12-17-2005, 05:29 PM
Sarangadhara,
The original Valmili-Ramayana doesn't mention the Shambuka story. The story is in Uttarakanda which is known to be a later interpolation. Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti also briefly mention it.
The original Valmiki Ramayana has sweet stories like Sri Rama with Shabari, the boat man, Vanaras etc. where Sri Rama clearly doesn't come out the type of person who one could accuse of being an intolerant casteist. Forget different human castes, he manages to form a respectful rapport even with birds, animals and humanoids.
The absurdity of the Shambuka story in the backdrop of the overall character of Sri Rama and the known interpolation of Uttarakanda makes it superfluous to bring Sri Rama in the Shambuka debate. Whoever wrote Uttarakanda, and whenever he wrote it, put that story in there. Why blame Sri Rama for some author trying to be overjealous in his protection of his perceived caste privileges or for whatever reason that author had.
This is one reason I don't want to get too much into stories. Many Puranas have stories that if taken literally will cause most neurons in one's head to explode with frustration. Often the stories are allegorical and not historical and not to be taken literally. Some of the most egregious stories can be found in Bhavishya Purana, which I haven't read, but have seen excerpts from that talk of apparently, not only Jesus and Muhammad but also Queen Victoria!
The fact is that most of these story writers came much later than what they were writing about and one has to keep one's perspective about the proper authority. As far as Rama-katha is concerned, Valmiki is the authority. And if his original Ramayana without the Uttarakanda didn't have Shambuka story in it, well the story of Shambuka had nothing to do with Sri Rama. May be some other king, who had the interpolating writer in his payroll, murdered some poor fellow like Shambuka, and the interpolating writer framed it on Sri Rama to justify that deed by creating a false precedence! Or may be tha author was just trying to create a false precedence to maintain some pet caste privileges.
Please check the following link for some more skepticism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shambuka
The original Valmili-Ramayana doesn't mention the Shambuka story. The story is in Uttarakanda which is known to be a later interpolation. Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti also briefly mention it.
The original Valmiki Ramayana has sweet stories like Sri Rama with Shabari, the boat man, Vanaras etc. where Sri Rama clearly doesn't come out the type of person who one could accuse of being an intolerant casteist. Forget different human castes, he manages to form a respectful rapport even with birds, animals and humanoids.
The absurdity of the Shambuka story in the backdrop of the overall character of Sri Rama and the known interpolation of Uttarakanda makes it superfluous to bring Sri Rama in the Shambuka debate. Whoever wrote Uttarakanda, and whenever he wrote it, put that story in there. Why blame Sri Rama for some author trying to be overjealous in his protection of his perceived caste privileges or for whatever reason that author had.
This is one reason I don't want to get too much into stories. Many Puranas have stories that if taken literally will cause most neurons in one's head to explode with frustration. Often the stories are allegorical and not historical and not to be taken literally. Some of the most egregious stories can be found in Bhavishya Purana, which I haven't read, but have seen excerpts from that talk of apparently, not only Jesus and Muhammad but also Queen Victoria!
The fact is that most of these story writers came much later than what they were writing about and one has to keep one's perspective about the proper authority. As far as Rama-katha is concerned, Valmiki is the authority. And if his original Ramayana without the Uttarakanda didn't have Shambuka story in it, well the story of Shambuka had nothing to do with Sri Rama. May be some other king, who had the interpolating writer in his payroll, murdered some poor fellow like Shambuka, and the interpolating writer framed it on Sri Rama to justify that deed by creating a false precedence! Or may be tha author was just trying to create a false precedence to maintain some pet caste privileges.
Please check the following link for some more skepticism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shambuka