SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA
NAMAHA. Like the inexperienced Abhimanyu lost into a
maze, here I am creeping through a volley of information in continuation of the
previous mails on the date of Raama! It used to be sarcastically said that while
the British are fond talking of their ancestry, the Americans are ever in the
search of who their ancestors were!! But the saddest part which not many have
realised is that we, the so-called Hindus belonging to the Sanatana dharma know
not much about our ancestry that is steeped into antiquity and not only that, we are a vital link
and legacy in the continuing span of Kaala chakra, about which our Thri-kaala
gyanis of yore have already documented well. If we go deeper into the question whether
Raama came to earth 17 lakhs years ago and not latter, we are faced with a
variety of information which not only speak of the avataras at cosmic level but
also at the human level. For instance, many puranas say that this
kalpa is known as Varaha kalpa because it began with Varaha avatar with the
Brahma deva waking up to see the Bhagawan lifting up the land mass. Varaha
avatara which is the 3rd in the series as we know is the Kalpaadhi
avatara. The cosmic progression is outlined from then onwards. It is said that
in the first Manvanthra, Swayambhu manu was asked by Brahma to begin generative
evolution etc and got this world divided into 7 seas and 7 continents. Likewise
progression is noticed in each manvanthra. Puranas say that in the 6th
manvanthra (Chakshashu), churning of the ocean had taken place. The 7th manu (the
present one) was born to the Sun god (cosmologically true) and the
8th one, Sawarni is the son of Sun and his wife Chaya !! This is
becoming more interesting when we read another piece of information that Bali
who was humbled in this manvanthra will be the Indra for this next
manvanthra!! The Sun ?Chaya connection makes us wonder
whether the next manvanthra will have the planetary combination that would be
born of the collision of Sun and its (believed to exist) invisible (therefore
chaaya) binary star. The Bali connection also makes it look like the progression
of the present system. If it is assumed that the powerfully growing Bali was
sent underground (Paadhaalam) by
Vaamana is allegorical of monstrously growing atomic power being trapped
underground so that it would not affect the environment (once again a task for
the Lord to protect the species), then anointment of Bali as the Indra for the
next manvanthra may signal another dimension of atomic age - of course in a
changed environment where progression in its terms can be
possible. The next manu (9th) being the son
of Varuna symbolizes a respite from the heat of the 8th manvanthra
and the subsequent ones till the 14th being the sons of Upasloka needs to be studied in the light
of what scriptures say about them. After all this, and after the pralaya that
will last for a kalpa period, Bhagawan is going to incarnate but as how, will be
a matter of cosmic importance. It could be anything like Matsya, Kurma or Varaha
but can not be Raama or Krishna who come to us only ?the human beings at the
micro level evolution! Thus by simple logic, if Varaha avatara can happen once
in 2 kalpas, the same logic can not apply to Raama or Krishna. But at the
microcosmic level varaha avatara may be happening every now and then when land
forms are elevated, one being the elevation of the Himalayas, (Varaha purana
would throw more light on this) so also Raama and Krishna
avatar. Here again avatars take place in different
set-ups, but my contention is that the background for these 2 avatars are the
same every time they happen. In Padma purana, sage Pulastya tells Narada
that Prahalada worshipped Thrivikrama at the banks of Yamuna, which raises a
question from Narada how could he when Vaamana avatara had not yet taken place
at the time of Prahalada. The sage explains the avatara at a distant time in the
past when the Lord was born as Gatibhaas who took 3 steps of land from Dhundhu
and killed him by laying the 3rd step on his head, as a result of
which a crater of 1000 yojanas was created. The mistake Dhundhu, who was the
auras-puthra of sage kashyapa, did was to ape for the throne of Indra, by doing
100 ashwamedha. The Indra has already been appointed by the Lord and anyone
vying to upset His ?organizational chart?
will not be tolerated. The Thrivikrama of this past era was worshipped by
Prahaladha. Thus we find avatar by same name and
purpose, appearing in a different scenario. This also goes to show that the
avatara cycles happen in quick cycles and not spaced in lakhs of years.
