1.1 Primer to Ayodhya, Rama & The Mahabharata
The lands of Nazareth, those of Mecca, the Sea of Galilee are examples of places regarded by many to be sacred, owing to particular events that are said to have happened there. The events may be confined to history, but an intrinsic value is placed in the minds and hearts of people who may associate with those places. The word “sentiment,” is derived from the Latin “sentire,” meaning, “to feel.” Linking a place with what happened there, can certainly invoke sentiment, or feeling.
Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Not to be absolutely certain, is one of the essential things in rationality.” This certainly holds value in being pragmatic, however to be fixated in every avenue of our lives, on rationality alone, has also shown to be almost unbearable for the human mind, that is capable of contemplating limitless possibilities.
Of the 18 Parvas of the Mahabharata, 13, and indeed the most prominent 13 of the epic, make reference to Rama, the King of Ayodhya, and descendent in the Solar Line of King Ikshvaku. The stories of Rama are indeed can be regarded as the royal crown jewel of the body of Vedic teachings in many respects. The incarnation of Dharma, or Justice, Emperor Yudhiṣṭhira, his mighty brother Bhima, the son of the god of Wind, the blind King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, as well as the immortalised Sages Narada, Vyasadeva, Markandeya, and Lomasha, in their discussions and counsel, all cite the great Lord, Rama. The Mahabharata talks of an Ayodhya that existed long before the time of Rama. The Mahabharata also talks of an Ayodhya long after the time of Rama. And much perspective, there is to be gained in looking at longer timeframes of history and its stories.
1.2 Rama, The Name
The word “Rama,” has meanings in 11 branches of the Vedic schools of thought and language, as well as in the Jain and Buddhist teachings. In Sanskrit, in the first order or literal meaning, Rama means ”pleasing, delightful, or gratifying.” The Mahabharata being the single most comprehensive source of all of the Vedic teachings, and there isn’t only one Rama in the epic, there are three.
Firstly, there is Parasu-rama, where “Parashu” means “with an Ax.” Parashurama, the son of the Sage Jamadagni, was a great warrior sage, who annihilated the warrior race 21 times creating the famous 5 lakes of blood, after the excesses and abuses of power on the other sections of society by the warrior class. The second, and by far the most cited than any other Rama, is Balarama, the brother of Krishna, and incarnation of the Naga Ananta Sesa. Bala means “strength.” And thirdly, is none other than Ramachandra, who is Vishnu incarnate, the Supreme Being, who took birth in the city of Ayodhya.
1.3 The Ages
In order to understand the descent of Vishnu, or Narayana, as Rama, it is important to understand Dharma, and its decline during the cycles of time. The Vedic ages are defined according to this inevitable rise and fall of the ages; some of these ages are named based on their quite literal meaning, and others referring to the quantity of dharma that remains standing on Earth. The Vedic body describes Dharma, the translation of which is also subject to much discussion, but broadly meaning righteousness, truth, or duty, or an encapsulation of all of these.
Dharma, in the Srimad Bhagavatam, which is known as the Amala Purana, or the spotless Purana given its focus exclusively on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is depicted to take the form of an innocent white cow; as white as a lotus flower. The legs of dharma are described in the very first Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, in the story of King Parikshit; King Parikshit, sees an innocent cow representing Dharma, with tears in her eyes, whose legs had been beaten by a man who an incarnation of the Age of Kali, the final and Dark Age.
The four legs of the cow were established by the four principles of i) austerity, ii) cleanliness, iii) mercy and iv) truthfulness; each of which would fall with the turn of each age.
