Are Ramyana and Mahabharata real ?

This is a very crucial question and I had queries about Ramayan and Mahabharat for long. To understand the importance of these epics it is necessary to establish the time range of these epics.

1)    Among Ramayan and Mahabharat, it is clear that Mahabharat is post dated as compared to Ramayan, since lot of characters from Ramayan occur in Mahabharat but not vice versa. Ramayan has reference to Gautam Buddha, please check the 2^nd Kanda

यथा हि चोर: स‌ तथा हि बुद्धस्तथागतं नास्तिकमत्र विद्धि।

तस्माद्धि य: श‌ङ्क्यतमः प्रजानाम् न नास्तिकेनाभिमुखो बुध: स्यात्।।2.109.34।।

Just as a thief, so is the Buddha (a wise men). Know that the Tathagatas are atheists. They are men most distrusted among the people. A learned man should avoid atheists.

These references can be ignored as anachronistic but they can’t be just wished away. Also, Buddhist scriptures criticized Vedic heritage in equally harsh terms, since they were contradictory philosophical systems they critically evaluated each other. So, it is important to date Gautam Buddha which can clarify the doubt about historicity of our epics.

https://www.valmiki.iitk.ac.in/sloka?field_kanda_tid=2&language=dv&field_sarga_value=109

2)      Ramayan and Mahabharat are replete with stories, which seem scientifically far-fetched. Birth of Rama and his brothers, Pandavas and Kauravas, weapons of Rama, Lakshamana or Arjun and Bhima, Hanuman flying over long distances, marriage to Naga or Rakshasa princess or prince and many others. There must be a motive to compose such beautiful scriptures, which had a lasting impact on our culture.

3)      Valmiki is derived from the word “Valmik” which means ant-hill, it means he went into such a deep meditation that ants made ant-hills around him. If Valmiki went into such deep meditative state why will he write a simple historical text.

Ø  The names are very indicative Dashrath (dash+rath) literally ten chariots, human body is said to be composed of ten Indriyaas (5 karmendriya + 5 gnyanendriya) and human body is described as a chariot in Kathopnishad:

“आत्मानं रथिनं विद्धि शरीरं रथमेव तु। बुद्धिं तु सारथिं विद्धि मनः प्रगहमेव च॥“

Ø  His wives have an equally intriguing names, Kaushalya i.e to perform actions with expertise. Bhagwad Gita says “ योगः कर्मसु कौशलम् “

Ø  Kaikaya has the word Kaya i.e body, Kaikaya means to transcend beyond the physical body, hence she is the favorite queen of Dashrath

Ø  Once you transcend the physical frame the whole world is your friend i.e Sumitra.

Ø  Sita means the experiences which we get through Sadhana, hence she is found in a farm i.e while King Janaka is doing farming

Ø  Ravana is the ego, hence he is shown a Brahmin with 10 heads i.e he knows six darshanas and four Vedas by heart

4)    Mahabharat’s key is in Ganesh katha i.e to write such a long epic Vyasa needed a scripter and he asked Bhagwan Ganesha, however he had a precondition i.e he won’t stop while writing and Vyasa would have to recite shlokas in flow. But Vyasa had a similar precondition i.e Ganesh could not proceed to write next shloka till he understands the previous shloka. If Mahabharat is historical text and is understood even by children why will Ganesh (giver of supreme intelligence) take time to understand it.

In Adi Parva 77^th shloka:

लेखको भारतस्यास्य भव त्वं गणनायक |

मयैव प्रोच्यमानस्य मनसा कल्पितस्यच || (Adi Parva 1:77)

He asks Ganesh (Gannayak) to be the writer of Mahabharata, which is the knowledge he has gained in a highly meditative state (प्रोच्यमानस्य). See the names of important characters

Ø  Karna, means ear, which is the knowledge gained from hearing lectures and is not knowledge of Brahman

Ø  Sahdev means godly qualities which is necessary for a Sadhak to progress spiritually

Ø  Nakul means mongoose i.e killer of snakes which is depiction of Kundalini (see the logo of Ramkrishna mission), a sadhak who has awakened Kundalini

Ø  Arjun, means a sadhak who progresses rapidly on spiritual path, hence he is an archer who is world renowned. Mundaka Upanishad defines the archery as follows:

प्रणवो धनु: शरो ह्यात्मा ब्रह्म तल्लक्ष्यमुच्यते ।

Pranav i.e AUM is the bow, Atma is the arrow and the target is BRAHMAN

Ø  All the Kauravas are named starting with (दु) which means bad, only sister of Kauravas is named (दुशीला) which means bad character, why will parents name their daughter as one with bad character

This implies that Ramayan and Mahabharat are epics, which depict the development of a sadhak or spiritual seeker on the path of enlightenment, qualities he should posses, powers he can gain by advancing on the path, difficulties he will face and how to overcome them.

(Copied from Yogiraj Manohar Harkare’s Ramayan Rahasya and  Geeta: Vyas Ashay). 

The video is attached for further details and is in 4 parts but definitely worth listening for someone genuinely interested in Ramayan.

https://youtu.be/5ApNTg_XxMU