Rama - The story of a history
As old as the hills
Manimekalai, one of the five major epics of Tamil, goes about the life of Manimekalai, the daughter of Madhavi of Cilappadhikaram. It speaks of Manimekalai obtaining an
amudhasurabhi, something similar to the
akshyapatra that Draupadi had when the Pandavas were in exile, from which welled up endless quantities of food, for the appeasement of hunger of one and all. Now, there was a woman by name Kayasandigai, who was suffering from a strange disease known as
‘yaanaith thI,’ or a hunger that makes one consume food like an elephant, like fire. Her insatiable hunger comes to an end on consuming a morsel from the
amudhasurabhi that Manimekalai had. Kayasandigai narrates her pathetic state to Manimekalai and describes her un-appeaseable hunger. ‘My hunger never ceases,’ she says, ‘Even mountains of food disappear in a trice in my belly.’ And how? Here is how she puts it:
'nediyOn mayangi nilamisaith thOnRi
adal aru mun nIr adaiththa njAnRu
kurangku koNarnthu eRintha nedu malai ellAm
aNangku udai aLakkar vayiRu pukkAngku
ittathu ARRAk kattu azal kadum pasip
paddEn...’
(manimEkalai, ulaga aRavi pukka kAdhai, lines 9 – 14)
‘You know, Lord Vishnu
('nediyOn’) assumed a human form and was born on earth. He constructed a bridge across the ocean. The monkeys collected mountains and threw them into the sea for constructing the bridge. Even as those mountains got immersed and disappeared in seconds under the bowels of the sea, so do mountains of food disappear in my stomach.’
That simile captures several facts from Ramayana. That Rama constructed a bridge across the sea; that the monkeys brought mountains and threw them into the ocean; and on top of it all, Rama was known as an avatar of Vishnu, at that time.
Now let us turn to Cilappadhikaram, which, it is agreed all over, belongs to 2 AD, the period during which – according to the arguments – Rama was still known as a human being, a king and not as an avatar even in the north.
Kovalan, the hero of the story is killed by the hasty orders of the king. On the other side, Kannagi, his wife, is in the refuge of cowherds living on the outskirts of the city. The news of Kovalan having been killed is yet to reach them. The cowherds perceive bad omens and perform the
kuravai kUthu, to their lord, Krishna, vividly singing his praise. In a long running verse of varying metres, which can easily be mistaken for an
AzwAr pAsuram, they praise and appeal to their Lord. I am quoting the particular portion which is of interest to us.
mUvulakum IradiyAn muRai nirambA vakaimudiyath
thAviya sEvadi sEppath thampiyodum kAnpOndhu
sOvaraNum pOrmadiyath thollilangai kattaziththa
sEvakansIr kELAtha sevi enna seviyE
thirumAlsIr kELAtha sevi enna seviyE
(cilappadhikAram, aaychiyar kuravai, stanza 35)
‘He who came down as Vamana, assumed the form of Trivikrama to measure all the three worlds with his two feet. And he once again came down as Rama; His feet that measured all the worlds were reddened when he walked with his brother in the forests, in exile; Of what avail are those ears that do not listen to the praise of the Lord who destroyed Lanka with its demons! Of what avail are those ears that do not listen to the praise of Lord Vishnu!’
That very clearly mentions not only the Rama avatar, but the idea of
dasa-avatar – the ten incarnations – referring to the Trivikrama avatar here and the Krishna avatar and the Mahabharata incidents in other stanzas.
Therefore, the conclusions of researchers like Jacobi, who places the Ramayana in the 6th century BC, Winternitz who believes that it belongs to 3 BC, Macdonell who argues that it should be placed in 5 BC, sound more valid. In fact, Winternitz challenges the calculations of Max Muller. But we do not know which one is the closest, almost correct, somewhat precise conclusion! All that we know is, Ramayana is as old as the hills. Has been around from time immemorial and will be there sustaining the interest of generations to come, until the last human being breathes on this earth.
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