SriJoy wrote:
thank you. Indeed. that is always a tantalizing option and quite possibly true- that Ramayana or Mahabharata are ultimately stories from species homo sapiens pre-history, slowly mutating and adding layers through time.
I am just a bit skeptical, because i find it easier explained via random chance discoveries of stuff as well, instead of such a super-long collective consciousness. For e.g., what do you find easier to believe- the resemblence of dragons and dinosaurs is because mankind lived at one time side by side or that one day, some earthquake exposed a dinosaur skeleton somewhere which mutated into a 'dragon' myth ?!
Non, I am not saying that Ramayana and Mahabharata are some collective memory, layer upon layer et al. The absence of Human sub species from the Mahabharata are very telling because it is supposed to have occurred much after the Ramayana. Collective memory was not lost so there was nothing to stop the layering from continuing. The only place where the dragons and dinosaurs analogy would apply is the story of flying humans et al (if one were to go by the "rational" argument which itself is limited). There is too much interwoven in the Ramayana about another human sub specie and it is mentioned as a matter of fact (there are 2 additional mentioned). What is fascinating about the Ramayana is not necessarily the sequence of the story but the reference to entities, place et al. That is very telling of the time which is why I keep going back to the hypothesis that the Ramayana occurred during a time when multiple human species walked the earth but they were at the end of their time (dwindling). It is the last overlap phase (again abandoning the linearity of human civilization which states that humans were tree jumping primates only and now have spacecraft - I AM NOT REFERRING TO THE YUGAS so please do not try and dismiss it as religious; I am saying that while the trend of human civilization is upwards, we have had up cycles and down cycles in that trend itself & epics such as the Ramayana reflect that - and that upcycle could have reflected different agriculture, plants et al) of multiple human species.
So when was the last conceivable overlap cycle - could be 10-12000 years ago or to be adventurous enough 30,000+. I would also like to ask the Ramayana experts on this thread if they can mention food items and distinct life conveniences that the Ramayana calls out that may not be biased by the superimposition of later thought.
Also, to me OUT of INDIA is limited. Perhaps India represents the microcosm of the continued cultures of the world that were in existence through eons. That space has now shrunk and is now India which is why Geography might be limited. Perhaps the world was India in different cycles but now what represents that thought, ethos and genetic legacy is just pockets in India.