Exposing all lies of Hinduphobes on Bhagwan Shree Ram
Allegation: Rama beheaded a Shudra just because he was practicing religious rite.
" Shambuka's Declaration" शूद्रोऽयं प्रजातोऽस्मि तप उग्रं समास्थित: | देवत्वं प्राप्स्ये राम सशरीरो महात्मन् || २ ||
" Shambuka's Words" न मिथ्याहं वदे राम देवलोकजिगीषया | शुद्र मां विद्धि काकुत्स्थ शम्बूकं नाम नामत: || ३ ||
"The Action" भाषमाणस्य शूद्रस्य खड्गेन सुकृतव्रत | शिरश्छत्वा कोशात् विमले निर्मिकोदके गच्छत || ४ ||
Sambuka Says his evil intentions :-
Rebuttal: 1) He wanted to ascend heaven with his body 2) To Attain devatva 3) Conquer Heaven
SAMBUKA WASN’T KILLED BECAUSE OF HE’S SUDRA ASCETIC RATHER OF HIS EVIL KARM
At this very time a king who heightened the glory of Ikṣvāku’s race and was widely known by the name of Triśanku, nay, who ever spoke the truth and had fully controlled his senses, took to his heart, O scion of Raghu, to immolate as a sacrifice and thereby ascend bodily to paradise, the highest realm of gods. Summoning Vasiṣṭha, he revealed his mind to him.
He was, however, told by the mighty Vasiṣṭha that it was not possible to conduct such a sacrifice. Repulsed by Vasiṣṭha, he proceeded to the southern quarter. (13)
Valmiki Ramayana also gives story King Trisanku wanted to go bodily to heaven but is expelled by Indra
" Trisanku's Story" दिवं जगाम काकुत्स्थ मुनीनां परवतो तदा | स्वर्लोकं गतं दृष्ट्वा त्रिशङ्कुं पाकशासन: || १६ ||
सह सर्वै: सुरगणैर् वचनम्ब्रवीत् | त्रिशङ्को गच्छ पुरस्तस् नासि स्वर्लोकतल्य || १७ ||
the king, Triśanku, bodily rose to heaven, O scion of Kakutstha, while the sages stood looking on. Seeing Trisanku arrived in the heavenly region, Indra (the tamer of the demon Paka) alongwith all the hosts of gods attending on him, spoke as follows : “Triśanku, return you to earth since no abode has been earned by you in paradise. (14—17)
" Indra's Warning" गुरुशापहतो मूढ पत भूमिमवाकशिरा: | एवमुक्तो महेन्द्रेण त्रिशङ्कुरुपवत् पुन: || १८ || विक्रोशमानसत्राहितो विश्वामित्र तपोधन | तच्छ्रुत्वा वचनं तस्य क्रोधामत्स्य क्रोधिक: || १९ ||
“Doomed (as you are) by your preceptor’s curse, O fool, fall headlong to the earth!” Commanded thus by the mighty Indra, Triśanku fell again crying out to Viśvāmitra, whose only wealth was his asceticism, as follows : “Save me !” Hearing this cry of his, the sage Viśvāmitra fell again crying out to Viśvāmitra, whose only wealth was his asceticism, as follows : “Save me !” Hearing this cry of his, the sage
Vishvamitra raises the king to Svarga by his own ascetic power As soon the king reaches heaven, he is kicked out by Indra prevents Trisanku from ascending to heaven in physical form so it’s clear that as per ramayan one cannot go in heaven with his physical body
Aftermath:-
The kids died due to Sambuka tapas were revived and shambuka got swarglok too.
1) Padma-Purāṇa 1.35.90 Says assuming divine Body ascend heaven
" Padma Purana" त्वत्कृतेन हि शुद्रोऽपि सशरीरोऽभ्यगाहिदे | देवानां भाषिते श्रुत्वा राघव: सुसमाहित: || ९० ||
2) Raghuvaṃśa-Sarga-15:- Since Punished by the king Rama himself, Sambuka attained paramgati
" Raghuvamsa" कृतदण्ड: स्वयं राज्ञा तेन शुद्र: सतां गतिम् | तपसा दुश्चरेणापि न स्वमार्गविलङ्घिना || ५३ ||
3) Uttararāmacarita: Ank-2.Child Has been restored to life,Rama says Both(Sambuka and Child) are dear to him Hence fruit of severe penance be was granted in permanent and shining worlds known as the worlds of Virat which are all joy and happiness and which are a source of virtue and the like.
