After getting rebuked by Lakshmana for the absence of any efforts to search for Sita, Sugreeva sprang into action. He sent the Vanaras in all the four directions with a strict deadline that they should find Sita within a month (VR: 4-40-70, 4-41-47 and 4-42-52). The Vanaras who went to east, north and west returned empty handed within a month (VR: 4-47-6). Only those who went southward could not return in time. This group headed by Hanuman and Angada were lost in the Riksha cave till the end of the month stipulated by Sugreeva.
Later they managed to come out but were worried about
having exceeded the time limit of one month. In that context, Angada made a
significant observation about the month they started the search. He said,
“वयम् आश्वयुजे मासि काल संख्या व्यवस्थिताः |”
“We were sent out scheduling time calculating from the
month of Aswayuja” (VR: 4-53-9).
By 9th July 5077 BCE, Aswayuja month was
over. The description of the glowing moon in the 30th sarga on autumn
season by Rama, must have taken place after the Saama Upakarma in Bhadrapada month.
The description must have been done on the Full moon day of the Aswayuja month.
Sugreeva started the search immediately after that. The search parties must
have spread before 9th July 5077 BCE in the waning phase of Aswayuja.
The search parties to east, North and West must have
returned by the Amavasya of Karthika, i.e., before the waning phase
ended. But Angada and Hanuman did not even finish the search by the end of
Karthika.
Proceeding towards the ocean
Margashira started on the day after the Amavasya of
Karthika. The discussion about how to face Sugreeva must have taken place in Margashira.
The meeting with Sampati must have taken place
in Margashira.
After being told by Sampati that Sita was abducted by
Ravana and imprisoned in Lanka, the Vanaras started off to the south. In that
context it is said,
अभिजित् अभिमुखाम् दिशम् ययुः
जनक सुता परिमार्गण उन्मुखाः || ४-६३-१५
Meaning: “In search of Janaka’s daughter, they (the Vanaras) proceeded towards
the direction opposite to Abhijit” (VR: 4-63-15)
Here it is given ‘Abhijit abhimukhaam disham’.
The website valmikiramayan.net deciphers this as Abhijit lagna. But it is further
said, Abhimukhaam disham by indicating the direction. It is not about
the direction of Abhijit which is in the northern sky. Lanka was in the South,
and they were proceeding towards the southern direction. Why then, the
reference to Abhijit which is in the north? One reason could be they, who were
supposed to be heading south, had gone to the Vindhyas, north of Kishkindha. So,
they decided not to go towards north any longer and went in the opposite
direction.
They had Abhijit as a marker for the direction and went
opposite of it, which is what ‘Abhi’ means. Abhimukha refers to the opposite face of
Abhijit. That is the southern direction. The meaning taken from the Sanskrit dictionary
is shown below:
In the month of Margashira, the Vanaras started moving
towards the Southern Ocean. They could have started by the Full Moon of Margashira.
There is an opinion among some researchers that
Hanuman jumped from where they met Sampati. That place was in the Vidhya
Mountain. So, according to some, Hanuman jumped right away from the Mahendra
Mountain in Orissa, near the Vindhyas. But the dates show that the Vanaras
had walked for two months to reach the shore. The date is what we get from the
description of the moon when Hanuman reached Lanka.
Lunar eclipse when Hanuman reached Ashoka Vana.
In the 5th sarga of Sundara Kanda, there is
a description of the moon seen by Hanuman. The sarga begins with stating that
Hanuman saw the moon looking like a bull in the middle of the sky (VR: 5-5-1).
The description continues with the 5th verse indicating that it was a
Full Moon.
रराज चन्द्रह् परिपूर्णशृङ्गः
The moon shone with ‘paripoorna shringa’. (VR:
5-5-5)
Shringa means horn. The tips of the moon are mentioned
as horns in the olden texts that describe Vedic astronomy (like Surya Siddhanta
and Siddhanta Shiromani). Only the crescent moon has horns (tips) known as
Shringa. The Full Moon has no horns because the lunar disc is complete. Paripoorna
shringa means the horns are complete, that is, they are close to form the
disc.
The next verse is a description of eclipse and how the
marks on the moon appeared after the eclipse.
विनष्टशीताम्बुतुषारपङ्को |
महाग्रहग्राहविनष्टपङ्कः |
प्रकाशलक्ष्म्याश्रयनिर्मलाङ्को |
रराज चन्द्रो भगवान् शशाङ्कः
|| ५-५-६
(Meaning: Bhagawan Chandra who lost the cool
mark on being caught by Mahagraha started shining bright such that the mark (looking
like the hare) shone brilliantly.) (VR: 5- 5-6).
