Ramayana: Mythology or Reality?

Ramayana, written by a Maharishi Valmiki in Sanskrit, is one of the two greatest Sanskrit epics of ancient India. The name Ramayana derived from “Rama” + “Ayana” (Path or Way), hence, meaning the path or way of lord Rama.

Whether Ramayana is a work of fiction to teach the moral and ethical ways of life OR it is based on events that actually took place, has been a matter of debate, between believers and non-believers, for centuries.

Mythology or Reality

So, we all understand reality, but what exactly is Mythology? If we go by the definition “Mythology is a collection of myths, especially one belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition”. In other words, Mythologies are the stories about the olden days which revolve around a specific person and often featuring some supernatural characters and events.

Everyone seems to be in agreement that Ramayana is not just about Lord Rama and his attempt to rescue his better half, Sita but also about love, devotion, loyalty, family, leadership and respect towards elders. A moral code of conduct for the rulers and citizens alike. However, a certain section of non-believers finds a lot of events and characters in the epic to be untrue.

The believers, on the other hand, have been busy collecting the clues from modern India that connect to events, places, and characters mentioned in the oldest epic of India.

This write-up isn’t an attempt to pass a verdict on the conflict but a sincere attempt to bring out a few facts and relevant information on the subject and leave it to your better judgment.

Scientists don’t believe that Ramayana is based on true events as it occurred some thousands of years back and thus it is very difficult to gather any archaeological evidence. Many evidence might have been covered in the deep layers of the Earth. And what if, after the occurrence of Ramayana the major civilization got wiped out? There will be only the oral passing of information without any authentication.

They raise questions on a few things written in Ramayana that are really hard to believe:

1. A person lifts a whole mountain and flies with the speed of light, can it be?
2. A ten-headed man existed, is it possible?
3. A person can change the shape and size of his/her body as he/she wants, really?

At the same time, believers present a different set of facts and points.

Rama Setu

Rama Setu is a 48km long bridge which, as per Ramayana, was built by Lord Rama’s army from Rameswaram Island, India to Mannar Island, Sri Lanka, to rescue his abducted wife, Sita from Ravana. The places mentioned in Ramanaya еxасtlу matches tо thе current location оf thе bridge which used to be completely above sea level until it was broken by a cyclone and later more by the Tsunami.

Aссоrdіng tо Hindu belief, Rama Setu tооk 5 days tо build bу 10 Million Vanaras (Monkeys) and the stones uѕеd tо mаkе thе bridge floated оn water bесаuѕе Rama wаѕ written оn stones. But thеrе іѕ а complete scientific explanation whу stones floated оn water & whу nоw Ram Setu іѕ undеr water.

If air іѕ trapped wіthіn а ѕhеll оf silica іt wоuld lооk lіkе а stone but wоuld асtuаllу bе vеrу light аnd wоuld thuѕ float. Anоthеr prime еxаmрlе іѕ оf “Pumice” stone. Pumice іѕ оnе ѕuсh stone thаt floats оn water. Pumice іѕ thе nаmе gіvеn tо thе hardened foam оf lava whеn іt соmеѕ оut оf а volcano. Air аnd water thаt wеrе mixed іn thе lava bubble out, аѕ thе pressure falls.

Thе huge difference іn temperature gіvеѕ thе lava а ‘cold shock’, ѕо іt freezes аlmоѕt immediately. Thus thе bubbles gеt trapped іn thе freezing stone. As pumice іѕ full оf air bubbles, іt іѕ lеѕѕ dense thаn water. Sо іn thе beginning іt wіll float. But іn time, water wіll enter thе bubbles driving оut thе air. Slowly, thе pumice sinks. Thіѕ аlѕо explains whу thе Ram Setu іѕ undеr water today.

But thеrе іѕ nо volcano nеаr Rameshwaram nоr іѕ thеrе аnу evidence whісh claims thе existence оf volcano іn thе areas surrounding Rameshwaram оvеr thе lаѕt fеw millions оf years. Also, floating stones оf Rameshwaram аrе nоt that light-weighted lіkе pumice rocks аnd doesn’t hаvе thе chemical composition similar tо pumice rocks.

Sanjeevani Mountain, Drongiri

According to Hinduism Sanjeevani is a magical herb that has the power to cure serious nervous system problems. It was believed that medicines prepared from this herb could restore life in a dead person.

Lord Hanumana carried the entire mountain from the slopes of the Himalayas to Lanka that had Sanjeevani Booti when Lakshmana lost his consciousness during the war. These Exotic Himalayan species are still found in tropical Sri Lankan vegetation which kind of proves the legacy of Hanuman’s heroic voyage carrying a mountain with life-restoring herbs Sanjeevani.

Scientists don’t believe this as even after investing a lot of money and time for years in search of this herb they were not able to reveal any plant that can be definitively confirmed as Sanjeevani.

The Soil of Ravana’s Kingdom

In Ramayana, it is written that Lord Hanuman burnt a very large part of Ravana’s Kingdom. And the soil of those areas is still black. Thе soil thеrе іѕ unusually black іn contrast tо thаt оf thе neighboring states.

And battle bеtwееn Science & Spirituality begins. Science relies on logics, facts & proofs whеrеаѕ Spirituality іѕ largely related tо belief. And scientists are saying that the above-mentioned belief is not why the soil is black in color. Although they failed to give any explanation for the color and are still looking for some hardcore proof.

And it is also said that the color of the soil of the battlefield where the war took place is still red today and is still surrounded by lighter-colored earth.

Conclusion

There are a few more things that can be shared that might increase the faith of the believers but will have no effect on a few others and especially Scientists as there is no proven evidence.

1. Few of the floating stones that were used to build Rama Setu are found in Rameshwaram.
2. There is a place named Ashok Vatika, Sri Lanka. The same place where Sita Mata used to live when she was abducted by Ravana.
3. The place where Sita Mata took Agnee Pariksha is also present in Sri Lanka.
4. Giant footprints, which are believed to be of Lord Hanuman are present in many parts of Sri Lanka and even other parts of the world.

A myth or reality, Ramayana can be anything. It is important to get to know the truth behind it but what’s more important is the things that are there for us to learn from it and the fact that there is no proof that Lord Rama existed, so why people love and worship him?

– Rama, a rightful king, respected his father’s order and went for the 14-year exile.
– His wife got kidnapped while in exile, but even then he wasn’t shattered.
– He went in search of his beloved wife and covered more than 3000kms just to rescue her and that too without any army. This shows his love and it also proves how much she means for him.
– Lakshmana chooses exile with his brother instead of enjoying his life without any hassle in his Kingdom. Which shows his devotion towards Rama.
– Bharata, who was appointed as a King after Rama’s exile, never assumes the throne, instead, he obtains Rama’s sandals and places them on the throne as a gesture that Rama is the true king.
– Hanuman, an ideal bhakta of Rama, never questioned him about anything and was even ready to die for his Lord, showing his devotion and loyalty towards Rama.
– Rama goes for a year of penance in the Himalayas after killing Ravana, as he felt that with Ravana he also killed a few good qualities that he had.
– Rama banishes Sita from the kingdom for whom he fought a battle and loved so dearly and was pregnant with his child and sends her to the jungle because of his kingdom who doesn’t think she was the rightful queen. He puts the people of his kingdom above his own family which shows his leadership quality.

And even after so many disasters that life threw at him he never became hateful or resentful or angry or a recluse and he went about fulfilling every duty he had to do while keeping all the pain and grief he had in his heart.