To Dispel Some Perplexities

To Dispel Some Perplexities

I am perfectly aware that when I affirm the historicity of the Ramayana, I arouse some perplexities in the minds of the readers. There are, in the narrative, numerous ideas that might lead us to think about fascinating mythologies and nothing more. Yet, the Ramayana remains a historical fact.

No wonder the narratives of the marvelous occult powers demonstrated by certain sages. Even today in India many ascetics perform acts in front of which our science lowers its head, amazed and unable to give rational explanations.

Nor should we be surprised by the descriptions of the power of certain weapons unknown to us today. Until a few decades ago, the atomic bomb had not yet been created, but atomic energy already existed.

The Ramayana was another historical moment, with a completely different culture from ours. Man’s abilities were carefully cultivated, so as to develop powers that seem impossible to us. It was in Treta-yuga, in an era of great human progress. Let’s not be surprised by the wonderful. Everything that seems improbable to us today could become an irrefutable reality tomorrow.

And, what about the warrior skills of some, as they are described in the Ramayana? Are they exaggerations born of the fertile mind of the poets of those times, or is there a truth to all of this? Many elements make us strongly suspect that those descriptions corresponded to the truth. How many of us have been stunned by the fighting skills of those who cultivate certain oriental martial arts?

Also, who were the Raksasas really? The Ramayana states that they were a race of people far superior to men in strength and ability. A superhuman race, then. Some scholars argue that these were non-Aryan peoples, primitive tribes that over time were defeated by ancient Indian warriors. They argue that they were wild. But the civilization, the artistic and architectural beauty, as well as the prosperity that we find in Lanka can be well compared to that which we find in Ayodhya, if not in some ways even surpass it.  Ravana worshiped the Aryan gods Shiva and Brahma and followed the same rites as the so-called civilized peoples. In the Ramayana, there is even the detail of Ravana bowing and showing respect to the Surabhi cow. So the Raksasas were not barbarians. What if they were just what the author of the Ramayana says?

Who were the Vanaras? The same scholars claim that they were aborigines of the Deccan. Others even say that they are the missing link in the Darwinian chain. That they weren’t just apes is pretty obvious. They had their kingdoms, their devotional rituals, and their moral rules. They were highly civilized people.

We suggest finding the answers to these and other questions that will arise during the reading in the Ramayana itself. It is not a fable, nor an allegory, nor a mythological tale. It is a historical narrative that tells of a beautiful adventure that really happened.

 

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