The king of festivals is here to rock again… Diwali…The festival to mark the home coming of Lord Ram after a 14 year ‘vanvas’ in the jungles..
But I still don’t know whether Ramayan is just a fiction written by Valmiki, like another fiction novel which we read these days or does it consists of actual incidents which took place.
What I believe is that they were characters born out of imagination. But doubts arise over these beliefs as there have been some reports of NASA finding the bridge built between India mainland and Sri Lanka. Also some landmarks like Sugreev’s caves are mentioned in Wikipedia.
So my point of view is still surrounded by confusion. The atheist in me still gives the benefit of doubt to the fictional view of the story.
Anyway, fictional or not, the 24000 verse epic is there for sure. And is a source of some great philosophies and teachings. It is in fact a holy book for the Hindus, which they regularly read to satisfy their religious needs.
But does everyone follow it??
I have not read ramayan… but came across a thought provoking excerpt. I wish all a very Happy Diwali and leave you with this excerpt to ponder over.
“The Injunctions of Worship of Gods, sacrifice, gift and penances have been laid down in sastras by clever people to rule over people”
source : The Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen
8 comments:
sidzz..it's not fictinal dear...but upto some extent sen saying is also true....not always
Well quoted. I am with you in your confusion. :)
BTW, that link is not working.
@anonymous: This excerpt is not said by Sen.. it is from Ramayan but I read it in Argumentative Indian...
and any clues which definitely prove that it is not fictional..
@cuckoo: Thanks! the link is fine now.
Hindus have created many stories including Ramayan, Mahabharata (two main epics) but apart from that many many other stories on god v/s demons, mainly emphasising victory of good over evil.
So, on a lighter note, I think Ramayan is one of the big hits, like sholay which will live almost for ever!
And I dont think we can easily believe or not believe it... that question is too uncertain to answer and depends mainly on one's belief in existence of God too!
But the best part is the festivals that we celebrate that makes us remember the story again and also brings other good things along with it like, get-togethers and an opportunity to socialize. See, how nice our culture is... we have created stories first, then made it a regular event by creating festivals based on it! Best part is our creativity does not restrict just for 2 stories allowing only 2 festivals per year like other religions. we have umpteen number if we really want to celebrate! We have made life a celebration looking at it from a broader perspective!
Wow, too much analysis I think, Sid you were the seed... I could have written a blog myself! LOL...
oops, one more thing... HAPPY DIWALI!!! to you , cuckoo, anonymous, your sweet blog and everybody!
bharath bhai... thanks for the wonderful comment..
u r absolutely right that such festivals help in socializing and all...
and also there is no doubt that ramayan , mahabharath are great hits..
but the question is are they fiction or did that actually happen????
Tagged, you are... Check my blog, you should...
Happy Diwali, have an "enlightning" time ;)
well the timing of ur post is very apt... wrt the quote from 'The Argumentative India'... can't agree less with it
having just returned from home I have some experiences regarding the same to share... wait for it... I will upload it in the weekend
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