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Ms Saroj Bala deserves praise for her two-part article, 'Ram was for real' (Oct 11 & 13). She throws light on the exact dates of the birth and other major events of Lord Ram's life, as revealed by a hi-tech computer based on data of stellar and planetary positions provided in Valmiki's Ramayan. She reveals that Ram was born in Ayodhya on January 10, 5114 BC-namely, 7117 years ago-corresponding to the ninth day of Chaitra, shukla paksha, called Ramnavmi. He left Ayodhya on a 14-year exile on January 5, 5089 BC, killed Khar-Dooshan on October 7, 5077 BC and Ravana on December 4, 5076 BC.
Interestingly, these dates accord well with the discovery of Dwarika, capital city associated with Lord Krishna which, according to the Mahabharat, was submerged after the war. That would be towards the close of the Dwapar Yug. Carbon dating of remains show that the event took place in 1500 BC. According to Manusmriti (chapter 1/69-71), one cycle of the four yugas-Sat, Treta, Dwapar and Kali-together called chaturyugi, consists of 12,000 years. This period involves the defining 10,000 together with 1,000-year transition periods at the beginning and the end. Accordingly, the individual lifespan of the four yugs is 1,200, 2,400, 3,600 and 4,800. All agree Ram was born towards the close of Tretayug, and Krishna's Dwarika drowned towards the end of Dwapar Yug. The gap between the two is 3,600 years. The Ramayan period thus could be said to date back to 7103 years (3,600 years of Dwapar and 3503 years of Kalyug).
Many scholars count the ages of the defining periods in reverse order. Though misreading the Sanskrit text, they have treated these as divya (celestial) years and multiplied them by 360 to make them solar years. They have thus assigned 17,28,000 years to Satyug, 12,96,000 to Tretayug, 8,64,000 to Dwapar-yug and 4,32,000 years to Kalyug. They claim that Ramavtar took place nine lakh years ago- 5105 years of Kalyug (Yugabda) plus 8,64,000 years of the Dwaparyug, which equals 8,69,010, rounded off to nine lakh.
Marxist historians, supporting the Muslim case in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, ask for archaeological evidence or historical 'proof' of the nine lakh-year-old Ram Janmabhoomi. While Ms Bala's findings support the historicity of Ram, it would help Hindu astrologers to recheck their interpretation of ancient calculations of the ages of the yugs.
Ms Bala seems to inadvertently state that Ram was 13-years-old when he went to the forest with the sage, Vishwamitra, to protect the latter's yajna. As is well-known, initially Dasarath was unwilling to let go of his son. He made up various excuses to keep him back. To that end, he said that Ram was a minor, had not completed "16 years of age" (shloka 2, Balkaand, Sarga 20 of Valmiki's Ramayan), and lacked training to fight the rakshasas. He offered himself and his army to protect the yajna. Interestingly, he claimed his own age to be "sixty thousand years" (shloka 3).
Obviously, Dasarath was making use
of hyperbole on both counts to save his son. In the earlier 18th Sarga,
sage Valmiki clearly states that all the four sons of Dasarath were well-versed
in the Vedas and in archery. They were great warriors and whenever Ram
went into the forest to hunt animals, Lakshman invariably accompanied him.
Moreover, when Vishwamitra arrived in Ayodhya and called on the king, the
latter was consulting his ministers about Ram's marriage. All this shows
that Ram was grown and of marriageable age when he went, along with Lakshman,
to protect Vishwamitra's yajna.
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