" Uttararamacarita" राम:- द्वयमपि प्रियं न:, तदनुभयतामगुरस्य तपस: परिपाक: |
यत्रानन्दाश्र मोदाश्र यत्र पुण्याश्र संपद: | वैराजा नाम ते लोकास्तज्जसा: सन्तु ते शिवा: ||२३||
4) Daśāvatāracarita-After His neck was cut off by the sword of Rama, he flew to heaven in a vimana
" Dasavataracarita" रामासिपिष्टेन निकृत्तकण्ठे शुद्रे विमानेन दिवं प्रयाते | निजाल्मजे तत्क्षणलब्धजीवे ममार जि निन्दा स्तुतिमिद्रजाति: ||२८५||
5) Adhyātma-Rāmāyaṇa-Sarga-4:-brought That child back to life and gave the Shudra the highest Heaven
" Adhyatma Ramayana" जीवयामास शुद्रस्य ददौ स्वर्गमुत्तमम् | लोकानापूदेशार्यं परमात्मा रघुत्तम: || २६ ||
6) Nāma-Rāmāyaṇa- Sri Rama, Who was Praised by Shambuka who has Gone to Heaven.
" Nama Ramayana" स्वर्गतशम्बुकसंस्तुत राम् ||९२||
7) Ānanda-Rāmāyaṇa Sarga 10:-that A kshatriya, vaishya, and 3 shudras were died because of the tapasya of sambuka then they were revived Sambuka With heaven and other things Ram ji granted him another boon that “people who will do the darshan of you and me in the vindhya parvat would be blessed”
" Ananda Ramayana - Extended Quote" ममापि यत्र कीर्ति: व्यान् यत्र वतुममीरि: | इति शूद्रस्य श्रुत्वा गमनुप्रञ्जङ्केवस: || मम गोमते प्राप्तं तत्कुटुम्बे सर्वेवेद हि | जन्मीय कीर्तनीय चिन्तनीय सुहृद्गुणे || भावयातो गतिलोमनन मवत्री भव | तदानेकपकेरों कीर्ति: शूरजु मे यत्वैन् || इति रामवर श्रुत्वा पुन: शुद्रोञ्छवीवस: | शुद्र: कर्ती मन्त्रीका भविष्यन्ति स्यतरम् || व्यग्रिज्ञा नविप्राणि कृष्णकमणीविः प्रभो | मवा तेषा कृता वृत्तेषुकेरणाजू | अनिनुं शैले सदा सिंह सीतालस्मणसंयुत: || अंशवस्ते पूर्वमेव दर्शने मम ये नरा: | करिष्यन्ति तत: पाकेष नरास्तव दर्शनम् || कृत्वैति सहित भञ्जा मोक्षभेव त्रजिन्ते | मदर्शने विना मत्स्वा पश्यन्त्सविचारत: || तेषामूर्ध्वं राम कुरु मदत्वनात् प्रभो | तस्मात् मवन्त भञ्जा हत्वा शुद्र स्यतनम् | जीवयामास विष्णुशक्तिमानत्वस्थान् || तदाराम्याज शुद्रस्तु विष्णुनत्रागणोचमैत् | परवन्द्रकानेषु रामगमेति कीर्तने || (Ananda-ramayana, ramkand, purvardh, sarg - ४०)
"Final Translation" इति कृत्वा सुसंवृत्तं हत्वा शुद्रं स्मतनम् | जीवयामास विष्णुद्रशक्तिमान् वाकतस्थितान् ||
Did Shree Ram ate meat?
Sūrpanakhā Answers to the critics
" Sūrpanakhā's Description" तरुणी रूपसम्पन्नी सुकुमारी महाबली | पुष्पीकविशालाक्षी चीरकृष्णाजिनाम्बरा || १४ ||
फलमूलाशनो दान्तो तापसो ब्रह्मचारिणौ | पुत्रौ दशरथस्यात्मा भ्रातृ रामलक्ष्मणौ || १५ ||
“Young and richly endowed with comeliness, tender yet possessed of extraordinary might, having large lotus-like eyes and clad in the bark of trees and black antelope skin, living on fruits and roots, self-controlled, practising austerities and continence, there are two brothers, Rama and Lakṣmana, sons of Daśaratha. (14-15)
‘कोई भी रघुवंशी न तो मांस खाता है और न मछुका ही सेवन करता है, फिर भगवान् श्रीराम इन वस्तुओं का सेवन क्यों करते? वे सदा चार समय उपवास करते पवित्र समय शास्त्रविहित जंगली फल-मूल और मीठार आदि भोजन करते हैं || ४१ ||
Also in Valmiki Ramayan, Hanuman ji said this to Maa Sita in 5.36.41
Did Shree Ram married 6 year old Sita Maa?
