 5. There is a town named Larantak on the same island. Larantak could be RamayanasNarantak,the reputed commander of the Lankan army. 6. Sumatra Island has a town named Soni-Lanka or Samlanka situated on the seashore. 7. Near the diamond plant on the same island, is a town by the name Lankata. North of it is the golden mountain which translates as KanchanGiri mentioned in Ramayana. 8. One of the Malayan Island is called Rupat, which could be the RupakDweepa mentioned in Ramayana. 9. Ramayana says that Lanka was made of gold. Even today Sumatra is famous for gold. In the light of above pointers, I strongly feel that Lanka, the capital city of the region called Rakshasalayawas actually located in Sumatra. M.S Adhikari

One more hobby historian KVS Krishna has traced ties between India and Papua New Guinea (which is in proximity of Malayan islands)by finding several place names and sir-names that could be of Indian origin. This suggests a possibility of trade and cultural links with India during ancient times. (Times of India, Coimbatore edition dated 25-2-2013). Then how come Ceylon came to be known as Sri Lanka? During Ramayana period, though India had fragmented into a number of small principalities, they were all linked by the unique culture- Sanatan Dharma. Sanatan Dharma is no religion; it is the scientific study of existence to understand what causes sufferings and pain and how to get unalloyed happiness. It is a scientific code of living the life. Religions are based on beliefs and castigate those who question their beliefs. Sanatan Dharma gives absolute freedom of thought; freedom to raise doubts and ask questions because it is pure science. Ravan represented oppression and autocracy. People feared him so much that there was a legend about Ravan having ten heads and twenty hands. How factual Ramayana is can be judged from this statement, Lying on the vast bed, entangled with a couple of young lasses was the Rakshas Monarch snoring in drunken stupor. Hanuman was shocked to note that Ravan having ten heads and twenty hands was a myth. His awestruck eyes perceived two muscular hands having the strength of twenty.On Ravanswell formed athletic torso, scarred with hundred battles, rested a head having the cunning and wits of ten.(Sundarkand Sarg 10) This Ravan wanted to rule India but he was wary of direct confrontation. The powerful rulers in India, Myanmar and China identified themselves with Bharatiy culture based on Sanatan Dharma. They would not tolerate aggression on the land of origin of their culture. No matter how great Ravan was, he was no match to the combined might of Bharatiy forces. As an alternative he decided to wage a cold war. So Ravan established a military colony called Janasthan at the extreme Southern end of Indian subcontinent. As the satellite pictures show, 5000 years ago this region was connected to the main land India. A seasoned Rakshas contingent was stationed at this place to train and send out terrorists to disturb the normal life in Ashrams. Manned by the mild mannered professors, the academies called Ashrams presented a soft target and were the hot favorite with the terrorists. Whenever the Ashram management complained, the local ruler would arrange security for a few days. Aware that the culprits had the blessings of Janasthan, the rulers avoided to chase and punish the terrorists. When the problem became too acute, Ashrams moved to a safer place. Ravan knew that tired of being frequently displaced, the intelligentsia called Rishis, would someday accept hegemony of Rakshasas. Once the opinion builders of the nation had submitted, it will be easier for total takeover.Devas who had stopped participating directly in the affairs of men, were fully aware of the situation. They had worked out a rather complicated solution and were maneuvering the situation to implement it.

