Originally posted by: ananyacool
10, 000 or 11000 yrs of Ram's rule might be a poetical imagination of Valmiki, Looking to his style of writing we can say his sanskrit was 'Flowery' and this style of writing has inspired other writers like Kalidas, Budha-Kaushika rishi eta al . My personal opinion is that shri Rama must have ruled at the most 20 yrs because he is not there to see Kusha's marriage so if Kush and lav were 12 yrs old when Ma Sita went into earth and then Rama accepts them as the heir apparent to Ayodhya then say after 20 yrs they will be 30yrs so at this age Kush becomes the king and later marries Kumudvati , a naga princess.
Some scholars say that when Valmiki says 11000, he meant that Rama ruled that many days again that comes around 30 yrs
I tend to agree. As far as numbers and statistical information goes in the Ramayan, I tend to treat them as figurative. The 11000 years are one, and then again, when Bharat invades Gandhara, he uses the Kaalastra to kill 30 million Gandharvas. 30 million? Even a H-bomb woudn't kill that many. That's why I tend to look at this as metaphorical.
I don't think Rama ruled for much longer after Sita's passing: after the passing of the 3 rajmatas, he started the conquests and installations of Bharat's & Lakshman's sons to various kingdoms, and then came the incident with Ka'al & Durvasa. I'd say it's more likely that Rama ruled for 10 years, during which time, all the wives & mothers died, and then he decided to initiate the inheritances and call it a day. And as you say, Kush married long after he became king, and that too the sister of a Naga ruler Kumudh.
As for the period between the wedding and the exile, I too have read that they lived for 12 years in Ayodhya. But that raises a question of its own - wouldn't they then have chosen to have kids and start their families? After all, Sita would have been 28 by the time of the exile, but had they had kids of their own, Dasharath & all might have been consoled by the fact that Rama's babies were there with him, even if Rama & Sita weren't.
For this reason, I think the exile might have happened a year or so after the marriage.
Mandavi & Srutakirti - given that Bharat & Shatrughan visited Kekaya after their marriage, it's likely that one of the things their maternal relatives would have wanted to see would be their brides. So the way it was shown in this serial - Mandavi & Srutakirti being at Kekaya - would have been accurate. Besides, if Sita insisted on accompanying Rama to the forest, isn't it reasonable to assume that Mandavi & Srutakirti would accompany their husbands to a much more hospitable place, like Kekaya?
Exit question: Granted Dasharath was partial to Kaikeyi, but did he have no relationship with Kosala-desha (Kaushalya's origin, today Chattisgarh) and Magadh (Sumitra's origin)? If Bharat was expected to go to Kekaya, how come Rama & Lakshman was never expected to go to Kosala-desha or Lakshman & Shatrughan never expected to go to Magadh?
Edited by Chandraketu - 16 years ago
Love Friendship Dating and Relationships
Hindi TV Shows
Indian Mythology
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Marathi TV
Cricket
