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Oct 074('
’I was trying to search for some information about the nature of monkey like characters in Ramayana and any related research about these beings called vanars.
Note that its not only monkey like beings, but also bear like beings that are mentioned in Ramayana.
Given the ancient timescale of Ramayana occurring in Treta yuga, were these some kind of hominid species.. like monkey-humans and bear-humans of prehistoric period?
And I stumbled upon this wonderful link. Of Monkeys, Men and Cataclysms by Blair A. Moffett.
Here it is stated that the monkeys in Ramayana could actually be Neanderthaloids who co-existed with the Homo-Sapiens then!
Also it has to be noted that, archaeological evidences suggest that Neanderthals lived in South India from about 5,00,000 to 40,000 years ago.
Similarly, I think the bear like beings like Jambavantha mentioned in Ramayana are what are known as Yetis in other parts of the world. Was it a group of Homo Erectus? Please see this link
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59 Responses to “Monkeys in Ramayana”
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robert says:
Why do people think that ram and krishna did not exist – is it because the westeners will laugh at you if you tell them these “tales”. There are literally thousands of white people who believe that these stories are there people (Aryan) .Dwarka which has sunk at approx time it says in the mahabharat has been found – there is Adam’s bridge – there are constellations to give the reader the era these “stories” happened. I guarantee you that muslims or christians had any proof of there religion they owuld not stop being 1. proud and 2.promoting it.
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Yes Robert, the many Indians have been so systematically brain washed by this English education to such a extent that they think its all myth and demand scientific proofs and again decide what kind of scientific proof they want, for while Newton’s science is science to them, quantum mechanics is not! Many of these so called scientific intellectual are so outdated even in science that you give them a valid quantum mechanical scientific scenario, and they will call it unscientific
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Shriram says:
Hi Gurudev,Great interpretations .Man i m proud of you.You are awesome in explaining our roots to us.Keep going.Why are there no new blogs.Could you do some similar research in the worship of Shiva Linga and the hidden meaning of the story attributed to it by our divine sages.I am sure what is told about its origin should not be understood as it is but with an open mind .
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mrinal says:
Rama and Krishna symbolise hinduism.They are source of faith for millions of human.It is very sad to see our politicians playing with their faith be it the ayodha issue or the recent rama setu.we will never know if these people exist in flesh and blood and we should never try to ,what is the point in doubting . Rather than focussing on such controversial issue we should focus on making our country a better place to live.
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sushmeeth.k says:
i would like to know abt kalki …….if any one is intrested……….i got some information from veerabrahmam’s book abt the time of appearance of kalki…….and the society or people or atmosphere then…………..i would like to know abt the appearance of kalki
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guru,
i do believe in the existance of rama or hanuman in the past…………..vedas,dharma or karma………but its not just the information which we should be intrested in ……..
let me come to the point …………………
in this present yuga …..or the present period….so many anti_social activities going around us………….murders cheating,rape,politics,breakage of family system{here i refer to decrease in joint families from our previous generation to that of ours and now mostly nuclear families and this actually puts a lot of responsibility of rearing up of child on the parents and that too nowadays i find most of the parents busy in their career and i have seen many of my friends of such a kind of families where both parents are busy brother in us ..or sister in uk….etc….now only induvidual is left …..and he is not exposed so many things he should be exposed to but he is now exposed to both good and bad …..and obviously bad tastes good in the beginning……………….and even increasing divorse rates almost 4 times in one year from 2006 to 2007……}all this leading to still further breakage of our system……………and slowly losing our mother tiongue itself………………..
soo i agree with u that tales like panchatantra are needed now………
but still more i would like to say that ,i dont remember any god saying “”common read abt me or or worship me “” but i always found him saying to choose the right path…in ur life let it be in bhagvat gita or ramayana {found so many good things while reading ramayana …}………if u take crist,or guru nanak ,or saibaba…………any body……..they all focussed on right living ………………so i feel following them is much more important ……………than reading abt them………………….and i feel that its our generation that needs ramayana etc………more than that of our previous ones………….
