Ram Mandir: A Historical Tale of Valor and Sacrifices

Jai Shri Ram 

Shri Ram and Ayodhya has been most sacred name for Hindus and India from thousands of years. Now Valmiki Ramayana is also dated to be written around 12209 BCE. So there is no doubt about historicity of Ram. Let's get into details about modern history associated with Ram Birth Place Ayodhya. This book written by Ram Gopal Pandey Sharad talks in detail about the history of Janmbhoomi and how Mughals and later Muslims took it from us.

It is said that From ancient period Kings have been taking care of Ayodhya and Ram temple with utmost care along with other Big temples like Somnath and Sun temple in Kashmir.

When Shaks, Huns and Kirats started attacking India, the kings shifted their Focus on Defending the borders. 

Later, In around first century BCE, Vikramaditya restored the Grand Ram temple after he defeated Shakas. 

In 1527 A Muslim Kajal Abbas Musa and  came in Ayodhya after hearing the influence of a Saint Shyamanand. He learnt Yoga and Spirituality from the Saint and became his famous disciple.

Hearing this , a Fakir named jalal shah also came to him to learn all those , but he was a Muslim extermist. 

He wanted that Islam should spread all over the world. Thus he mischieved  with a non-believer Teacher and thought to demolish the Ram Mandir and Erect a new Mosque in that place, so that Islam could be spread all over India. So along with Musa he started making plans to destroy the  temple. Hearing that Ram temple is very Sidhha place he started promoting it as a place of Nabis. They started buring Dead muslims in the city around the temple and with the help of Bakin Khan. They gained the confidence of Babar and insisted him to attack the temple. Knowing all this Maharaj ji was hurted and thus he hinself went to Himalayas after Removing the statues and throwing them in Saryu.

According to the orders of Jalal shah his disciples were beheaded . When it was announced that the temple was to be demolished and new mosque is going to be constructed Raja Mehtab singh was on the pilgrimage to BadriNath .

In the mid path he moved towards Ayodhya, with a army of 1,74,000 infront of the massive army of Babar with 4,50,000.The Shree Ram devotees has taken pledge that they will fight till their last drop of blood or die to save their Lord Shree Ram’s Birth place.

They fought hard but could not save the Temple. Mir Baki Khan Demolished the temple and with its remains constructed a temple. It is said that he used the blood of the martyrs instead of water to build the walls of mosque.

The Valor of Devotees can be understood with the example of a Purohit Devi Deen Pandey. He fought with his army of 10,000 soldiers. He had almost killed Mir Baki and single handedly killed 700 Mughals before he was killed.

It is said that even after defeating Hindus, Mir Baki couldn't build the mosque. Later with consulting the locals he named the mosque as Sita Pak Sthan, Allowed Hindus to do prayers in the mosque and ordered Muslims to offer Namaz on only Friday. Thus, Our own Ram temple was taken from us by killing our Kshatriyas and then fooling our Saints. 

Akbar had allowed Hindus to worship in the temple after 20 attempts to reclaim the temple. This order was followed by jehangir and Shah Jahan. But Aurangzeb discontinued it.

Vaishnavdas a disciple of Samarth Ramdas Swami used to live in Ayodhya. He was expert in art of warfare. He had the support of 10,000 tong-wielding sadhus. When they learned of the attack by Jabaz Khan’s attack on Ram Janmabhoomi, they rushed to join and fight alongside the Hindus. For seven days the Hindus and the Mughal forces clashed at Urvashikund. At the end of a fierce battle the Mughal forces fled away.

Aurangzeb now sent around 50,000 soldiers with Sayyed Hassan Ali khan to march towards Ayodhya. Hindus took Support of Guru Govind Singh this time. The combined Hindu and Sikh army fought fiercely in Faizabad and defeated Mughals.

4 years later, In  when Hindus were not alert to defend Ayodhya, Aurangzeb forces took control of Ram Janmbhoomi after killing thousands of people.

Hindus tried to take back Ram temple many times. 76 small and big battles were fought for the temples which are recorded as follows: 

Babar: 4

Humayun: 10

Akbar: 20

Aurangzeb (probably): 30 

Nawab Saadat Ali: 5

Nasiruddin Haider: 3

Wajid Ali: 2

British: 2

Ram Temple is not only an issue of Religious belief. It is an existential Question for The Hindu whose ancestors were great kings such as Ram, Sagar, Bhagirath, Yayati. We have given sacrifice of lakhs of Sanatanis in past 600 years to sustain the memories of this place. It is high time that we reclaim the birthplace of Shri Ram and try to bring it to the glory it was during and before Vikramaditya.

Credits for Dateline of Ramayana: 

https://nileshoak.wordpress.com/ 

Ashwamedh Yagna: A brief Insight

Ashwamedh Yagna

Ashwamedha is the name of a famous yajna of ancient India. The 'universal king' that is A Chakravarti king was considered to be the officer to perform the Ashwamedha Yagna, but according to Aitareya Brahmana (8 Panchaika) other important diplomats were also empowered to perform it.

