THE VANARAS THE APE-MEN OF RAMAYANA - Part 1

 

 Lord Brahma in the above Ramayana sloka, commanded the Devas to incarnate as Vanaras from monkeys and bears. Many even while having faith in our sampradayam, refuse to believe that the Vanaras existed. Even while having faith in our sampradayam, they wonder how Vanaras could have existed. Their refusal is the result of the firm faith they have in science.  There is no need to bring science into Ramayana. Science cannot explain miracles. The Vedas and the Puranas say that Lord Narayana incarnated as Lord Narasimha with the face of a lion and the body of a man. Can science explain Narasimhavataram? Perumal has incarnated as a fish, a boar, a swan, a tortoise and so on. Can science explain these incarnations? Is it correct to say that since the fish and tortoise that we normally see in this world do not speak, it is impossible that Perumal spoke when He incarnated as a fish, a tortoise or a boar?  Those who firmly believe in the divine will and the creative power of God, will not use science as a tool to explain Ramayana or the many other miracles listed in the Vedas and the Puranas. 

The very definition of miracles is, “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.” Supernatural is defined as manifestation or event attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature. If we can explain something with the aid of science then it becomes natural and those manifestations and occurrences which cannot be explained by any known scientific laws fall into the category of supernatural. Divine Will is the most supreme power which need not conform to scientific laws. Divine Will is a supernatural force that can create many wonders. It is true that Perumal incarnated as Narasimha, as a fish, as a boar and so on. Likewise, it is also true that the Devas incarnated as Vanaras. There is no need to question the authenticity of the Vanaras.

We must have firm faith in the Vedas. It is uncalled for to bring scientific theories to explain the Vedas. Those who have more faith in science, immediately take the side of science over religion whenever they are faced with what they deem to be a scientific impossibility. I have even heard claims that the Vanaras are the “poetic exaggeration” of Sage Valmiki. Let us for the moment assume that Sage Valmiki exaggerated by writing about the Vanaras; why would he exaggerate? Sage Valmiki’s intention was not to write a best seller to earn millions of dollars. His motive was not to write about fantastic fairy tales or fictitious tales like the Harry Potter. All he wanted was to state facts as they were. He was a historian who logged the events that took place in his lifetime. Why then would he exaggerate and write about fictitious beings? If I am a historian chronicling about the current events like the Iraq War, how silly would it be if I wrote that a band of ape-men helped the allied forces to win the war?  Hence, it is impossible that Sage Valmiki mixed fiction with facts. As per the famous detective Sherlock Holmes’s, when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. We have proved that Sage Valmiki didn’t mix facts with fiction. It is impossible that he wrote about a fictitious band of monkeys while chronicling history; having eliminated this, we are left with the fact that a band of apes or ape-men did exist in prehistory and they participated in the Ramayana war. They were not ordinary beings as they were the incarnation of the Devas; so, don’t go hunting for fossils.

Let us now examine the reasons people refuse to accept the existence of Vanaras.  The number one reason is that they believe that monkeys can’t talk or behave like humans? This is not a scientific impossibility. According to the Smithsonian, talking apes are not a scientific impossibility. Apes have been shown to mimic human speech and the famous gorilla Koko can carry on a conversation using sign language. However, we are not dealing with modern apes when we are discussing the capabilities of the Vanaras. Superhuman beings i.e. the celestial beings known as the Devas, incarnated as the Vanaras to help Lord Narayana. The Vanaras were endowed with divine strength and divine knowledge. It is blasphemous to compare them with ordinary bears and monkeys whether modern or prehistoric.

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