The escape clause?

Fair dues warning: This is a spiritual post. Please leave if you are easily offended. 

Krishna demolishing Kansa

I heard a talk from a Hindu scholar recently. He was narrating the story of Krishna and the troubling times he was born into. Rather, the Protector of the Universe, Vishnu, manifested himself as Krishna to maintain law and order. Too many influential people were abusing their positions to create chaos, which needed to be curbed.

Krishna's immediate duty was to defeat Kansa, his uncle, a demonic King. Trouble started when Kansa married off his sister, Devaki, to Vasudeva. Deep inside, Kansa intended to usurp Vasudeva's land. At the wedding, a prophecy was heard that Devaki's eighth child would be the reason for Kansa's defeat. Kansa imprisoned the couple, and Devaki's seven children were all killed at birth. Why all the other births, too, not just the eighth? Somebody alerted Kansa that the seven siblings could rally behind the eighth to attack him.

When the eighth child was finally born on an auspicious star on a wet rainy night, the hypnotic illusion of Vishnu came into full force. With sleeping guards and extremely lax security, a child was born, taken out of prison, transported across River Ganga, swapped with another baby, a baby girl, born at the same time, and returned to Devaki's cell. The baby girl cried only when it arrived at its destination, alerting the guards. The palace was alerted, but by the time Kansa laid his hands on the baby, he knew he had been duped. Was the prophecy wrong? The eighth born turned out to be a girl! Kansa tried to smash the baby on the wall. Surprise, surprise. The baby girl turned out to be Goddess Kaali, who announced that Kansa’s assassin was safe on the other side of the river and that his days were numbered.

Kansa spent the rest of his days thinking of Krishna, turning every corner and looking for his assailant. Long story short, Kansa sent so many adversaries to finish off young Krishna, but in vain. When Kansa was finally killed, it is said he attained moksha (released from the curse of rebirth) because Krishna was always on his mind, thinking of Krishna day and night.

Ravana

The same thing is said to have happened to Ravana. After kidnapping Sita, keeping her captive, and wooing her, he was shocked when Hanuman arrived in his supposedly safe cocoon. Hanuman created a ruckus by burning Lanka. It was a warning to Ravana that the end was nay. Rama was coming sooner than he thought. Just like Kansa, Ravana went into alert mode. 

Despite being the sorcerer and the erudite person he was, the fear of Rama and the accompanying Vanara army sank in. Ravana shuddered. What carnage could the rest do if one representative could do such damage? Every minute that followed, he was compelled to think of Rama and only Rama. Again, Ravana was defeated but also attained moksha because Rama was always at the tip of his tongue and immersed deep in his thoughts. 

My feeble mind does not comprehend all these. These great tyrants, despite all their evil deeds, the pain and suffering they inflicted upon others, and the trail of destruction left behind, escaped the dreaded curse of reincarnation because they went on thinking and chanting the Lord's name. It is a rather lazy way of cutting the queue, surpassing all others who went the problematic way of collecting brownie points and spiralling through birth after birth to attain salvation. In my mind, katas (sermons) like these are the crossroads where itihasa (history), tattva (philosophy) and sciences morph into myths. The scriptures tell about Rama and Krishna's dates of birth indirectly through constellation positions, permitting accurate dating of certain events. This information can be fed through astronomical apps to verify the presence of such a constellation. Astronomical calculations had verified it to be correct. Their births probably happened. That is science. But I am not so sure about others. My blinkers are still on, and I may not be ready to receive the essence of the nectar of the Lord's divine wisdom. But I persevere...

(P.S. I had been under the impression that the law of karma works like Newton's Third Law of Motion. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. You reap what you sow. Perhaps this escape route to erase one's sins is reactionary to what the Catholic Church was preaching at that time in India. A sincere confession under the name of the Lord cleans the slate. Fearing losing their congregation to the order side where something else is offered to the Law of Karma, the stakeholders may have relented. Instead of uttering ‘Hail Mary’ thrice and absolving your sins, they offered the chanting of ‘Hari Krishna Hari Rama’ indefinitely.)

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Is it man-made?

Ram Setu (2022)

Director: Abhishek Sharma

If I tell you today is Thursday, how do you really know that today is indeed Thursday? It is not good enough because yesterday was Wednesday, and tomorrow is Friday, as today is no different from any day. As we know, during the era of Pope Gregory, the Church realised it was missing a few days. It had overlooked the leap years and had to erase 10 days in 1752. So, for all you know, Thursday today could be a Monday.