The Ashlavayan Srauta Sutra (10. 6. 1) states that he who wishes to attain all things, aspires for all victories and wishes to attain all prosperity is entitled to this yagya. Therefore, in addition to the universal universe, even the king of idolatry could perform Ashwamedha (Aap. Shrout. 20.1.1; Latyayana. 9.10.17). This seems to be a very ancient yajna because in the two Suktas of the Rigveda (1. 162; 1. 163) a special description is given of the Ashwamedhi Ashwa and its havan. There is a very detailed description of it in the Shatapatha (13. 1-5) and Taittiriya Brahmins (3. 8-9), which were followed in the Srauta Sutras, Valmiki Ramayana (1.13), the Mahabharata's Aesthetic Festival and the Jaiminiya Ashwamedha.The word अश्वमेध during the Vedic period was used in the sense of “administration of the state” or “increasing the strength of the state” as clear from  ‘राष्ट्रं वे अश्वमेध: (Satpath 13- 1-6) or वीर्यं वा अश्व

★ Rituals ★

Ashwamedha was started from Phalgun Shukla Ashtami or Navami or from Shuklashtami of Jyeshtha (or Ashadh) month. Aapastamba has considered the appropriate date for this Chaitra Purnima. The idolatrous king entered the pavilion in the form of Yajaman and was followed by his wives, dressed in golden garb, around the neck, accompanied by a number of maids and princesses. Their designations were: (a) Mahishi (Anointed Patrani with the King), (b) Vavata (Vaishya Women of the Society), (c) Parivrkrutri (Shudra Women of the Society). 

Very well-groomed handsome and scenic horse was chosen for Ashwamedha. His body had an aura of black color. He was anointed for this holy work by duly bathing in the pond water. He was then left to roam free throughout the year under the patronage of a hundred princes. In the absence of horse, three favors were offered daily to Savitradeva, and the Brahmin and Kshatriya caste harpist singers recited the hymn by playing the veena in praise of the king every day. Pariplav (specific narrative) was translated daily. The king used to take initiation when the horse returned to Sakushal after wandering around Nirvighan for a year. Avashmedha was the abode of the three sutya days (?). "Sutya" refers to Somalata codenamed Somaras (Savan, Abhishava). It consisted of twelve initiations, twelve subsets and three satyas. 21 Aratni high 21 Upps were presented.

The second Sutadivas was predominant and particularly important. On that day, Ashwamedhi Ashwa along with three other horses was plowed in a chariot and bathed in a pond. Brahmodya means to ask and understand esoteric puzzles. Then the king used to sit on Vyaghrachama or Singhcharam. On the third day, there were Yagangas, and Bhuri Dakshina was given to the rituals. Hota, Brahma, Adhvaryu and Udgata were given the wealth of the conquered countries in the east, south, west and north directions in Dakshina respectively and Ashwamedha was considered rich with this method.

★ Importance ★

Ashwamedha is a symbolic 'yoga' with each part having its secret.

Ashwamedhyagi in Aitareya Brahmana is a very important historical instruction of the ancient Chakravarti kings. Even in the historical period, the Brahmin kings or the Vedic Dharma Anuyayi kings constituted Ashwamedha with great enthusiasm. Ashwamedha of King Dasharatha and Yudhishthira are said to have concluded in ancient times.

Second century BC At the time of the Brahmin Renaissance, Shankuvanshi Brahmannaresh Pushyayamitra performed Ashwamedha twice, in which Mahabhashikar Patanjali himself was present (Ih Pushyamitram Yajayam :). The Gupta emperor Samudragupta also introduced Ashwamedha in the fourth century AD, which is introduced to his Ashwamedhi currencies. The Chalukya and Yadav kings of the south also continued this tradition. The last king to feed this tradition seems to be Sawai Jai Singh, the Maharaja of Jaipur, by whom Ashwamedha Yajna is described by Srikrishna Bhatt Kavikalanidhi in the "Ishvaravilas epic" and Mahananda Pathak in his "Ashwamedhpaddhati" (which was compiled by the order of a Rajendra Varma Is a very detailed book of its subject).

Yudhishthira's detailed description of Ashwamedha is found in "Jaimini Ashwamedha".

 It has shown that initially this yajna was related to the equation and self-motivation of the inner and outer sun.

 credit :vedic texts and subhas kak

Twitter: @dharmikSonal

Scientific Acumen: Hanuman Chalisa

Vedic science 

Hanuman chalisa told us distance between sun and earth long ago.

“! जुग सहस्त्र योजन पर भानु, लील्यो ताहिमधुर फल जानू !”

Some facts we should know ...

Distance Between Sun & Earth Mentioned in Hanuman Chalisa :

According to Records, For the first time in 1672, Jean Richer and Giovanni Domenico Cassini measured the distance between Earth and Sun as 22,000 times of Earth Radii.( Earth’s Radius is 6,371 Kms).

i.e 22000 * 6371 kms = 140,162,000 kms (140 Million Kms).

