Vishnu is a popular Hindu divine
being who is the Supreme God of Vaishnavism
(one of the three principal denominations of Hinduism) and one of the three
supreme deities of Hinduism. He is
the Hindu god of preservation and is said to descend to earth from time to time in the form of an Avatar to restore cosmic order. He is also known as Narayana and Hari.
You may already know that in Hinduism, an Avatar is considered a direct
descendant of a deity to Earth, or a descendant of the Supreme Being, and is
generally translated into English as “incarnation”, but more accurately as
“appearance” or “manifestation”.
In almost all Hindu denominations, Vishnu is either worshipped directly or
in the form of his ten (10) Avatars; the two most famous and widely known are Krishna
and Rama who are usually seen as his major “appearances” or “incarnations”. Their
stories are told in two major Sanskrit
Epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana;
originally composed in Sanskrit and later translated into many other Indian
languages.
Regardless, the
Mahabharata and the Ramayana are two
of the oldest surviving epic poems on earth and form part of Itihāsa (for Hindus, Itihāsa is a
religious story that tells about what happened in the past), which roughly
means tradition, or (oral) history.
Yes, Sanskrit is considered the chief sacred language
of Hinduism; but did you know that the skin color of Rama and Krishna was blue?
Krishna is occasionally portrayed a very
dark blue; so dark in fact, that some might say his skin color was black,
however most agree he was blue; just a good bit darker than Rama.
As the two Sanskrit Epics (Mahabharata &
Ramayana) go these two fellows were major players in India, in fact they are considered
models
in an individual’s “dharma”. In case you’re wondering, there is no single
word translation for the term dharma
in western languages; however in Hinduism, dharma
signifies behaviors that are considered to be in accord with the order that
makes life and the universe possible; it includes duties, rights, laws,
conduct, and virtues. Generally speaking, ‘‘the right way of living’’ or you
could say the poem furnishes the ideals and wisdom for everyone’s life.
The Mahabharata is the longest known epic poem
and has been described as “the longest poem ever written”. It originally consisted of over 200,000
individual verse lines containing about 1.8 million words in total, the
Mahabharata is roughly ten times the length of The Iliad and The Odyssey
combined, and about four times the length of the Ramayana which contains 48,000
lines.
Krishna (8th Avatar of Vishnu) is a religious
deity, worshipped across many traditions of Hinduism in a variety of different perceptions;
he is viewed as: a god-child, a prankster, a model lover, a divine hero, and in
some sects, as the Supreme Being.
Like Krishna, Rama (7th Avatar of
Vishnu) is among the many popular figures and deities in Hinduism, specifically
Vaishnavism and Vaishnava religious teachings throughout South and Southeast
Asia. Along with Krishna, Rama is considered to be one of the most important Avatars
of Vishnu but in a few “Rama-centric” sects, he, like Krishna, is considered
the Supreme Being too, in the stead of an Avatar.
Rama and Krishna were born as human beings of
Earth, not some planet far, far away as has been reported on The History Channel’s “Ancient Aliens”
program. Both were referred to as blue gods because they had a blue aura; a field
of energy that is around every substance, not because they had blue skin. In other words the blue color is merely a symbol, neither man was
born blue.
It is generally believed that Lord Rama was
born in 5114 BC. During his rule (some
say for a staggering 11,000 years) there was no war, famine or disease. Many Hindu denominations say that Lord Rama
died 200 Years before the time of Lord Krishna’s rein, based upon this supposition; he must have died around 3427 BC; totaling somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,687 years; a
long life indeed but a good bit “shy” of 11,000 years.
Assuming Lord Rama’s 11,000 year “term in
office” is correct, common sense suggests that he is more likely to have appeared
several million years ago as is often argued by various academics. Long before
written history; after all, for an untold number of years the Sanskrit Epics
were all oral history, passed from generation to generation. Alternatively, perhaps the historians are a couple naughts
(0’s) off.
Rama’s rule was apparently rather like the
Greek Mythology’s “Golden Age” when peace and harmony prevailed; during both “period’s”
humans did not have to work to feed themselves, for the earth provided food in
abundance. Everyone lived to a ripe old age yet maintained a youthful
appearance and when they eventually dropped dead, it was always peacefully.
Lord Krishna on the other hand was born in 3427
BC and lived to be only 125 years old; but then Lord Krishna participated
in war and meet his end by an ordinary deer hunter’s arrow to the foot.
As to how Lord Rama died, the question still
remains unanswered but during most of his long life there was no war, famine or
disease!
Sources:
http://www.mythome.org/RamaSummary.html https://ramanan50.wordpress.com/2014/07/12/what-is-the-color-of-lord-rama-blue-black-dark-brown/
http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/yoga-meditation/history-of-yoga/why-is-krishna-blue/
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lord-Krishna-lived-for-125-years/articleshow/844211.cms
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar#Avatars_of_Vishnu
https://ramanan50.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/lord-ramas-death-precedes-krishnas-by-200-years/
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