Well, the Hindus have the bragging rights to say their calendar says we are in the year 12,000, and they did not have to correct for errors and had had remarkable ways of calculating events. Even when the world was scared of venturing too far off on sea as they thought they would slip off at the edge of a flat earth, Hindu scriptures knew the planets were spherical structures. Scriptures say that Varaha, Vishnu's avatar, saved Earth from massive floods by placing the spherical planet on its snout.

When it comes to stating events in the ancient scriptures, the scribes have been quite precise with their descriptions. They have referenced events to planetary and astronomical positions to the tilt. Take Rama and Krishna's date of birth, for example. Rama, being a prince, his time of birth and his astrological chart is recorded precisely. Krishna's hush-hush delivery within the confines of prison walls, too, is noted duly. 

With the knowledge of modern astronomy and the help of planetarium software, we can predict precisely when such a constellation occurred aeons ago. Scientists have determined that Rama and Krishna lived around 7000 and 5000 years ago, respectively. (January 10, 5114 BCE  and July 21, 3228 BCE). From Valmiki's Ramayana, we know that Rama's date of birth is January 10, 5114 BCE, between 12 noon and 1pm in Ayodhya, Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month. Due to equinox precision calculation, a day is adjusted every 72 years. That explains why Ram Jayanthi is celebrated in March or April now. 

The critical question now is whether the story of Rama is a myth or part of history. Most landmarks mentioned about Rama and his father's kingdom have disappeared into the abyss of time. Ram Sethu remains the only relic to claim a stake in his existence. Descriptions of King Rama, his expedition to fight King Ravana in Lanka and the Vanara army is mentioned in many writings, even outside India. But can these writing be proof of historicity? Valmiki's Ramayana, unlike its other versions, like Tulsidas', Kalidas' or Kambar's, is referred to as itihasa (meaning 'thus it happened') because of its extensive descriptions. The others are labelled great poetical works (kavya).

There is a pressing need to clarify this issue now more than ever. There have been plans for a long time of dredging through the shoals to deepen the Palk Straits to allow ocean liners to skirt around the Indian peninsula. That would mean much ecological damage and possible destruction of an ancient engineering marvel, Ram Sethu or Nala Sethu, after Rama's chief engineer who conceived the idea when Rama's Army wanted access to Lanka.

Present-day engineers have proposed a possible prototype ancient builders may have used with the material available to build the bridge between India and Sri Lanka.

As early as the 18th century, the idea of deepening the sea bed between Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar was mooted. Many electoral promises were made to increase between the two countries and avoid the need for big vessels to circumvent Sri Lanka to get to the East coast of India. After many feasibility studies, the Government of India, in 2005, decided to get serious. It met resistance from religious and environmental groups. 

Some plans showed the need to drill through sacred areas, while others may pose an environmental nightmare.

The Government of India and the concerned parties have an ongoing legal battle. The opposition to the project wants the area to be declared a national heritage. Most parties agree that the construction of such a structure would not make any business sense. The amount of fuel saved by the distance is offset by the time taken by pilots navigating through the narrow strait. Detractors accuse the proponents of simply erasing any remnant trace of the rich culture and marvellous engineering feats the ancient Hindu civilisation could showcase. It is in their vested interest.

This 2022 movie which did not really make an impact at the box office, shows the diversity of Indian moviemaking. Deviating from their usual dance, music, romance and melodrama fare, they are venturing into other genres. This one must have had a cue from 'Indiana Jones' or 'The Mummy'. In cahoots with governmental officials, a private enterprise wants to develop Palk Straits. An atheist archaeologist who initially thought that Ram Setu is a natural occurrence is now convinced that it is indeed a man-made structure. He has to race against time to convince the Supreme Court of his findings before the greedy entrepreneurs usurp the land for their selfish needs.  

[There are veiled references in this movie. Aryan, the archaeologist, is the learned man. Aryan means learned in Sanskrit, not Northerners, as coined by Max Müller introduced in his now-debunked Aryan Migration Theory. The floating lab is named Pushpak with obvious reference to Pushpak Vimana, a flying vehicle owned by Kubera and used by Rama and his entourage after the tour-de-mission in Lanka. Anjaneya is another name for Hanuman. Here, the mysterious character who helps Dr Aryan is Anjaneya. There is a hint that he appeared out of thin air and disappeared mysteriously. Legend has it that Hanuman, being a true Ramaa devotee, received the boon of immortality. He sometimes manifests in various forms to help people in distress, so believe the reciters of Hanuman Chalisa.]

