Indiahhhh

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I would like to start this entry with a story from a very important piece of ancient Hindu mythological literature called the Ramayana. The heroine of this story is the Prince of Ayodhya, a man by the name of Rama. Now Rama was not just a high prince (circa 1000 BCE), but he was also believed by devout Hindus to be the reincarnation of Vishnu, the creator god. When Rama was young he was the ideal son (intelligent athletic and imaginative), who grew into the ideal husband (strong and brave yet sensitive) and later the ideal ruler of Ayodhya. Unfortunately due to an exaggerated and complex family quarrel, Rama was banished from the throne by his evil stepmother in favor of his younger brother becoming king.

When Sita, Rama's devout and probably beautiful wife, heard this news she begged to accompany him to his forest retreat. Rama agreed and away into the forest they went accompanied by Rama's brother Lakshmana. One day while Rama was busy heroically hunting wild forest beasts Sita was secretly and maliciously abducted by the evil and mysterious Ravana, King of Lanka (What is now present day Sri Lanka...this part is important)!

Upon this discovery Rama did many things, one of which was to instantly muster up an army of Monkeys whom he led to the southern tip of India with the fury and passion of a true hero. With the aid of his monkeys, Rama built a bridge from India to present day Sri Lanka (I have included a map for geographical reference) which he used to cross the channel and rescue his dear Sita. This worked quite well. Sita was saved and proved herself to be pure while Rama basked in the glory of mythological male godliness.

What is most interesting about this story is that it illustrates to believers how to live by way of the dharma. The protagonist characters of the Ramayana are often used as models for moral conduct, much like Jesus for Christians or Muhammad for Muslims.

I was told this story by one of my professors while spending an extra 4 hours (on top of 18) on the train between Delhi and Bodh Gaya. After a long and lulling sleep on a second class Indian rail sleeper car I was ready to breath some clean air and get to the Vihar to meet my new home. Somewhere outside of Gaya, about 20 minutes from the station the train came to a rather abrupt halt. Soon enough the engine and the air conditioning turned off and we knew we weren't going anywhere any time soon. It turned out that some 100 protesters and members of the BJP (the largest conservative Hindu Nationalist political party in India) were standing on the tracks physically blocking the train.

But why....you ask. Well the BJP was rallying and stopping trains all across the state of Bihar in Protest of the current government's plans to use explosives to blow a channel through a very thin geological land bridge (which is now slightly submerged under water) connecting the southern tip of India with Sri Lanka. The intention is to make it easier for boats to pass between the two nations. Many devout Hindus are quite displeased with this idea because they still believe this geological structure to be "Rama's Bridge" according to the Mahayana...thus deciding to protest by stopping trains. The reason why they chose Bihar is because the government is weakest there and they probably knew that they would be more successful.

It is quite fascinating to see how religion and politics meld together here in India, demonstrating a completely opposite sociopolitical mentality than what I am used to in the states. I was reading today over breakfast that there was an archaeological study conducted by a local university that proved the land structure to be a natural phenomenon, rather than man made.

The funny thing is that whether you were to try telling that to a wandering Hindu sadu, bearing only a walking stick and a loin cloth...or the modern Hindu shopkeeper selling goods in the market they would probably produce the same reaction.

A hearty smile and a good laugh...or maybe they would just pull out their picket signs and proceed directly to the nearest train station...


I haven't even mentioned Bodh Gaya or the Vihar yet.

I will try and get another entry up within the week.


Shanti,

Rachel

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Comments

[Merryn]

I Wonder
I heard on a story on Minnesota Public Radio this week that a man at an environmental conference being held this week had a research project that has shown that man started changing the carbon dioxide levels 8,000 years ago, when he started agriculture, and methane gas levels 5,000 years ago. I wonder what is the better way/best way to come to an understanding of our world around us, and I am thinking that we need to have a very good answer for all of us. On another radio station, a Christian one, the speaker said that he thought that the world is divided into those who think that people are basically good, and those who think that people are basically sinners. His thought was that people are sinners and that we needed salvation. For me, it seems as though allowing ourselves to get our thoughts cut into good and evil is a trap, that more and more we need to see good and understand good, until there is no room for evil. We need a new myth. I hope that bringing the west and the east together will provide us with deeper insights, greater wisdom, and more harmony on this lovely planet of ours. In other words, I wonder if it is not true that yes, the bridge is a natural landform and it was formed by Rama's monkey army.