The major verses that for the premise of Shri Rama and Devi Sita marrying at the age of 13 and 6 years respectively are -
"Sanskrit Verses" उषित्वा द्वादश समा: इक्ष्वाकुणाम् निवेशने| २-४७-४ तत्र त्रयो दशे वर्षे राज अभिषेयत प्रभु:| २-४७-५
समा द्वादश तत्र अहम् राघवस्य निवेशने || ५-२३-२७ तत्र त्रयो दशे वर्षे राज अभिषेयत प्रभु:| ५-२३-२८
When Maharishi Vishwamitra was on his journey to Mithila along with Shri Rama and Lakshmana, he decides to stay at King Sumati’s place on the way. At that time, King Sumati asks Vishwamitra ji about Shri Ram and Lakshmana and states that they have attained यौवन.
"Sanskrit Reference" अधिष्ठानविच रूपेण समुपस्थितयौवनौ || २-४८-३
Similarly, when Maharishi Vishwamitra reaches Mithila with Shri Rama and Lakshmana, Janak ji asks about them, then he also calls Shri Ram and Lakshman ji युवा.
"Sanskrit Reference" अधिष्ठानविच रूपेण समुपस्थितयौवनौ || २-५०-२८
But at what age is a person is referred to as युवा or what’s the age referred to as यौवन?
" Rajanirudhu 28.33" कौमारे पञ्चमाब्दान्ते पौगण्डे दशमावधि | कैशोरे मा पञ्चदशाधीवने तु तत: परम् ||
Kaumara-avastha ends with the fifth year; pauganda-avastha ends with the tenth year; kishor-avastha ends with the sixteenth year. After that is yauvana.
" Bhaktirasmrtasindhu 2.2.309" कौमारे पञ्चमाब्दान्ते पौगण्डे दशमावधि | आ-षोडशाच्च कैशोरे यौवने स्यात् तत: परम् ||
Similarly for Devi Sita, we find the following description -
"Sanskrit Verse" प्रतिसंयोगसुलभं वयो दृष्ट्वा तु मे पिता | चिन्तामभ्यगमद्दीनो विवाहशदिवाधन: ||२.२९८.३४||
Bhushana tika makes it clear that the verse is referring to yauvana - प्रतिसंयोग विना स्थातुमशक्यत्वयौवनावस्थावदित्यर्थ:||
Similarly, Kataka Tika states - प्रतिसंयोग विना स्थातुमशक्यत्वयौवनावस्थावदित्यर्थ:गो. प्रतिसंयोग सुलभ: यस्मिन्त्रा|
And referring to to 12 or 13 year old children as the best among men doesn’t make sense - शुशूषमाणा: पितरं वर्तयन्ति नरर्षभा:|| १.७७.१९
Now let’s talk about their age calculation. Maharani Kaushalya stated Shri Rama’s age as 17 starting from his age of Upanayana. Due to पाठभेद, it’s 18 in Northwestern and Northeastern recensions -
"Age Calculation" दश सप्त च वर्षाणि तव जातस्य राघव | अतीतानि प्रकान्तस्य मया दुःख परिक्षयम् || २-२०-४५
अष्ट जातस्य वर्षाणि दश चाष्टी च तैड्नव| क्षीपितानीह कौडक्षन्या त्वतो दु:खपरिक्षयाम्||
So considering एकादशे वा राजन्यम्” इति स्मृतेदेशमे वर्षे इति बोध्यम् we can state that Shri Rama was 17+11 = 28 years old when he left for वनवास.
Commentary Analysis
" Govindraja commentary" अन्ये बहुक्लेश सहमाना एवं व्याख्याख्यु: अष्टादशतिवर्षे एवं वनप्रवेश राम:| १.२०.२
" Kataka Madhava Yogindra commentary" वनप्रवेशनसमये अष्टादशतिवर्षाधिकत्वस्य| २.४७.२०
Now, we can see that even the commentators mentioned the confusion among the scholara regarding the age of Shri Rama was 12 or 15 when he was with Maharshi Vishwamitra.