The Satya Yuga, or the Age of Truth; with the governing principle being that of austerity
The Treta Yuga, meaning a Collection of Three Things, which may refer to either the three incarnations of Narayana in that age (Vamana, Parasurama & Rama), or the three legs of Dharma that remain standing after the fall of austerity at the end of the Satya Yuga, and representing the principle of cleanliness that remains along with mercy & truthfulness
The Dwapara Yuga; meaning the age of two, and representing the principle of mercy, that stands remaining along with truthfulness
The Kali Yuga; the age of darkness, or quarrel and hypocrisy, the current age, that represents the last remaining principle of truthfulness, and again on its path of degradation as the age matures
1.4 What “is” and “was” Ayodhya?
Linguistically, Ayodhya centres around the word Yudha, meaning to wage war, and has a negation of this by virtue of the “a” at the beginning. And so some scholars, and scriptures have implied the word Ayodhya to mean “not to be fought”, in other words “invincible,” or “unconquerable.” The text Satyopakhyana offers a slightly different interpretation, by understanding Ayodhya to be a city that “cannot be conquered by sin.” So well defended was Ayodhya, that in the Skanda Purana, the scripture devoted to the God of War, Skanda, there is a section entitled “Ayodhya Mahatmya” meaning the glories of Ayodhya.
Ayodhya, was for an extensive duration of time, the capital of the Kingdom of Kosala, the capital of the Ikshvaku dynasty, the Solar Dynasty, known as the Suryavamshis, descendants of the Sun, that Lord Rama was born into, and which remained very dear to his heart throughout his life. The Suryavamshi line beginning with King Ikshvaku who came from Vaivaswata Manu, and includes the snake Takshaka, as well as a King whose daughter married Lord Krishna. Other prominent kings before Rama, include Prithu Maharaj, Mandhata, Muchukunda, Harishchandra, Dileepa, Bhagiratha, Raghu, Vishvamashaha who was contemporary to Kuru King Hasti, who founded Hastinapura, Nemi. And after Rama, there were also numerous prominent Kings in the Solar line of King Ikshvaku, including Nishada, Ruru, Nagnajit, and the snake Takshaka.
In previous times, before the Treta Yuga, the Vishnu Purana also cites, that the swathe of land known as Ayodhya, was called “Saketa.” Saketa means “that with houses, or buildings” given the more advanced architecture that Saketa was home to. And today, Ayodhya, several millennia later, is known to be an ancient city located in the north part of India, in Uttar Pradesh, not so far from Nepal and Tibet. In more recent history, Gautama Buddha is said to have lived in Ayodhya for some time, and Jain texts also cite Ayodhya as the birthplace of the Tirthankaras, or original representatives. After the 1700s, it is said that a temple was made at the birth spot of Lord Rama, however the precise date is not known, and over time this temple was ordered to be demolished by either Emperor Babur or Aurangzeb during the Moghul reigns of India that lasted from 1526 to 1761, and successive generations are said to have erected mosques in its place. This remained the status quo beyond the Mughal rule also when the British Empire governed from 1858 to 1947. The city of Ayutthaya in Thailand, was named after Ayodhya, and is the birthplace of the founder of Bangkok, King Rama I of 1737-1809.
1.5 Lee Kwan Yew & Faith
The Former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kwan Yew, had a background highly accustomed to both the Chinese and Indian cultures and civilisations. Being raised in the 1940s, and spent many of his earlier years, those of formal education in the United Kingdom; at a time when the West was at its prime and shaping thought across the developed world. After reading Law at Cambridge University in 1947, Lee Kwan Yew, known as Harry at the time, a name given to him by his grandfather, began his career as a lawyer in the City of London. Lee Kwan Yew would go on to be known for his trademark way of breaking down multiple arguments and points of view on highly contentious topics, those too that were high profile and often heavily weighed in history. And forming compelling views that would were of great significance nationally, regionally and globally, Lee Kwan Yew took this exceptional ability of his, and was the foundational pillar in building Singapore to what it is today; an economy and nation that continues strategically, to excel globally.
Lee Kwan Yew, in one of his final addresses to civil society as Prime Minister, in July 1990, entitled “Change and Continuity”, at the National University of Singapore said:
“There's something about ancient civilizations, both India and China. You may say superstition; that Quan Yin or Tau Pek Kong, are all superstitions. You may say Ganesh, with his blue face and multi-arms is again superstition. But it's given succor, comfort, relief to successive generations for thousands of years. Who are you to say that your Bible is not superstition?”
Srila Prabhupada wrote in 1968, “Ayodhya is not bound up with any material worlds.” And so any quest to bind the material and the spiritual, may take a paradigm shift.
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