Recently there had been a big controversy where people were as king the question: "Does Lord Rama exist? Is there any historical proof of the existence of Lord Rama or validity of Rdmdyana? Or is it just plain mythology?"
Coming from men in high positions in politics, academia, sociology, journa lismetc.,such statements cause great confusion in the minds of innocent people. The arguments put forward by the doubting brigade seem logical, flawless, and impenetrable. Or are they? Let's see.
CHALLENGE TO THE ATHEIST
If someone asks you, "Did Lord Rama exist?" you should counter by asking, "Do you believe God exists?" because a disbelief in existence of Lord Rama may well mean a lack of faith in a Supreme Lord who creates and maintains this world. In other words you are t alking t o an atheist.
He may say, "There is no proof of the existence of God. If God exists let him come here and create the world. If He cannot come and demonstrate His act of creation in the lab, His existence is not a scientifically validated and confirmed fact ."
Good argument. You may feel helpless. After all how can you call the Supreme Lord to come before your frie nd and create a cockroach? Impossible!
But before you give in, please ask the same question to your atheistic friend. "My dear sir, can the scientists with all the knowledge and resources at th e ir di sposal c reate, well…a housefly?"
If your friend says, "Yes, of course,"he is a bluff. If he says, "I don't know," he is ignorant. And if he says, "No," he is absolutely right.
When the scientists challenge God to come and show His creative prowess, they very conveniently hide their own inadequacies to do the same behind a veneer of scientific jargon. 'Newer theories', 'path breaking researches', and 'conclusive evidences' are pressed against our faces to show how the great gods of the material world, the scientists, are just a step away from finding the ultimate truth or the secrets of the universe and its creation.
But any serious student can expose them, as this example will shows. Back in the early seventie ISKCON's scientist Srila Bhakti Svarupa Damodara Swami raised the same question to a leading proponent of the theory of spontaneous origin of life, in a public lecture: "Supposing I give you all these chemical compounds, then do you think that you will be able to pur life into it?"
The reply of Nobel Laureate Stanley Miller was: "I do not know."
More than thirty years later scientists have nothing more to add.
When the scientists cannot even create an egg from basic elements and see that it hatches to a chicken, with what face can they challenge God? They can just give theories in complicated language which only bewilder a layman , but they cannot produce anything in their lab to substantiate their claim.
ISKCON openly challenges any atheist to create life from matter, any life plant, animal, bird, mosquito, anything you like and we will accept defeat.
When challenged, the scientists cannot create life and when challenged by them, a religious person cannot bring God to do the same in a lab. When both arrive at the same result, then why is an atheist termed scientific and a religious man a follower of blind faith?
Left to commonsense, anyone can see that life comes from life.
All living entities come from their parents: a cow gives birth to a calf, a mango tree produces seeds that grow into another mango tree, a henlays eggs that hatch into chickens, and an amoeba divides to form two daughter cells. O n th e other hand where in nature does life come from dead matter?
THE VEDIC CLOCK
Still, a man with a simple faith may ask: "OK I believe that God exists and I also believe that Lord Rama appeared in this world. But why can't we find any historical proof of His existence? As one intellectual put it, "Why can't we see the foss ils of Puspaka vimdna?" The answer lies in the extreme antiquity of Ramayana. Lord Rama appeared in Treta yuga. See the chart
So according to the tradition , Lord Rama appeared over 1 million years ago.
With such historic dating there is hardly a chance of fossilization which is a very rare event anyway. The only surviving evidence is oral testimony of great sages who, by their divine vision can see and record events of bygone ages, and the knowledge of the scriptures as revealed by the Supreme Lord.
Building our faith upon these sacred texts and living by them is the experiment by which we can validate their authenticity. Are we able to control our anger, greed , lust , envy, pride, and illusion ? Do we become more peaceful, self -controlled, and selfless? Do we come closer to God? All this and much more can be realized by practising these teachings. And that positive change in our lives is the proof for the reality of these books.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
These scriptures are neither manufactured, nor bogus, nor bluff. They are genuine and authoriz ed. So if the Ramayana says that the bridge was built by Lord Rama, it was. For sure.
A BRIDGE FOR ALL OF US
The Sri Vaisnava acaryas explain that mother Sita represents the conditioned living entity which is entrapped in the material body represented by Lanka. Just like Lord Rama built the bridge to Lanka to rescue mother Sita, similarly to rescue the conditioned living souls He has also made a bridge of devotional service. This bridge of bhakti will enable us to come out of the Lanka of material existence, and cross over the ocean of nescience and finally be reunited in the loving service and association of the Supreme Lord. In this age the chanting of the holy name of the Lord is the surest bridge that will lead us to Him.
Still someone may say, " I believe that Lord Rama existed but for someone to make the stones float in water is too far fetched." Well, here we are not speaking of an ordinary man or a great king, we are speaking of God, the greatest of all. In ordinary experience too we see that the law of gravity does not apply always. For example the birds, kites, and aeroplanes fly and the plane ts revolve in the ir orbits. So what is the big deal if the buoyancy of water just neutralizes the gravity. If God can make the laws He can also break them when He needs. That is the proof of His Godhood.
IN PASSING …
As for those who object , well … what can be said? I will an swer by asking you a riddle: Name the only system in the world in which an ass is equal to a superbrain.
Confused? OK I will give a hint: Not only is the above statement true, but if two asses come together they become even greater than the superbrain.
Yes! You are right. Nothing more can eulogize our great democracy.
(Murari Gupta Dasa)