Another reason to think in these lines is
that Puranas recognize in all 6 types of avataras, namely, Purusha, Lila, Guna,
Manvanthra, Yuga and Shakthyavesha. Of yuga avatars, the verse 10-8-13 from
Srimad Bhagavatham seems to give a
different perspective. ?Krishna appears as an incarnation in every
millennium. In the past He assumed three different colours, white, red and
yellow and now he has appeared in blackish
colour.? Barring these 2 avatars, all the other avatars have come
with either a cosmic purpose or a
specific goal to erase evil. Though Ravana vadam and Kamsa vadam are the slated
objectives of these two avatars, the Lord had lived a full life to express
different kinds of lessons applicable to different sets of people in different
times. I doubt whether the other avatars have been extensively documented (of
course by His Will) like Raama and Krishna avatars. The obvious reason can be to
live on in human memory for as long and perpetuate thereby the ideals of Dharma
which they came to establish. It is here I find the mini yuga cycle of 28,800
years fitting in. Some information to substantiate that Raama
lived within this cycle:- Ø
It is said in Bhagavatham that Raama lived
31 generations before the Mahabharatha war. Ø
Many of the hymns of Rig veda have been
dated. There are some which speak of contemporary period such as the ones on
Rain god which were sung at the time of drought during King Shantanu?s reign.
Since Raama was said to have mastered the Vedas (valmiki Ramayana), this king
must have preceded Raama, and not the one who was the father of Bheeshma. By name and culture,
there has been a continuity from Vedic down to Mahabhatratha
times. Ø
The river Saraswati (?seven - sistered?)had
been the ambitama (best of mothers), naditama (best of rivers) and devitama
(best of Goddesses) of Vedic rishis. That she went underground is reminiscent of
the sand storms (aandhi) of that area. The geological data at most times tally
with the literary content of the Vedas. Ø
Just as how Saraswati had a beginning and an
end in her life span, so too the Ganaga has been depicted. The earliest record
of Ganga?s birth is found in Valmiki Ramayana only. The way she was brought by
Bhagiratha exactly tallies with the release of mighty rivers at the end of Ice
age (Pleistocene) that occurred 10,000 years ago. So Raama? s avatar had
happened after that time. The Ganga was led into Sagar, to lay the ashes of
6,000 sons of King sagar, the ancestor of Bhagiratha. It is said that she
settled in a big sea. Correspondingly, we find in Mahabharatha (Vana parva
chapters 101 to 105) an episode in which sage Agasthya was commanded by Lord
Vishnu to drink up the water of the sea under which Kala Keyas was hiding. The
sage did so and Kala keyas who was giving trouble to the people was subsequently
spotted and killed. It is further said that this emptied space was later filled
by Ganga when she was brought by Bhagiratha. This makes us wonder if it is right
to call the Bay of Bengal as Ganga sagar. This sagar is emptied and then
refilled is a valuable information needed to substantiate what is given in an
earlier mail. That is, the Ganga
goes and comes back and as long as the ganga lives Raama rajyam lives on. Then
there sets in anarchy which leads to mini pralaya, only to regenerate into
another cycle of mini yugas when Saraawati flows down in all splendour.
The life around Saraswati and Ganga is what the Vedic way
of life is all about. That their spans have an explanation at geological level
goes to show Raama and Krishna never leave us tattered, untamed or anarchical
for long. They come to us again and again ? very soon to revive our memory (that
is perhaps why sages were able to give
meticulously the details,
say for instance, to Sabari, before
Raama?s arrival at Pamba.) The astro details perhaps were the effective and
non-erasable tools of measurement at cosmic level, for them to store knowledge for posterity. The proof of
this and for mini yuga of 28,800 years can be had if someone with the necessary equipments,
understanding and interest come forward to decipher the following
information. It is said, ?When the sun and moon and the lunar asterism
Tishya and the planet Jupiter are in
one Mansion, the Krutha Yuga shall
return.? The number of years in which this combination is repeated
will give the length of one yuga cycle. To conclude, putting the date on antiquity is a hazardous
undertaking, but it is also an important exercise, for, whatever has been stored
by our ancestors (sages) for posterity must not be allowed to dissipate as empty
verses. And by going into every details in the avatars of Raama and Krishna, it comes easy to
?feel? them every moment, at everything we see around? even in a crow or in the
Purnima ??. May Raam, the
giver of santhushti perpetuate it in all of
us. With pranams to all in this
satsangam,
Jayasree Yahoo! Groups Links
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