Lord Ram was for real

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Ram was for real

 

Saroj Bala

 

We Indians are the products of one of the oldest civilisations. We

need to be really proud of our ancient history and cultural heritage.

However, during the British Rule, we developed an inferiority

complex, which adversely affected our quest to unearth facts relating

to our glorious past. But our young and educated men and women, born

and brought up in independent India, are capable of unearthing the

true facts and are confident enough to evaluate these objectively.

 

 

 

 

Shri Ram being most basic to Indian "ethos", it is necessary to know

who is Shri Ram? Was he really born? If yes, when and where? As is

believed by crores of people did he really put his feet on the Indian

territory from North to South, reducing the sufferings of mankind and

ensuring victory of good over evil? Let us take a look at historical

facts:

 

 

 

The story of Shri Ram's life was first narrated by Maharishi Valmiki

in the Ramayana, which was written after Shri Ram was crowned as the

king of Ayodhya. Maharishi Valmiki was a great astronomer as he has

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 stars (nakshatras). Needless to

add that similar position of planets and nakshatras is not 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 Ramayan in the software

named "Planetarium" corresponding exact dates of these events

according to the English calendar can be known.

 

 

 

Mr Pushkar Bhatnagar of the Indian Revenue Service had acquired this

software from the US. It is used to predict the solar/lunar eclipses

and distance and location of other planets from earth. He entered the

relevant details about the planetary positions narrated by Maharishi

Valmiki and obtained very interesting and convincing results, which

almost determine the important dates starting from the birth of Shri

Ram to the date of his coming back to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile.

 

 

 

Maharishi Valmiki has recorded in Bal Kaand sarga 19 and shloka eight

and nine (1/18/8,9) that Shri Ram was born on ninth tithi of Chaitra

month when the position of different planets vis-a-vis zodiac

constellations and nakshatras (visible stars) were: i) 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 & Pllux star); x) Day

time (around noon).

 

 

 

This data, was fed into the software. The results indicated that this

was exactly the location of planets/stars in the noon of January 10,

5114 BC. Thus Shri Ram was born on January 10, 5114 BC (7117 years

back). 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.

 

 

 

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 - Valmiki Ramayan, Tulsi Ramayan, Kalidasa's

Raghuvansam, Baudh and Jain literature, etc. These books have

narrated in great detail the location, rich architecture and beauty

of Ayodhya which had many palaces and temples built all over the

kingdom. Ayodhya was located on the banks of the 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 the towns/buildings and alter the territories. Therefore, the

task of unearthing the facts is monumental. The present Ayodhya has

shrunk 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 Ramayan) with Rishi Vishwamitra who lived in Tapovan

(Sidhhashram). From there he went to Mithila, King Janaka's kingdom.

Here he married Sita after breaking Shiv Dhanusha. Researchers have

gone along the route adopted by Shri Ram as narrated in the Valmiki

Ramayan and found 23 places which have memorials that commemorate the

events related to the life of Shri Ram. These include Shringi Ashram,

Ramghat, Tadka Van, Sidhhashram, Gautamashram, Janakpur (now in

Nepal), Sita Kund, etc. Memorials are built for great men and not for

fictitious characters.

 

 

 

Date of exile of Shri Ram: It is mentioned in Valmiki Ramayan's

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. Dashratha's zodiac sign was Pisces and his nakshatra

was Rewati. This planetary configuration was prevailing on the

January 5, 5089 BC, and it was on this day that Shri Ram left Ayodhya

for 14 years of exile. Thus, he was 25 years old at that time (5114-

5089). There are several shlokas in Valmiki Ramayan which indicate

that Shri Ram was 25-years-old when he left Ayodhya for exile.

 

 

 

Valmiki Ramayan refers to the solar eclipse at the time of war with

Khardushan in later half of 13th year of Shri Ram's exile. It is also

mentioned it was amavasya day and Mars was in the middle. When this

data was entered, the software indicated that there was a solar

eclipse on October 7, 5077 BC, (amavasya day) which could be seen

from Panchvati. The planetary configuration was also the same - 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 be December 4, 5076 BC, and Shri Ram

completed 14 years of exile on January 2, 5075 BC, and that day was

also Navami of Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month. Thus Shri Ram had come

back to Ayodhya at the age of 39 (5114-5075).

 

 

 

A colleague, Dr Ram Avtar, researched on places visited by Shri Ram

during his exile, and sequentially moved to the places stated as

visited by Shri Ram in the Valmiki Ramayan, starting from Ayodhya he

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 include Tamsa Tal (Mandah),

Shringverpur (Singraur), Bhardwaj Ashram (situated near Allahabad),

Atri Ashram, Markandaya Ashram (Markundi), Chitrakoot, Pamakuti (on

banks of Godavari), Panchvati, Sita Sarovar, Ram Kund in

Triambakeshwar near Nasik, Shabari Ashram, Kishkindha (village

Annagorai), Dhanushkoti and Rameshwar temple.

 

 

 

(The writer is a Commissioner of Income Tax posted at Delhi. The

article will conclude on the Oped page on Monday)