" Kataka Tika" अतो रामो द्विशमित्रायतिकाले द्वादशवर्ष: पञ्चदशवर्षाँ वेति काकदन्तपरीक्षायां बहु प्रयत्नते किक्षेत् ||
However, Sivasahaya ji stated in his commentary that Shri Rama was 16 years old during his marriage - अत्र ऊनषोडशवर्षां मे इत्युक्त्वा विशमित्रसहगमनसमये रामस्य षोडशो वर्षं प्रतिष्ठं इति फलितम् | तस्मिन्त्रैव वर्षे रामसीताविवाहस्य प्रसिद्धत्वेन षोडशवर्षविकस्य रामस्य विवाह इति सिद्धम् |
And it goes well with the previous verses which describe 16 as the end of kishor-avastha and beginning of yuva-avastha.
Devi Sita’s Age
The बंगाल पूर्वोत्तर संस्करण mentions Devi Sita’s stay at for 1 year instead of 12 years. So based on the verse - अष्ट दश हि वर्षाणि मम जन्मनि गण्यते २.४७.२० we can conclude Devi Sita’s age as 18-1 = 17 years.
"Sanskrit Verses from Different Editions" इक्ष्वाकु नन्दकमारे नेत्रिलस्य महात्मन: | मीठिनि मासाप्रिम भद्र ते भार्या गुप्तमा धीमत: || ४० ||
इक्ष्वाकु वर्गीनेके गुप्तवस्य निवेशने | भुज्ञाना मानुप्राननु भागानु सर्वकामगमुद्द्रिनी || ५५ ||
तत: मेवन्मगुरुष् सममकयम् मे पिता | अनिषेधयितुं रामं समतो राजनिभिमि: || ५ ||
We find the same narration in Sundara Kanda.
Manuscript Evidence
Chrestomathie Aus Sanskritwerken by Theodor Benfey (1853)
BARODA ORIENTAL CE Aranya Kanda edited by Bhagavad Dutt
Scholarly Confusion and Final Analysis
This isn’t as simple as it seems. People who are stating conclusions should see that this topic confused even the best of the scholars while they wrote commentaries. Some people show this verse - रामस्तु सीतया सार्धं विजहार बहुन्तुन् |२.७७.२५ - stating that here several seasons imply 12 years. But Bhusana tika states - तयो भोगनैरन्तर्यं सूच्यते | बहुन् ऋतूनित्युक्त न तु वत्सरानिति| - the verse means to emphasize on the continuity of their (Shri Rama and Devi Sita) enjoyment as husband and wife. In that context it has written seasons but that doesn’ mean several years (Govindraja).
Secondly, we don’t know the time taken by Shri Rama in his gurukul. Manu maharaj stated - वेदानधीत्य वेदौ वा वेदं वाऽपि यथाक्रमम्|अविप्लुतब्रह्मचर्यो गृहस्थाश्रममाविशेत्|| - Having learnt, in due course, three Vedas, or two Vedas, or one Veda, he should enter upon the state of the householder, without having broken the vow of Brahmacharya. And how much time does it take to memorize/study a single Veda?
Gautama dharmasutra द्वितीयाध्याय states - द्वादश वर्षप्येकदेते ब्रह्मचर्यं चरेत्| प्रतिद्वादश वा सर्वेषु||५२||गृहगान्ते चा||५३|| - it takes 12 years to study one Veda. And you need to adhere to ब्रह्मचर्यं as long as you are studying.
We needn’t imply that Shri Rama took that long to study all the Vedas along with the Vedangas. But, finishing off with all these studies and managing administrative affairs and meanwhile getting trained by Maharshi Vishwamitra, etc is too much to happen in just one year.
Further, the commentaries stating Shri Rama’s age during marriage as 16 are in continuity with the literal interpretation of verse २.२०.४५ - दश सप्त च वर्षाणि तव जातस्य राघव || It has been interpreted the other way to make it compy with the verse २.४७.२० - मम भर्तं महातेजा वयसा पंच विशके || It’ll take substantial amount of research to figure out the truth. But, the allegation of pedophilia or child marriage doesn’t stand here as we saw that the verses refer to their युवावस्था.