The Catholic Church, living under a rock, all these while imprisoning people like Galileo and Copernicus, realised under the leadership of Pope Gregory of their follies. Scientists of that era were summoned to recalculate the calender for modern consumption. The modern calendar, however, was not immediately practised by everyone at once.

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It is not a bed time story!

Sampoorna Ramayanam (Complete Ramayana, Tamil;1956)
(சம்பூர்ண ராமாயணம்)


The epic of Ramayana has fascinated people for ages. It has been narrated for generations via oral traditions, print media, stage performances and the silver screen. As early as 1922, a silent film on Ramayana came out in cinemas. Before this 1956 Tamil version, Hindi and Telegu versions of Ramayana can be found. Many other editions since then, and now, at the time of cable TV, Ramayana has permeated into households regularly.

There are many versions of Ramayana. Valmiki wrote the earliest one. Even Hanuman was concurrently writing his view on the occurrences of the day. With time, it evolved to Buddhist, Jain and South East Asian adaptations. 

Valmiki's Ramayana is said to be the authentic text of Rama's life, but it ends with his coronation at the throne after his banishment to the jungles for 14 years and capturing Sita from Ravana. Other additions of vilification of Ravana as the classical evil bad guy and exile of a pregnant Sita after overhearing the murmur of a washerman remains folklore at best.  Scholars who analysed these Sanskrit scripts agree that these were written in a slightly less refined language.

Sivaji Ganesan had already established himself as a reputable artiste by then, but due to his spirited way of acting, he was naturally not cast as Rama. Lord Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, the pillar of stoicism was played by the sombre, perhaps apathetic NT Rama Rao who later went on to have a very successful career in politics. Maybe, his casting in divine roles made the general public see him in a different light.

The first part of the film was very slow moving with most of the storytelling done through songs. This was the old way of economising time, to give value for money. The actor cast as Kaikeyi, the second wife of King Dasaratha, played a convincing role as a jealous mother worried about her position after her biological son is sidelined for the throne. She transforms well from a loving stepmother to Rama to a witch after being influenced by her foster mother.

Generally, people do not name their daughters Kaikeyi as she is perceived as the earliest villain of Ramayana. If not for her, demanding for her boons from the King, the whole hullabaloo of Rama going to the woods and the fight with Lanka would not have arisen. Lately, there is a reinterpretation of Kaikeyi's role in the whole saga. Her character was vital in Rama's development into a figure than himself. His dharma was plentiful in the jungle. There were many boons and work to be done there; not cooped in Ayuthia and rule a kingdom. For good things to happen, we need a jolt on the status quo. King Dasaratha is described as a smothering father who arrested Rama's development!

A cursory knowledge of Ramayana is mandatory to appreciate this movie.

As expected Sivaji who assumes the role of Barathan is at ease to display a melodramatic portrayal of a very loving brother of hearing that his thoughtful brother had been dethroned and banished. He rejuvenates the later part of the show with his presence.

Unlike the sermons in temples where Ravana is portrayed as a ten-headed fiery hot asura, in this movie, he is shown as a very decent human monarch. He is learned and is kind to all his family members, the royal court staff and his subjects. It is his sister, Shurpanakha, who fanned the fire of fury. It is his love of his sister that clouded his judgment. He went ahead to kidnap Sita. This was atypical of him; a scholar of many arts and sciences kidnapping somebody else's wife.

The film illustrates the turmoil that he goes through as he takes stock of his situation on the eve of his defeat. He regrets the destruction of his kingdom, the pain caused and the dilemma of whether to conceit defeat or to end his life in shame. To fight was sure failure but to commit suicide was cowardice. Bhagavathi plays the role of Ravana.

The song 'Indru Poi Naalai Vaarai' (Go today, Come tomorrow) is rendered in the film by C. S. Jayaraman. Here, Bhagavathi, playing Ravana, is in a dilemma. It was a day before the final kill. Ravana, having lost his army, meets eye-to-eye with Rama. Instead of giving the coup de grace, Rama tells him to go and return to fight the next day. This song has become an immortal melody. Composed in 'Thilang' raaga, an import from Sufi music, this song was successfully adapted by Guru Nanak and his disciples who composed several hymns. It was extremely popular with musical geniuses like Ravishankar, Bhimsen Joshi, violin maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman and musicologist G. S. Mani. The great Carnatic musician D. K. Pattammal recorded a song, ‘Shanthi Nilava Vendum,’ in this raaga on the occasion of the shocking death of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.

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The dilemma of a King?