If the menace of Ravan were to be successfully eradicated, some noble braveshould be made to leave home to travel the length of the country and realize the grandeur of its culture. Only then he could see the menace that threatened it. Then a strong motivation had to be provided to save this unique culture from annihilation. In a well choreographed drama directed by them, Devas had successfully destroyed Ravan without getting directly involved. India was now left free to preserve its culture. Devas wanted this history recorded for the future generations to draw lessons from. That is how Ramayana came to be written. After the war with Ram and his Va-nara army, original Lanka lost its luster but its glory stayed alive in the minds of Rakshas occupants of Janasthan. They called this new home away from home by the name Siri Lanka which in local parlance means mini Lanka. Indian traders who visited Siri Lanka got everything that was available in original Lanka. So gradually people came to believe it as original Lanka. Even today, the descendents of these Rakshasas identify themselves as Sinhala. The term means person hailing from or belonging to Sinhapur. Singapores original name was Sinhapur and it is situated in Malayan Island or Rakshasalaya as Ramayana calls it. But this makes the task all the more difficult. How can Hanuman fly 800 miles to Sumatran islands? It also explains why Hanuman is still revered for this superhuman feat.It is a known fact that 5000 years ago (during Ramayana period), Oceans were shallower by over ten feet. The area between Eastern shore of India and Sumatra was dotted with a number of small and big islands. May be Hanuman hopped and swam from one island to another. Since he completed this super human task in record time, it is poetically described as flying. Subsequently, Rams Vanara army could have crossed the ocean with the help of pontoon bridges between these islands. Then why dont we find these islands today Disappearance of an island in the ocean is not an unusual event. In the Eighteenth Century there were thirty-one islands left in the Bay of Bengal. In 1947 only twenty four had remained, of which six were big ones and eighteen small ones. From these remaining twenty four islands, the three, Lahura, Suparidanga and Agunmol islands submerged without a trace in 1990.Now think of it. If three islands could disappear in just a couple of hundred years, how many of them would be there 3000 years in the past?

The secret identity of Vanara

Ramayana exponents commit another great blunder by translating Sanskrit term Vanara as rhesus monkeys. This has given ammunition to the skeptics to attack the epic as fiction. How can monkeys share with humans complicated thoughts pregnant with profound wisdom? Such pedestrian interpretation has made a great dent in credibility of Ramayana. Actually Valmiki uses the term Va-nara to mean creature closely resembling humans. The term implies that

Hanuman and other Va-nara were not Rhesus monkeys but Stone-Age people (genus CroMagnons). The most reliable research, done by Dr. Christopher B Ruff and team from John Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA proves this.The research has conclusively shown that Stone-Age man was 13% much bigger and beefier than an average human today. Ramayana informs thatVanara were much larger and heftier than the humans. Their strength and build can be judged from this anecdote given in Ramayana. Ravan had a powerful physique and was a martial art expert. He had defeated many world famous men in wrestling. He was so confident of his strength that once, while roaming in South Indian jungles he challenged Vali- the king of Vanara to prove his strength. He kicked the skeleton of a huge creature. The skeleton flew high and fell at a distant spot. Ravan challenged Vali to prove himself. Vali kicked the skeleton so hard that it flew and fell more than a league away. Enraged Ravan engaged Vali in a wrestling bout. Vali gripped Ravan in a bear hug so tight that Ravan begged for dear life and promised lifelong friendship. Now consider these points Rhesus Monkeys are never known to be able to speak like a human nor can perform human like skills. VaNara conversed and exchanged complex ideas with humans. Rhesus monkeys are never known to build a shelter worth the name.VaNarahad evolved after umpteenth centuries and now lived in a settlement named Kishkindha. It was a town with neatly laid roads and orderly streets with a number of houses on both sides of the streets. Its palace had a number of rooms for their kings family. Kishkindha was protected by a fortress. Their kings court had ministers to guide him in the affairs of the colony. Va-nara had a construction engineer by the name Nal, an expert named Sushen in the art of healing, and experts who could judge the weather. All this goes to show that Va-narawere the Stone-Age people and not Rhesus Monkeys as popularly believed. Then how come Valmiki known for accuracy, describes them having a tail? The answer is provided by Valmiki himself. In the opening chapters Valmiki confesses that he wrote this epic exclusively from what he heard from the divine messenger Narad. Valmiki being a commoner and a shudra, had never met or seen any of the characters before he finished writing. Narads descriptions were fairly detailed to which Valmiki had to add his poetic imagination to make the epic interesting. Colloquial Sanskrit calls the monkeys Vanara. Gorillas and Chimpanzees are not found in India.So when Narad mentioned the Stone Age men as Va-Nara, Valmiki thought that Narad was talking of a kind of rhesus monkeys. Therefore when it came to describe Va-Nara (the Stone Age men) Valmiki described them as human like creatures having a tail.