The dark spots on the lunar disc are known as lakshma.
The same expression appears in the Mahabharata too (“somasya lakṣma vyāvṛttaṃ”
(MB: 5.141.10 and MB: 6.2.32).
They appear in the shape of a hare. The verse says the
spots (hare) which were caught (eclipsed) by the Mahagraha, are now shining
brilliantly. That means, the Mahagraha had left its grip on Bhagawan Chandra.
The eclipse was over. The Mahagraha signifies the node (Rahu / Ketu) that was
hiding the spotted region of the lunar disc. It was a partial eclipse with the
spotted region eclipsed.
The spots on the Full Moon look like a hare.
The expression “Mahagraha
graaha vinashta pangka” indicates that the moon was eclipsed. But by
the time Hanuman reached the city of Lanka the moon was shining bright in the
middle of the sky indicating that the eclipse was over and nighttime had
advanced.
So, our search is to locate the month after Margashira
when the moon was eclipsed. Only in the month of Magha, moon came
closer to Ketu within 13 degrees on the Full Moon day to get eclipsed.
Lunar eclipse when Hanuman entered Lanka.
On the same night, he found Sita languishing in Ashoka Vana. On the same
night, Ravana came to see Sita and gave a deadline of two more months
for her to decide. Counted from Caitra in Subhanu when she was abducted, ten
months were over. So, two more months were left in the total time of twelve
months given by Ravana.
Sita was abducted on a Krishna Tritiya in Caitra. On the Pournami of Magha,
ten months (short of two tithi-s) were over.
The simulation of the lunar eclipse matching with the description of the
same in the Ramayana confirms that we are proceeding on the right lines.
It also shows that the Vanaras had taken two months to reach the shore. This rejects the version of some people that Hanuman jumped from the Mahendragiri hill in Orissa soon after meeting Sampati in the Vindhyas. The Mahendragiri from where Hanuman jumped was beyond Kavaatam, the capital of the 2nd Tamil Sangam Age (VR: 4- 18 to 21). Both Kavaatam and the Mahendra Giri next to that were long gone. More about it will be written in my book.
Rama started the march of his army.
Hanuman met Sita: October 20,
5077 BCE (Subhanu, Magha month, Pournami, Punarvasu, Monday)
Hanuman burnt Lanka on the next day: October 21, 5077 BCE (Subhanu, Magha month, Krishna
Pratipat, Pushya, Tuesday)
Hanuman returned to Mahendragiri: Same day. October
21, 5077 BCE (Subhanu, Magha month, Krishna Pratipat, Pushya, Tuesday)
Hanuman met Rama: October 24, 5077 BCE
(Subhanu, Magha month, Krishna Caturthi, Purva Phalguni, Friday)
Rama marched with the army of Vanaras: October
25, 5077 BCE (Subhanu, Magha month, Krishna Panchami, Uttara Phalguni, Saturday)
Date of Rama starting from Kishkindha to Lanka
In the 4th sarga of Yuddha Kanda, Rama, after hearing all the
details from Hanuman decided to march on the day of Uttara Phalguni because the
next day Uttara Phalguni joined with Hasta. (VR: 6-4-5) Uttara Phalguni was the 6th
star from his birth star making it an auspicious one. The mention about Uttara
Phalguni joining Hasta the next day shows that Uttara Phalguni should have
continued at sunrise making it the star of the day but was followed by Hasta
soon after. Since Hasta remained for most part of the day, Rama didn’t prefer
that day.
When this was checked in Jhora, it was found to be true. Uttara Phalguni was
present until 7-07 am in the morning and Hasta started rising after that. The simulation
is re-produced below to show how meticulously the details are matching with our
derivations.
Uttara-Phalguni joined with Hasta the next day.
Nutshell:
Vanaras started the search: Aswayuja month in
Subhanu.
Vanaras met Sampati: Margashira.
Time taken by the Vanaras
to reach the shore: Two months.
Hanuman reached Ashoka
Vana: October 20, 5077 BCE (Subhanu, Magha month, Pournami, Punarvasu,
Monday)
Lunar eclipse: October 20, 5077 BCE (Subhanu,
Magha month, Pournami, Punarvasu, Monday)
Rama started from
Kishkindha to Lanka: October 25, 5077 BCE (Subhanu, Magha month, Krishna
Panchami, Uttara Phalguni, Saturday)
(Cont’d)
