Saturday, 16 June 2018
THE BUTTER BANDIT FREE NEWSLETTER - JUN 2018
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Dear All,
The Lotus In The Lord's Hand
THE VANARAS THE APE-MEN OF RAMAYANA - Part 2
Continued From:
The second reason for not accepting the existence of Vanaras is because of the belief in the theory of evolution. Anyone who believes in Darvin’s theory of evolution believes that humans evolved from apes. The scientific community who believes in evolution claims that each of the eight hominid evolved from one another until finally evolving into modern day human beings some 100,000 years ago. The interpretation of fossil records depends on the observation made by scientists. There is room for human error and even of purposeful manipulation of data to fit the existing scientific theories. For example, in the mid-nineteenth century, after the publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species, many scientists found fossils containing intentionally cut/incised bones of animals. The supporters of Darwin’s theory claimed that the bones were broken by other carnivores despite finding stone tools in the same strata. Scientists carried out experiments with these stone tools and determined that a cut made by these stones on modern animal bones, replicated the cuts discovered in the fossilised bones. Despite all the proofs, this data was never included into the accepted list of evidence because the fossils were from the Pliocene era and according to Darwin’s theory, humans couldn’t have existed in the Pliocene period.
A nail had been found pounded into an ancient slab of Devonian sandstone estimated to be around 360 to 408 million years old in Scotland. Another piece of amazing evidence was the discovery of a gold thread embedded in a stone estimated to be around 320 to 360 million years old. In 1852, a metallic vase was discovered embedded in a Precambrian rock in Massachusetts. All the above discoveries and many more such discoveries not listed above disprove the theory that human beings evolved from hominid species only a hundred thousand years ago. Even paleoanthropologists agree that many fossil records prove the existence of beings resembling anatomically modern humans as far back as in Early Pleistocene and Pliocene. By examining the evidence obtained from fossil bones and artefacts it is very clear that humans have coexisted with other primates for tens of millions of years.
My advice to the younger generation is to take scientific theories with a pinch of salt. There have been many theories which have gained popularity only to be debunked later. If we start believing in science completely, then the existence of God or the fact that this Universe was created by His Divine Design will also lose credibility. Science cannot empirically prove the existence of God and neither is science the right tool to prove God. A person who wants to prove the existence of microbes must use a microscope. A magnifying glass cannot serve the purpose of a microscope. Likewise, Science with its limitation is like a magnifying glass and cannot be used to prove or disprove God. To study about God, we have to use the tool called “Vedas” which is like the microscope in the above example.
We do not know how the life on Earth was millions of years ago. From fossil records, we can gather that human beings did co-exist with apes or ape-like creatures millions of years ago but, we do not know the characteristics/capabilities of these ape-like creatures. We can only guess from the observations we have made. We shouldn’t constrain our thinking to what we know about modern apes. If Sage Valmiki has said that these ape-like beings i.e, the Vanaras could communicate with humans and were quite civilized, then we have to trust Sage Valmiki because, we didn’t live millions of years ago in Treta Yuga but, Sage Valmiki did.
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There have been many fossil records which reveal the existence of “hominid” species; i.e., species which were definitely not human but were more akin to apes. It is quite plausible that the divine celestials could have incarnated as one such “hominid” species. It is not improbable that such a species coexisted with humans millions of years ago during the period of Ramayana. The Neanderthals, for example, were not human but were a different species. Their scientific name is Homo neanderthalensis while human beings are known by the scientific name of Homo sapiens. The Neanderthals were very similar to human beings in their behaviour. When such beings have been shown to exist in prehistory, it is definitely not a scientific impossibility that the Vanaras existed. Moreover, it is wrong to compare the Vanaras with any of the hominid species. The explanation about the hominid species is only given here to help the readers understand that in prehistory similar beings have existed and hence it is not inconceivable that a superior race of Vanaras endowed with divine supernatural strength existed on our Earth.
The second reason for not accepting the existence of Vanaras is because of the belief in the theory of evolution. Anyone who believes in Darvin’s theory of evolution believes that humans evolved from apes. The scientific community who believes in evolution claims that each of the eight hominid evolved from one another until finally evolving into modern day human beings some 100,000 years ago. The interpretation of fossil records depends on the observation made by scientists. There is room for human error and even of purposeful manipulation of data to fit the existing scientific theories. For example, in the mid-nineteenth century, after the publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species, many scientists found fossils containing intentionally cut/incised bones of animals. The supporters of Darwin’s theory claimed that the bones were broken by other carnivores despite finding stone tools in the same strata. Scientists carried out experiments with these stone tools and determined that a cut made by these stones on modern animal bones, replicated the cuts discovered in the fossilised bones. Despite all the proofs, this data was never included into the accepted list of evidence because the fossils were from the Pliocene era and according to Darwin’s theory, humans couldn’t have existed in the Pliocene period.
A nail had been found pounded into an ancient slab of Devonian sandstone estimated to be around 360 to 408 million years old in Scotland. Another piece of amazing evidence was the discovery of a gold thread embedded in a stone estimated to be around 320 to 360 million years old. In 1852, a metallic vase was discovered embedded in a Precambrian rock in Massachusetts. All the above discoveries and many more such discoveries not listed above disprove the theory that human beings evolved from hominid species only a hundred thousand years ago. Even paleoanthropologists agree that many fossil records prove the existence of beings resembling anatomically modern humans as far back as in Early Pleistocene and Pliocene. By examining the evidence obtained from fossil bones and artefacts it is very clear that humans have coexisted with other primates for tens of millions of years.
My advice to the younger generation is to take scientific theories with a pinch of salt. There have been many theories which have gained popularity only to be debunked later. If we start believing in science completely, then the existence of God or the fact that this Universe was created by His Divine Design will also lose credibility. Science cannot empirically prove the existence of God and neither is science the right tool to prove God. A person who wants to prove the existence of microbes must use a microscope. A magnifying glass cannot serve the purpose of a microscope. Likewise, Science with its limitation is like a magnifying glass and cannot be used to prove or disprove God. To study about God, we have to use the tool called “Vedas” which is like the microscope in the above example.
We do not know how the life on Earth was millions of years ago. From fossil records, we can gather that human beings did co-exist with apes or ape-like creatures millions of years ago but, we do not know the characteristics/capabilities of these ape-like creatures. We can only guess from the observations we have made. We shouldn’t constrain our thinking to what we know about modern apes. If Sage Valmiki has said that these ape-like beings i.e, the Vanaras could communicate with humans and were quite civilized, then we have to trust Sage Valmiki because, we didn’t live millions of years ago in Treta Yuga but, Sage Valmiki did.
Subscribe for free and receive free copies of first 2 volumes of "Krishna The Butter Bandit" .To subscribe, please visit
https://mailchi.mp/62cbc629f14e/swetha-sundaram-author
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.
Subscribe for free and receive free copies of first 2 volumes of "Krishna The Butter Bandit" .To subscribe, please visit
https://mailchi.mp/62cbc629f14e/swetha-sundaram-author
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