Two lines of Hindu Prayer ” Hanuman Chalisa” computes this distance with great simplicity.

“! जुग सहस्त्र योजन पर भानु, लील्यो ताहिमधुर फल जानू !”

This means that Sun (भानु) is at a distance of  Juug Sahastra Yojans (जुग सहस्त्र योजन- Distance Unit in Hindi)According to following conversion practices that are in use as per Hindu Vedic Literature-

1 Juug = 12000

1 Sahastra= 1000

1 Yojan = 8 Miles

Thus

12000 X 1000 X 8 =  96,000,000  miles

1 mile = 1.6 kms

This further implies that distance is  96,000,000 * 1.6 kms = 153,600,000 Kms

According to modern calculation:

Average distance between the Sun and Earth =149 million kms = 92 million miles.

However, the orbit of the Earth is not a perfect circle, but an ellipse. Sometimes the Earth is closer to the Sun and sometimes it is farther.

Shortest distance between Sun and Earth (perihelion) = 91 million miles = 147 million kms (early January)

Longest distance between Sun and Earth (aphelion) = 94.5 million miles = 152 million kms (early July)

It is surprising to note that Tulasidasa who lived in 16th century could give the most accurate estimation that is very close to the estimation by 20th century astronomers.

Let us decipher the calculation in Hanuman Chalisa…

Hanuman, in his childhood, assuming the Sun to be a ripe mango, jumped to catch it. Tulasidasa recounts this incident in his Hanuman Chalisa as follows:

yuga-sahasra-yojana para bhanu

leelyo tahi madhura phala janu

Considering the Sun to be a sweet fruit, Hanuman jumped to swallow it.

Here the distance he travelled is mentioned as yuga-sahasra-yojana.

What is a yuga? According to Bhagavad-gita, one day of Brahma is called kalpa and is equal to 1000 yugas and this is followed by a similar duration of night.

sahasra-yuga-paryantamaharyadbrahmanoviduh

ratrim yuga-sahasrantamte ‘ho-ratra-vidojanah

1 yuga = 4,320,000 years = 12000 divine years

(1 divine year = 360 years according to human calculation)

This is also confirmed in Manu-samhita: etad dvaadasha sahasram devanam yugamuchyate

According to the above verse from Hanuman Chalisa, the distance between Sun and Earth is

yuga-sahasra-yojana = 12000 x 1000 yojanas.

Yojana is a Vedic measure of distance and approximately equals to 8 miles (according to the 14th century scholar Parameshvara, the originator of drgganita system). And 1 mile = 1.60934 kilometers.

According to the calculation presented in Hanuman Chalisa

Distance between Sun and Earth = 12000 x 1000 yojanas = 96 million miles = 153.6 million kms, which is much closer to the calculation of the modern scientists.

The assumptions we have made in the above calculations are as follows:

We assumed yuga to mean the number 12000 based on the time calculation system of Vedic period based on the statement from Bhagavad-gita and Manu Samhita.

We approximated 1 yojana = 8 miles based on what Srila Prabhupada has mentioned in his purports. However there is still disagreement among scholars as to whether it is 5 miles or 8 miles. Some other calculations indicate values ranging from 7.6 miles to 8.5 miles.

But it is astonishing that Tulasidasa mentioned the distance to this level of accuracy as early as in 16th century when the Western astronomers, with the help of telescope, were trying to figure out the distance.

Hanuman challisa was written by Goswami Tulasidas (born 15th century) in Awadhi language who belongs to 15th century. which means the distance between Sun and earth has been calculated much more accurately than the 17th century scientists even before 2 centuries.

The Questions like “how Tulsidas calculated this distance” or “how he is able to know about this distance” are not limited but “What are the advanced technologies our ancient ancestors used, regarding which we have no clues “. We also have to observe that the people of that age have more Talent, knowledge, capabilities and much more advanced technology that is beyond the imagination of our present day technologies.

History is not presented to us in a way it should be. There are still many elements and precious jewels of information that are being kept hidden from us. Ocean of history is before you, dive in and dig the jewels out. The gleaming beam of knowledge from these jewels will not only enrich our country but will also keep bestowing direction to our future generations. We hope that this post will help you to understand the significance of our ancient principles, technology and culture.

Written on Twitter Handle of @DharmikSonal

Nilesh N. Oak Sir Writes: 

Notice Yuga (Juga) length is taken here to mean 12,000 + it is taken as 'length'!

Correct.  Not unlike Yuga, Yojana appears to have multiple definitions, not unlike Gallon (US, UK, Standard).

Space/time/mass are some of the most complicated subjects.

Go to any decent University library. Search "What is (mass, space, time) and you will have 400+ books in each category.

Read all. U will go in circles.

No other culture thought so deeply about these until 500 years ago!

The End.

Let's Share and Reclaim our Vedic Science.

First Post

Namaskaram!
This is blog of @dharmiksonal. You will see her Twitter threads as Blog posts on this blog space.
Har Har Mahadev 🙏