Lost Loves (Arshia Sattar; 2011)

Exploring Rama's Anguish

The question is whether the so-called divine scriptures are indeed infallible sacred decree or just mere guides for humanity to use as a precursor the complete the building block of life. Is it really God's orders or is it the human interpretation of what is best for mankind?

If the holy texts are indeed supreme, can it be deliberated or argued? We, the human race, used to live at a time when avenues were open for debates. Paradoxically, at this time and age when literacy is at its highest peak since the beginning of history, these doors are precariously shut. No place for questioning!

Are the powers that be hiding something?

I had always been under the impression that a King by the name of Rama as a human in flesh and blood, did actually walk on Earth. His subjects were have been awed by the dramas that revolved around the royal family. Their actions and decisions must have been closely watched by his citizens and be awed. Human beings always look at role models to follow. In those days, with the absence of Kim Kardashian and Kanye  West to set the precedence, the royalties must have been the trendsetters. With a little bit of exaggeration here and a little glorification there, Rama, his consort and his brothers must have attained demigod status, if not Supreme God Himself.

I found this book quite refreshing. Written by an articulate Muslim author whom I had the chance to listen to at the Georgetown Literary Festival, she had earlier been involved in the translation the whole of Valmiki's Ramayana from Sanskrit to English.

The thing is whether to consider Rama as a reincarnation of God when he made all His life and royal decisions or did he make them as a mere mortal, as a ruler?  

The author looks at the what can be construed as Rama's imperfections. One controversy is the slaying of a Sudra ascetic, Shambukha, for masquerading as a Brahmin. The seeming brutal beheading of a man standing on his head is justified as his karma to be slain by the Lord Himself. Others criticise it pure caste consciousness.


The deceitful slaying of Vali, the Monkey King, when Rama wanted an army from Sugriva is questioned. Perhaps, Rama feels that Vali's usurping of Sagrivi's kingdom and wife was immoral. But then, it may have wrong for Rama to take sides and kill Vali when he was vulnerable when he was caught unawares, being garlanded. The truth of the matter may be different, and perhaps Rama was using Ayodhya's social mores to judge inhabitants of Kishkindha, the Varana (monkey) kingdom.

Ayodhya, Kishkindha and Ravana's Asoka garden in Lanka had different standards for women. In Ayodhya, the fairer sex is expected to be demure and bashful. In Kishkindha, however, wife swapping is an acceptable practice. In the demonic world of Lanka, open display and promiscuity were enjoyed.

Sita is viewed as a pitiful victim at the hands of Rama. Imagine being swept off her feet at the prospect of being married to the future King, only to be out-manoeuvred by a conniving young step mother-in-law at the last moment just before the coronation. Then being banished to the jungles for 14 years. The sojourn in the forest was no walk in the park too. Kidnapped by an evil king, only to be rescued much later, life afterwards was no better. Through no fault of hers, Sita is taken away but, she gets the impression that she was accused of having a whale of time partying. She has to prove her chastity to shut the gossiping mouths. Of all the persons, even her husband cannot stand by her but decide the satisfy the people's evil tongue. It is as though she is made the scapegoat to proof Rama's mantle as a just ruler. 

It also appears inhumane that Rama should banish his pregnant wife to the woods just because of the evil words of a dhoby and his unfaithful wife. It is a bad example to have the princes grew up in the wilderness without knowing their father.  Is that what a father should do? Did Rama fail to perform his dharma as a father figure?

Arshia Sattar
Credit: Flickr

Mutilation of Surpanakha, Ravana's sister, of cutting off her breasts and her nose, is an overkill - all because of her promiscuity towards a married man. If Rama were God, would He not seen her real intentions of wanting Ravana to be killed or that it would be the road to His misery. 

Perhaps, Rama was just a man, trying to do the best thing as a ruler; not to be swayed by the lure of the flesh as his father, Dasaratha, was - crumbling to the charms of his younger wife, Kaikeyi, Dasharata had to go back on his word on the throne. Was this why Rama was so cold towards his wife? Maybe Rama loved his wife, if his constant display of Sita's figurine during essential functions, in her absence, is any proof.

If Rama was sent off to live the jungle to live as an ascetic, why is depicted with weapons and continued to consume meat? And he continued to display his sorcery in jungle politics.

There are many regional addendums to the Valmiki's Ramayana. Uttara Kanda and Bala Kanda are examples of such scriptures. Philosophical discourses on these texts only show that answers in life are not so black or white. It often manifests in varying shades of grey.

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Queen sings the blues!