Folklores the world over, do mention Stone Age people as giants. Even much later written Mahabharata mentions one giant. All this giant did was to call on a village at regular intervals and demand food. Of course his methods were not gentle. He intimidated people with threats. Bhim, while taking shelter in the village incognito, obliged the villagers by killing the giant. Giants were held in fear and treated with contempt. So they were forced to live in seclusion, hidden from the humans. After their prominent role in the war with Lanka, South Indians began to treat Va-nara respectfully. In the interaction with humans perhaps they mutated or maybe they became extinct. But the most favorite flogging stick the critics use is the way Ram and brothers were conceived. Where is Historicity of Ram,screamed a headline in Times of India reviewing a book on Ram. The hidden implication was How can any woman conceive by just drinking a concoction?How can anything taken orally make a woman pregnant? This feat of genetic engineering is so advanced and futuristic even by todays standard that the mind refuses to accept it. But the principle behind it is quite sound. Nature regularly applies it to pollinate plants.

Non-invasive method of artificial conception

To impress us that the man who performed the feat was genetic engineer, Ramayana gives his brief history. Aware of his advancing age, Vibhandak (man having many containers) trained his only son Hrishyashringaso rigorously that the young man never had a chance to meet any other creature save his father. The intensive training got justified when the young fellow successfully performed the great feat of genetic engineering by fulfilling king Dashraths desire for heir. Valmii describe the method thus, Hrishyashringa took the tejas of Mahavishnu and prepared a payas(sweet liquid dish). Then he instructed King Dasharth to make the queens to drink it. After normal gestation period, the queens delivered sons. In other words, the genetic engineer took the semen of a strong healthy man and encapsulated each sperm into micro-globules of a substance known to defy digestive juices and bodys immunity system. The substance nourished the sperm and kept them alive for a calculated duration. Resultant pregnancy material was in a fine powdery form. It could be administered orally mixed in a liquid to the female who wanted to conceive. Following the natural course, the encapsulated sperm traveled to stomach and ended up at the discharge end of urinary canal. Here the protective cover of the sperm disintegrated. The freed sperm crept into the adjacent uterus and fertilized the ovum. Nose and throat having common passage to stomach, this pregnancy material could also be administered by inhalation. It was administered to the queens orally, certain days after each queens menstrual period. King Dasharaths wish for heir was amply fulfilled. He had not one but four healthy sons. Following Brahmas suggestion, some choice Va-nara females too were made to conceive through this non-

invasive artificial conception. This pregnancy material was in the form of a fine powder and could be easily administered through inhalation. Here is how it was done. Anjana was the chaste and loyal wife of KesariVanara. Once she was enjoying the scenery from the top of a mountain when the god of winds saw her. Clad in yellow sari with red border she looked so alluring that the wind god lost control and gripped her in a tight embrace from behind. Alarmed Anjana demanded to know who dared defile her chastity. The wind god said, O beauty with shapely hips, I want to give you a son having my powers. He will jump the mountains and fly over oceans. I will make you pregnant with a mere embrace and without outraging your modesty. Please bear with me. So saying he suddenly released her and she conceived Hanuman.Ramayana- Kishkindhakand Sarg 6 to 24 Sudden release from a tight embrace made breathless Anjana gasp. In the process she inhaled the pregnancy material held under her nose. There is a common passage between the throat and nose. The encapsulated sperm went in the stomach and traveling the natural course ended up at the discharge end of the urinary canal. Here, the protective cover of sperm melted and the freed sperm crept into uterus to fertilize the egg. Hanuman and many other braves were conceived and born.

Ancient Indians clone a human

Such sophisticated technology cant develop overnight. There ought to be a history of experiments; of trials and failures. If Ramayana can give such evidence, than we should accept that such technologies did exist in those days. Ramayanais ready for the challenge. It says,the name of Sitas father, i.e. Rams father-in-law was King Siradhwaj. But he is better known by the title of his clan JanakaVideha. The capital city of his kingdom was called Mithila. Ramayana explains how the kings clan earned the title and why the city was named Mithila. Twenty six generations before Siradhwaja, Mithila was ruled by virtuous king Nimi. His subjects so loved Nimi that they wished that the heir to the throne should have exactly the same qualities of the king.Ramayana further saysHonoring public sentiment, (a small bit of)Nimis body was churned to produce the cream from which a baby boy was conceived. The royal baby was the miniature copy of his father Nimi. In other words, tissue of Nimi was put into the centrifuge and a single whole cell was obtained. This cell was then planted into the queen to produce a clone of Nimi. There was a great jubilation. In Sanskrit, churning is called Mith. So to perpetuate the memory of this epoch making event,the child was named Mithi and the city where the event took place was named Mithila. Nimis clan became famous as Jana-ka-Videha(clan in which children are born of water without parental mating).

