Lord Rama existed or Not? Questioning Hindu Faith
I don't think that anybody can fight a court case in the favour of existence of Lord Rama and win it because its easy to shrug off thousand of years of heritage in a moment and its easier to prove that everything which supports that claim is invalid but then the question is not about existence of Lord Rama but rather it goes one extra step to question the Hindu faith.
And that is where the subject become touchy. I was just having discussions with one colleague of mine who was having the same opinion that there are really no historical evidence to suggest that Lord Rama ever existed but then equally true is the fact that there are no evidences to prove that other religious Gurus like Mohammad or Jesus ever existed or even if you can prove that they had a physical existence, no body can ever prove that they were really something like Prophet or Messiah. We can always degrade ourselves to question the faith of a community or a religion on the broader level but have we ever tried to think that who exactly was Lord Rama or Krishna or Jesus Christ?
Why do we need idols to worship or why do we need a religion to follow? The answer lies in Anthropology or behavioral sciences. It is the common need to socialize that bring us and binds us together. This need to feel a part of the group is so strong that it gave rise to groups and 'Kabilas'. This is common for all animals including the most civilized ones like us. With the evolution of groups, it became mandatory to differentiate and for that symbols were required and slowly these symbols evolved into religious symbols. That's why you will find symbols like Air, Water, Sun, Moon, Fire common across all the religions.
Another reason was to attribute some unexplained phenomenons like flood, fire, disaster, earthquake etc to some super mighty powers who had the capability to bring terror and cause damage to life and property. This fear again bound human beings together and helped them create a code of conduct. Due to this incapability in comprehending certain things people actually started believing in super powers.
The third reason was the wide gap between level of intelligence and power between the tribes. There were strong and weak tribes. The strong one will often loot and plunder the weak ones and make their life miserable. In all the religion you'll find concept of saint, demons and of warriors who will fight the demons. Jesus represented this supressed class and became a symbol for the weak and poor of the world. Even if nobody believes in his existence today and we have no historic evidence to prove, I will still say that Jesus at that time more than being a god was a symbol of hope for the millions of poor and depressed people and that is why Cross is still one of the strongest symbol of the social injustice today.
Ram or RamaRajya more than being a physical person was a symbol and that is most important. He was an object of faith and people worshiped him because he relieved them from the terror of Ravana. VHP has become an icon of foolishness and they can still afford to play around with the Hindu faith but then if a statement like "Rama did not exist" comes from Congress party then I am more than sure that something is seriously wrong with their think tank. Try saying some day that the Muslim or Christian gods never existed and you will be wiped out from the national political scene but anybody can question Hindu faith and still walk tall among the political circles. This is a sheer example of how people have taken advantage of the Hindu tolerance Level which is fairly high compared to other religions. Don't forget the cartoon row or the demonstration against Da Vinci Code.
Anyways, Congress is in deep waters now. They have not just questioned the Hindu faith, they have also challenged the basic premise of being a Hindu. There is no point of following a religion when the base never existed in the first place. The next logical step is to prove that as Rama never existed so no point in fighting for Ram Janmbhumi and then no point in being Hindu. When the whole world is looking forward to Vedas and Gita, this statement coming from a well educated individual have surely embarrassed the whole country.
Nothing captures the existence of Rama better than this -
And that is where the subject become touchy. I was just having discussions with one colleague of mine who was having the same opinion that there are really no historical evidence to suggest that Lord Rama ever existed but then equally true is the fact that there are no evidences to prove that other religious Gurus like Mohammad or Jesus ever existed or even if you can prove that they had a physical existence, no body can ever prove that they were really something like Prophet or Messiah. We can always degrade ourselves to question the faith of a community or a religion on the broader level but have we ever tried to think that who exactly was Lord Rama or Krishna or Jesus Christ?
Why do we need idols to worship or why do we need a religion to follow? The answer lies in Anthropology or behavioral sciences. It is the common need to socialize that bring us and binds us together. This need to feel a part of the group is so strong that it gave rise to groups and 'Kabilas'. This is common for all animals including the most civilized ones like us. With the evolution of groups, it became mandatory to differentiate and for that symbols were required and slowly these symbols evolved into religious symbols. That's why you will find symbols like Air, Water, Sun, Moon, Fire common across all the religions.
Another reason was to attribute some unexplained phenomenons like flood, fire, disaster, earthquake etc to some super mighty powers who had the capability to bring terror and cause damage to life and property. This fear again bound human beings together and helped them create a code of conduct. Due to this incapability in comprehending certain things people actually started believing in super powers.
The third reason was the wide gap between level of intelligence and power between the tribes. There were strong and weak tribes. The strong one will often loot and plunder the weak ones and make their life miserable. In all the religion you'll find concept of saint, demons and of warriors who will fight the demons. Jesus represented this supressed class and became a symbol for the weak and poor of the world. Even if nobody believes in his existence today and we have no historic evidence to prove, I will still say that Jesus at that time more than being a god was a symbol of hope for the millions of poor and depressed people and that is why Cross is still one of the strongest symbol of the social injustice today.
Ram or RamaRajya more than being a physical person was a symbol and that is most important. He was an object of faith and people worshiped him because he relieved them from the terror of Ravana. VHP has become an icon of foolishness and they can still afford to play around with the Hindu faith but then if a statement like "Rama did not exist" comes from Congress party then I am more than sure that something is seriously wrong with their think tank. Try saying some day that the Muslim or Christian gods never existed and you will be wiped out from the national political scene but anybody can question Hindu faith and still walk tall among the political circles. This is a sheer example of how people have taken advantage of the Hindu tolerance Level which is fairly high compared to other religions. Don't forget the cartoon row or the demonstration against Da Vinci Code.
Anyways, Congress is in deep waters now. They have not just questioned the Hindu faith, they have also challenged the basic premise of being a Hindu. There is no point of following a religion when the base never existed in the first place. The next logical step is to prove that as Rama never existed so no point in fighting for Ram Janmbhumi and then no point in being Hindu. When the whole world is looking forward to Vedas and Gita, this statement coming from a well educated individual have surely embarrassed the whole country.
Nothing captures the existence of Rama better than this -
"Man se Ravan jo Nikale, Ram uske man me hai"
(When you will be able to take Ravana out of your mind, you will discover Ram inside)
(When you will be able to take Ravana out of your mind, you will discover Ram inside)
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