4.2 The period of central
stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata
The
Ramayana and Mahabharata are the two oldest surviving long poems (maha-kavya) belonging to Sanskrit
literatures in the subcontinent. In India, the time of occurrence of central
stories of both epics is highly debatable. While general masses put both events
occurring not less than 10,000 years ago and some going even more than that, nationalist
historians trace them happening somewhere around 3000-3500 BC and historians
around 1000 BC. The confusions have been created because both epics were edited
number of times in later periods to incorporate the new thoughts of Brahmanism.
The mythical concept of yuga and its
co-relation with both historical events has made the things worse. Today, the Ramayana
has more than 300 versions and each differ with other in many aspects. The
three major religions of ancient India, Brahmanism, Buddhism and Jainism, too
differ in their versions about the life story of King Rama. The Brahmanical
version put Sita as the wife of Rama, who along with Lakshmana are exiled from
Ayodhya by King Dashratha. In the exile, Rama kills Ravana. The Jain version
shows King Dashratha of Saketa (Ayodhya) having four queens namely Aparjita,
Sumitra, Suprabha and Kaikeyi. From them, the King has four sons with Rama from
the first queen. Rama also has four queens namely Maithili, Prabhavati,
Ratinibha and Sridama. The Jain version further shows Lakshmana killing Ravana
and not Rama as depicted in the Brahmanical texts. According to it, Rama after
Lakshmana’s death renounces the world and becomes a Jain monk. It also shows
Ravana as future trithankara and Sita
as his gandhara (main disciple).
However, the Buddhist version differs from both. It shows Rama, Lakshmana and
Sita as siblings born to King Dashratha of Kashi. They all are exiled by King
to protect them from his second wife. The siblings return after 12 years of
exile with Rama and Sita as husband and wife [12] .
Although
the human relations shown in these texts differ from each other, in reality it
only shows a beautiful adaptation of King Rama’s life by different
civilizations suiting their own culture and traditions. The Jain religion is as
ancient as the Brahmanic religion and therefore both versions of Ramayana have
some similarity but the texts belonging to Buddhism, the religion which
originated in the eastern part of Aryavrata around 550 BC, refers Rama and Sita
as siblings becoming husband and wife. It can be said that the author of Buddhist
version was more influenced by the culture of its supreme family ‘Shakya’ in
which Gautam Buddha was born. It is well recorded that in Shakyas, brother-sister
(cousins) marriages were not only common but must to maintain the clan purity. Similarly,
the Jain version shows Lakshmana killing Ravana and both going to hell, while
Rama finally becoming a Jain monk. It can be said that as a strict follower of
nonviolence principle, the Jain version shows hero Rama not killing Ravana.
Contrary to it, the Brahmanic version of Valmiki Ramayana depicts Rama as a
hero who is the slayer of demons or Rakshasas creating problems for sages in
their yajnas. It can be said that this version is influenced from the great
fight and the victory of Brahmanism following humans over their opponent Dravidians
and other aboriginals. Though the original text of Valmiki Ramayana never signals
Rama as divine character, the later additions during the Gupta Empire in the form
of new chapters of Balkanda and Uttarakanda gave him divine character. The
additions show him an avatara of
mythical Vishnu and follower of many Brahmanical rituals. Though all 300
versions of Ramayana may differ from each other depending on the type of
society which composed it, it is however clear that the central story revolves
around the King Rama of sun worshipping Ikshvaku tribe who existed in a time
zone when writing technique was not developed by humans i.e. the period of smiriti (that which is remembered). The
same is also applicable to the occurrence of the central story of epic
Mahabharata.
The
period of Mahabharata war can be calculated back from the Puranas which say that before Pradyota dynasty (of 799 BC), there
were 22 rulers from the Brihadratha dynasty. If one assigns average 20 years
for each ruler, the period of Brihadratha can be put around 1239 BC. Since Sahdeva,
the grandson of Brihadratha, participated in the Mahabharata war, the period of
war can be smoothly placed around 1200-1170 BC i.e. the initial Vedic Period.
The major conflict arises in estimating the period of Brihadratha is Puranas itself as they give 1,000 year
ruling period for the dynasty. Normally it is a very high time zone as the
period gives an average 45 years of ruling period for one king. Therefore 1,000
year mentioned by the author of Purana should not be taken on its face value
but should be considered as an indicator of very long period of rule by this
dynasty over Magadha. As the period of war between Bharata clan is outlined,
the period of Rama can be calculated back from the events mentioned in the hymns
of epic Mahabharata. It says that Brihadbala of Ayodhya, the last king from
Rama’s lineage through his son Kusha, participated in the Mahabharata war from
Kaurvas side. Although Bhima had earlier conquered Brihadbala during the Rajsuya
yajna of Yudhisthara, yet he was forced to fight from the side of Kaurvas. It happened
because Karna, the friend of Kaurvas, defeated him and took control of Ayodhya just
before the Mahabharata war. In the war, Brihadbala was killed by Abhimanyu, the
son of Pandav Arjuna. Since Brihadbala was 15th (or 31st)
generation of Rama, by putting an average 20 years for each King preceding
Brihadbala, the time period for Rama can be placed around 1500 BC (or 1800 BC).
However if one takes the succession line of Lava, another son of Rama who ruled
over Sravasti (near Ayodhya), the 40th (or 56th)
descendant was Sumitra who was conquered by the Nanda Dynasty of Magadha around
350 BC [13]. Assigning average 20 years for each
King preceding Sumitra, the Period of Rama will be then 1150 BC (or 1450 BC).
Thus the Mahabharata will be pushed 300 years ahead to 850 BC (or 1150 BC); a
time zone just before the rise of major urban settlements of human population
in subcontinent in the form of solasa
mahajanpada and echoed by many historians. Since 20 years has been taken as
an average ruling period, it leads to some room for error when stretched for 15
- 40 odd generations. Therefore based on all possibilities, the period of Rama
can be safely placed around 1450 – 1150 BC and that of Mahabharata war in 1150
– 850 BC.** As ‘classical Sanskrit’ has been used in the epics, their
composition can be dated around 4th century BC i.e. the time when
Sanskrit language was well defined in Ashtadhyayi
form by grammarian Panini. As there were nearly 600-1000 years of gap between the
occurrence and composition of stories, it is possible to have many changes or
contradictions to the original event in the expanded societies. Since spiritual
leaders of different human groups and faiths used these central stories to
spread their philosophical thought and devotional elements, the process led to
different versions as well as increased contents to main events. (** The period
of Mahabharata is also discussed in chapter 10.1)
********************************************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************************************
References:
[12] Das,
S. K. (2005). A History of Indian Literature, 500-1399: From Courtly to the
Popular. Delhi: Sahitya Akademi.
[13] Jha,
M. (1997). Anthropology of ancient Hindu Kingdoms: A Study in Civilizational
Perspective, p. 177. New Delhi: M D Publications.
*******************************************************************************************************
*******************************************************************************************************
Index Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10
Give your feedback at gana.santhagara@gmail.com
If you think, this site has contributed or enriched you in terms of information or knowledge or anything, kindly donate to TATA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL online at https://tmc.gov.in/
and give back to society. This appeal has been made in personal
capacity and TATA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL is not responsible in any way.
********************************************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************************************