What was the cause for such jubilation?This was the first time when a human was cloned. Mithi, the heir to Nimis throne was a clone. But the euphoria died when Mithi began to age prematurely. Clone Mithi being biological extension of the adult King, began to age while in the prime of his youth. He died young, soon after his father did. Thus cloning fell into disfavor and never seems to have repeated. Instead, the more advanced method of non-invasive artificial conception was developed using which Ram and his brothers were conceived. At present the feasibility of such a technology could be doubted but the logic behind it is quite sound. The technique Hrishyashring employed mimics Nature which uses it regularly to pollinate plants. In days to come when science makes progress in the science of bio-mimicry, this great ancient feat of genetic engineering, the non-invasive artificial conception technology could become a reality. But notechnology can develop in isolation. There ought to beother technologies developed in different fields too. And indeed they are quite a handful. For want of space we cant reproduce them all, but cant help mentioning Pushpak the famed aircraft of Ravan. All post Ramayana literature seems to have written keeping in mind the diminished intellect of future readers. Ancient authors conscientiously keep the technical description simple and in low key to suit the limited perceptibility of future readership. This is amply evident from Valmikis description of the aircraft. He doesnt describe the machine in one go but cautiously drops hints in several chapters. Using this ruse, Valmiki has successfully conveyed that the Pushpak was a 300 sitter jet propelled VTOL (capable of vertical takeoff and landing) which looked no different from the present day airplanes. This is what Valmiki says, It was painted golden yellow (SwarnaChandanaCharchita) (Uttarkand- Sarg 9).It was air conditioned (all seasons remained same inside with a cool fragrant breeze)(Uttarkand- Sarg15).It had comfortable seats (Vedika) decorated with the royal insignia of a wolf (NariMriga). It was brightly lit up from floor to roof. It had many private cabins.On the outside it was studded with colorful jewels (take off and landing lights). Its windows were fitted with glass (Jaambunadkrutrima which means artificially frozen river water i.e. glass in gold plated frames (Sundarkand- Sarg- 8)(Western historians claim that glass was invented only in 2500 BC). It was equipped with Radar and auto-pilot (Pushpak could fly as comfortably in night as in day). Its shape was no different from the present day airplanes can be inferred from this. Looking like the formation of flying cranes it decorated the sky like a streak of lightening. (Aranyakand Sarg 35) Describing Pushpaks power plant, Valmiki writes, Having the mouth looking like Kundala (ear rings) and eyes rolling due to over eating, thousand of Bhootganas carried the plane in the skies even during the nights. (Sundarakand Sarg -8).Valmiki poetically describes round inlet ports of jet engines (ring like mouth) in which the turbines revolved (eyes rolled) due to guzzling

large amount of fuel to produce thousands of pounds of thrust. (Five states of matterlike Air, heat, liquid, solid and plasma in Sanskrit are called Mahabhootas).The plane could carry over 300 passengers could be inferred from the following statement. Ram requested all Vanara chiefs, Vibhishan and his ministers with their consorts to board the plane. When all Vanara, Bears and Rakshasas had comfortably seated, Ram signaled the aircraft to take off.(Yuddhakand Sarg 122) Pushpak was a VTOL can be inferred from this statement. On approaching Kishkindha, Sita suggested that the wives of Vanara braves be also invited to Ayodhya so Ram ordered the plane to land at Kishkindha. Ram instructed Sugriva and other Vanaras, Go, bring your wives and please hurry, because we want to reach Ayodhya as quick as possible.(Yuddhakand Sarg 123).Considering that the plane comfortably accommodated a large number of passengers, it could be a 300 sitter vehicle. The very fact that it was able to land in the jungle kingdom of Kishkindha and later in crowded capital of Ayodhya, we can surmise that it was a VTOL Nowhere in Ramayana Pushpaka is stated to run beforetaking off or during landing. Interestingly, Pushpak was made from the memory metals as the following incident suggests. The warriors of Yama attacked Pushpak and began demolishing its cabins, doors and seats. No matter how zealously they tried, the aircraft remained unaltered and as new as ever because it was vested with the generative powers of Brahma Tej. (Ramayana- Uttarkanda- Sarg 21)

End.