Re: Who is Rama?
Pranam Sudarshan ji
Originally Posted by
Sudarshan
If you consider the story of Rama as historical, what dates do you assign to them? Do you take it as between 3000 B.C-8000 B.C as done by some modern Hindus or do you literally interpret it as a treta yuga story which occurred more than a million years ago?
Dates have no value for me, time ‘past’ is history and that is precisely what is puran I don’t have to spell it out what that means. In this case I have to go by what Ramayan is telling me and not someone’s speculation.
I was a firm believer in the historicity a few years ago, but ever since I studied the history of the world from a modern perspective
Modern history is ok but unfortunately that is mainly dominated by western mind, many a times truth has been a casualty in preference to their personal agenda. It is a known fact that lots of our scripture has been tempered with a view to discredit the Vedic dharma, it was unpalatable for them to see a culture so advance then theirs, so they did not hesitate to spread lies about our dharma. I dare say even today everything Indian that is good will be absent from news where else they will not fail to highlight the bad.
So forgive me if put more faith in our scriptures, (even though at times something seems unfathomable) then the modern history.
my faith in the historical interpretation of purANa-s have diminished. I now increasingly look upon them as metaphors and this seems to explain many seemingly absurd purANic accounts well, for instance the traditional belief of eclipses caused by some demons swallowing the sun, river ganga descending from the sky, oceans formed by digging of the earth by the sons of Sagara, flying mountains, animal sacrifices and a lots of stories like these.
I put my faith in the Rishis of yore who are very powerful, just as Chandu mentioned if they can precisely predict eclipses then who am to judge their view on Rahu, how ever absurd it may seem. There are stories in puran that is way beyond my understanding but then nuclear science is also lost to me.
How a simple atom can have a chain reaction and capable to destroy the world?
To a modern thinker few decades ago, Ravan’s and ahiravan’s ability to converse at a distance apart must have sounded like a fairy tale but now we are having argument in the comfort of our house, continent apart.
The difference being they did it without the aid of modern yantras.
If for some reason the world were to be destroyed by a trigger happy lunatic and only some primitive being survived, I am sure they would find all this modern advances, well beyond their understanding.
It is suffice to say those puranic Rishi knew the Naksatra, while not so long ago world was perceived to be flat.
Just because purANic stories may not be real does not mean that rAmA or kR^ishNa have no existance.
If I believe the stories to be wrong then I have to concede the whole foundation is shaky
Whatever the devotee imagines the Lord to be, he experiences the Lord that way. Appearing in a form the devotee wishes to see, the Lord ( or the guru) further instructs him in the secrets of Yoga to reach the highest goal.
God percieved by us is as per our understanding and maturity. In reality,
God cannot be imagined by us, so the absolute experience of the Lord is beyond any description and can only be known by personal experience.
Do you see the contradiction here in bold, but I do understand your sentiment.
And yes I agree Lord is known by personal endeavor , as the saying goes
“ The taste of the pudding is in the eating.”
Yet without the description of the Lord as given in Shastra I am lost, his address is well documented in those scriptures.
Jai Shree Ram
Rig Veda list only 33 devas, they are all propitiated, worthy off our worship, all other names of gods are derivative from this 33 originals,
Bhagvat Gita; Shree Krishna says Chapter 3.11 devan bhavayatanena te deva bhavayantu vah parasparam bhavayantah sreyah param avapsyatha Chapter 17.4 yajante sattvika devan yaksa-raksamsi rajasah pretan bhuta-ganams canye yajante tamasa janah
The world disappears in him. He is the peaceful, the good, the one without a second.
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