Sita Sings the Blues (2008)

Director: Nina Paley

Since its first narration as way back as 7th century BCE and its additions over the centuries, it has fascinated many. The epic poem has been analysed, reanalysed and re-interpreted from so many angles. Ramayana continues to be a source of inspiration for many on Rama, the obedient son, the brother, the King, the husband, the warrior and the avatar of Vishnu Himself.

This time around, this animated production looks for the epic from Sita's viewpoint, as a wife yearning for Rama's trust and acceptance. Using 1929 catchy blues songs by Annette Hanshaw as the main background score, the movie depicts a miserable Sita who yearns for Rama's love. Through no fault of her, she is accused of infidelity. Rama, the stoic king, is depicted as the cold-hearted husband who is more interested in reputation and living up the citizen's approval rather than standing up for his wife.

Running parallel to the main storyline is the contemporary story of Nina, the director, and her relationship with her husband who deserted her in real life. Like Rama, he becomes cold after his trip to Trivandrum, India. Like Sita too, Nina is wronged and becomes the wife who is the victim of the husband's unknown train of thought.

The film portrays Sita as the innocent victim of the times who is made to prove her purity. At every juncture, she is assumed to be the guilty. Her words carry no weight, and she has to depend on the elements of Nature to prove her chastity. She has to perform the fire ritual repeatedly to this effect. After sacrificing fourteen years of princely life to stay a pauper's life because of internal political wranglings, she is banished again to the jungle, pregnant, lonely and broken. Is it all for love? How long can a lady take all these beatings?

Naturally, this film drew flak from ultra-conservative Hindu groups who perceive this film as degrading to the image of Rama, the avatar of the Supreme Being, Lord Vishnu. He is portrayed as the aloof and cold King who is more interested in living to maintain a pristine image and feeding to the public gossips rather than doing the 'right' thing. Lord Rama and His actions have been an exemplary moral code for generations all this while. To question this, they say, is sacrilegious.

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Still learning...

Hanuman and Suvarchala
Credit: Pinterest

I used to frequent temples quite a bit in my younger days. My mother probably thought that by loitering God's home, maybe He would take pity and throw a bone to us to chew. She must have put her trust in God believing that He would not disappoint. Be it, Thaipusam, fire-walking ceremony or billy-goat slaughtering ceremony, she would be there, and I would be passively taken along. It was her sincere belief that through divine intervention, her children would live a better life than her and that God would peel open the inner eye of Consciousness. We still await but hope, but we cannot say we did not get in abundance. But what is too much and when is it enough, anyway?

As a child, my mind used to wonder a lot. Rather than doing the things I was supposed to do, I found pleasure as an observer of things and people around me. Sometimes, I ask myself what they thought and why they did the things that they did. Occasionally, Amma gives explanations that made sense to her. During other times, I drew my own conclusions. Periodically, I drew blanks. 

Like the time when I pondered why worshipers would pray to demigods and not the main deity. Since the real McCoy had more clout to grant wishes, why go through intermediaries? Why prostrate to the fearsome Muniswaran when Shiva is just around the corner? I realised later that there were entry restrictions into temples once upon a time. That could explain the reason for people in the lower rung of the society to settle for lesser Gods as intermediaries.

Angry Hanuman - An icon of aggressive Hindutva
Credit: Karan Acharya

But I could not comprehend was why congregants would bow and exhibit so much reverence to Hanuman who is, in fact, less a being in his primate form when Rama and his consort are the real bosses. I thought it was the celibacy of the Brahmachari pose that he displayed. But then there is a temple in Telangana where Hanuman is seen as a couple with Survachala (Lord Surya's daughter).

If Hanuman was enlightened by his proximity to Rama, why are there no Arjuna temple as he had a one-to-one pep talk with Krishna, a more complex avatar of Vishnu? The whole song of the Lord (Bhagavad Gita) is the testimony of His attempt at psychotherapy of a commander who turned cold feet on the eve of a decisive combat.

Firstly, Hanuman is no monkey but of a member of a clan of hirsute people from the southern part of the subcontinent. He is cocksure that his dharma is to serve Rama. He chooses his wars carefully. He observes and learns from the sideline like a third person. This attribute must be the one that draws people to salute him. Knowing exactly what to do in any adversity is one quality Man yearns to have. He does not base his decisions on emotion or creed. He even refused to help fellow Monkey King, Sugriva, as Hanuman thought his course was not just. Devotees hope that His nature of doing the right thing at the right time without fear or favour would rub off on them. His tenacity and undevoted loyalty to the task at hand is another plus point. HanuMAN, the world's first superhero.

The learning process goes on...

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