SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA. That Valmiki Ramayana is a contemporary work which can be relied upon 100% is a basic requirement to arrive at the period by astronomical dating. That it is so is being made out in the very first chapter of Ramayana in the verse 1-1-95 ashvamedha shataiH iSTvaa tathaa bahu suva.rNakaiH ||
1-1-94 94b, 95a: anvaya/word-order: mahaa+yashaaH= highly, illustrious [Rama];
ashvamedha+ shataiH= Horse Rituals, hundreds; bahu+suvarNakaiH= plenteous, gold
[rituals, wherein gold is donated]; iSThvaa= on performing; tathaa= like that;
gavaam+koTi+ayutam= cows, in crores [millions,] ten thousand; a+sankhyaayam =
not, countable; dhanam= wealth; braahmaNebhyaH= to Brahmans; vidvabhyaH= to
scholars; vidhi puurvakam = customarily; dattvaa= on donating; [brahma+lokam+
gamishhyati= to Brahma's, abode, he will proceed.] "That highly illustrious Rama, on performing hundreds of
Horse-Rituals and rituals wherein plenteous gold is bounteously donated, like
that millions of cows and uncountable wealth is given to Brahmans and scholars,
[he will proceed to Brahma's abode, in future...] [1-1-94b,
95a] (Comment:
By the wording 'highly illustrious...' Govindaraja tells that 'for a small
criticism from a small fellow, Rama deserted his wife... hence he is
illustrious...' Then 'he will go to Brahma's abode...' a repeated _expression_,
indicates that this epic is composed during Rama's time as he also gave an ear
to it through Kusha and Lava, so his journey to heaven will happen henceforth
from now. This is an _expression_ in the historical/epical
present.) This
gives us the assurance that whatever astro-data is found in the Valmiki Ramayana
will be leading us in the right direction. In
this context it must be stated that our rishis and scholars in astrology have
none as their equals in sifting a wealth of astro-data to arrive at accurate
results. To give an example, let me quote an article on ?The significance of
Vikrama Epoch? published in the
November, 1951 issue of the
Astrological magazine, edited by B.V.Raman. The Vikrama Era, popularly believed
to have been started to commemorate King Vikramadhitya, was in fact initiated to
commemorate a great astronomical event namely, the coincidence of the moving
vernal point, with fundamental origin of the Hindu Zodiac. These
are the Three- vikramas (Trivikrama) or three foot steps of Vishnu (Equator)
(Yes, most of our ancient astro- information are symbolic or allegorical about
some puranic or Ithihasic information), recorded by the Rishis of yore, one
being when the celestial equator passes through the Mula origin point of
ecliptic, the second being when the celestial equator passes through the Magha
origin point of the ecliptic and the third being when the celestial equator
passes through the Ashwini origin point of the ecliptic. This astronomical
phenomenon forms the basis for the
Puranic allegory that Vishnu measures the whole earth by three foot-steps. The
coincidence of the vernal points is a very important event in the annals of Astronomy and this has been perpetuated
by the introduction of the Vikrama era in 52 B.C. It is interesting to note that
the Julian correction was introduced in Rome 6 years later, in 46
B.C. Every
aspect of our life is connected with some divine memory, symbolized by
astro-data. To name the simplest, the ear-marking of Ashtami and Navami thithis
for non- loukIka aspects, (in other words, for spiritual progress) is only to
perpetuate the glory of Krishna and Raama who were born on those
thithis. Coming
back to our discussion, periodic correction was done taking into account the
precession of the equinoxes. The rishis had known that it takes 28,800 years to
complete one full circle in the sky by the rotation of the axis of the earth,
(this has been only recently ?discovered? by modern science) and that there had
been not just one but 4 pole stars in this 28,800 year period. This means once
in 7,200 years, the pole star has changed. This means, Rama and Sita would not
have seen the pole star that we see
today, when they could have had nothing else but the sky full of stars at night
to see during their sojourn in the
forests. Very
many times in Ramayana, there comes the
mention of Dhruva nakshtra and the story of Dhruva is also found in
Srimad Bahgavatham. This means Dhruva must have attained his abode in the sky
before Ramayana period, but perhaps within 21,600 years in all probability,
assuming Dhruva attained his abode in the beginning of this
cycle. A
question may be asked here, what if Ramanyana occurred in a different and a much
earlier cycle? It is replied with other Puranic
information. There is on record that Dhruva, since he is able to see the entire span
of life from above, in order to help the suffering and erring mankind,
formulated Dhruva Nadi, which he directly preached to Jaimini, who passed it on
to Garga. From Garga it was communicated to Vyasa and from Vyasa it came to
Satya Kirthi (Sathyachar). Sathyachar was a renowned astrologer in the court of
Vikramadhitya and gave Sathyachareeyam which is followed till today. The
chronology of events point to the fact that Dhruva had existed in an accountable
age of not a very distant past. As mention of Dhruva
as pole star is found in the Ramayana, Ramayana can be deemed to be later than
Dhruva. Another personality is Kubera. Kubera was the son of sage
Visravas, to whom was born Ravana through Kaikasi. That is, Ravana was the
step-brother of Kubera. Mention comes about Kubera in 1-1-18 & 19 of Valmiki
Ramayana signifying that Rama?s period comes during /or after
Kubera. ("In valour Rama is comparable with Vishnu, and in his
looks he is attractive like full-moon, he equals the earth in his perseverance,
but he is matchable with era-end-fire in his wrath... and in benevolence he is
identical to Kubera, God of Wealth-Management, and in his candour he is like
Dharma itself, [the other God Probity on earth...] [1-1-18,
19a]?) But from Srimad Bhagavatham, we come to know that the two
sons of Kubera, namely, NaLakUbaran and MaNigreevan were cursed by Sage Narada
to become twin trees, only to be released by the Lord as Krishna in
Krishnavathar. This goes to show that the gap between the two avathars must
have been within reasonable limits,
and not in lakhs of years by which time even the very topography of the region
could have underwent tremendous changes. Another important point to be noted is that the seasons
and their timings described in Valmiki Ramayana are like how it is even till
today in the sub-continent. Such a
similarity could not have existed if the epic had happened lakhs of years
ago. This brings us to the question as to how then to account
for the Yuga calculations about which we will see in the next
mail. Jayasree saranathan. Yahoo! Groups Links
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