its my small advice to the readers that if u believe rama{crist, sai,etc….} then follow him rather than praising his name or worshipping them……….thats the real essence of religion{dharma} -
RSK says:
I found your blog very interesting, Gurudev (is that your real name or a pseudonymn?). Unlike what Prasad or Ramana insinuated, I found your views quite balanced and well researched having done quite a bit of reasearch myself on ancient Indian civilizations and beliefs myself. By categorising your obvious leaning towards idealizing ancient Hindu beliefs as fanaticism and abusing your beliefs without any logic to back it up, Prasad and Ramana are the ones who appear to be fanatical in their aim to discredit the merit of attempting to interpret ancient legends – they should remember that a fanatic can be also be somebody who is against personal religious belief.
I don’t believe in Ram’s divinity (just like I don’t believe in the divinity of Jesus or Buddha, both of whom were no doubt great philosophers and teachers) but I do believe he was a man who existed ages ago and that his adventures are chronicled in the Ramayan, although the narrative was embellished by several later writers and religious groups to attain its current form where it resembles fantasy fiction more than history. I personally subscribe to the belief that the vaanars were apes that had not fully evolved into men (neanderthals or some other similar race could in fact be the answer as you point out). This is verified in the Mahabharata as well when Krishna encounters Jambavan (the man-bear from Ramayan) in a chapter and the latter says he is one of the last surviving creatures out of his kind and that he is living in hiding since his kind has almost vanished is not welcome in society anymore. The story may or may not be true but it at least shows that the person who wrote that chapter several centuries ago had reason to believe that the race of vaanars was almost extinct (due to the process of evolution).
This implies several things. First, the story of Ramayan is very ancient if it happened at the time when some races were still in the process of evolution – it also explains why there was so much time for the story to make its way into the legends of various civilizations outside India. Second, the story of Mahabharat occurred a few thousand of years after the Ramayan since it takes such time for an entire race to become extinct. Third, it proves that the vaanars were not simply products of an active imagination since there is no reason for a chapter in the Mahabharat to mention Jambavan as an irrelevant side character (as if it was obvious to readers at that time why Jambavan’s race is almost extinct).
Finally, it is time that people (the educated ones at least) stopped confusing Hinduism with belief in Ram. Hinduism is a combination of religion and philosophy (best summarised in the Bhagvad Gita) that helps one lead lead a better life. Its key principles have even been echoed, knowingly or unknowingly, by great non-Hindu teachers such as Buddha and Jesus. The problem is that the fundamental tenets have become so mingled with rituals, history and legend that it appears primitive to the western world. An example is the current debate about the existence of Ram, which has been misinterpreted as a debate about respect for Hinduism. People who still confuse an ancient hero with a broad religion might want to think again if they remember that Ram is mentioned but not worshipped by any of the characters in the Mahabharat, proving that his worship as a deity was started much later! -
szar says:
For those actively following this discussion, try the following link.
It puts a lot of Ramayana ‘facts’ into context. And also provides the reasoning behind how the birthday/ era of Rama is being figured out.
i was in the 4th standard when i first put my mind to the issue. Somewhere down i line i put it aside. Now i am nearing 40. If this link is useful, and if you’d like to hear (paradigm shifting) hypotheses, and if I come back to the site, i’ll put in my 2 cents worth too!
On a side note, if we can put in so much thought into thinking about ram, why cant we put any thought into coming up with ideas to help farmers from commiting suicide. Even if we resolve the issue of ram’s origin and his tryst with hanuman, people are still going to go to sleep hungry. And those hungry people are perhaps the staunchest followers.
Anyway, enjoy!
(i know gurudev is going to really get a kick out of these facts)
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/lord_rama_fact_or_fiction.htm -
its been very good to know all ur thinkings but i feel all is good i n these things he is every were & he will b thr with us in every form
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