Lord Shri Ram was born this many years ago

Sanatan culture is not time-bound, which is why it is called *Sanatan* (eternal). That eternal *dharma* (cosmic order and righteousness), handed down through tradition across all three times (past, present, and future), transcends time itself. However, the intellect of those influenced by modern scientism stumbles when restricted purely to material parameters. Much debate surrounds the time of Shri Ram's birth. Yet this can be determined solely by *shastra* (scriptural authority); any date yielded by the "research" of so-called scholars rooted in Western assumptions, being contrary to tradition and scriptural tenets, must be called false. Tradition (*parampara*) is the force that preserves Sanatan Dharma uninterrupted across the three times. Nowadays, several self-styled Indologists and Vedic researcher "scholars", through distorted interpretations of scripture and baseless experiments, claim the date of the Ramayana to be 7 to 12 thousand years ago. Yet, by the explicit statement of the Valmiki Ramayana and the *Puranas* (sacred texts) that Shri Ram ruled for 11 thousand years (Valmiki Ramayana, Yuddha Kanda 128.95), their claims are proven false and contrary to shastra on this point alone.

Let us examine the true date of Shri Ram according to shastra. Hindu scriptures prescribe this calculation of *yugas* (cosmic ages), which, barring a few modern researchers, all scriptures, all *acharyas* (revered masters), and all traditions within Sanatan Dharma accept uniformly.

Satyayuga = 1728000 years
Tretayuga = 1296000 years
Dvaparayuga = 864000 years
Kaliyuga = 432000 years
4 Yugas = 1 Chaturyugi / Mahayuga
Chaturyugi = 4320000 years
1 Manvantara = 71 Chaturyugis
1 Kalpa = 1000 Chaturyugis
1 Kalpa = 14 Manvantaras
1 Devavarsha = 12000 Manavavarshas

At present, the Kaliyuga of the 28th *chaturyugi* (cycle of four ages) of the 7th *manvantara* (epoch of a Manu) in this *kalpa* (aeon) is underway. Since Bhagavan Shri Ram descended in this 28th chaturyugi, i.e., this *mahayuga* (great cycle), His time would be--->
Dvaparayuga + Kaliyuga (since He appeared at the juncture of Treta and Dvapara)
= 864000 + 5120 (elapsed years of Kaliyuga)
= 869190 years

Now, according to the Valmiki Ramayana, Shri Ram ruled for 11 thousand years, which was part of Treta. In addition to this, including the time from His birth to His coronation, it has been at least 8 lakh 80 thousand years since Shri Ram. According to a different interpretation of the transition period between creation and dissolution (*pralaya*), the date comes out to 17 lakh years ago.

Based on certain statements in the Puranas, Shri Ram is also said to have appeared in the 24th chaturyugi, according to which the time of the Ramayana is established as 1 crore 80 lakh years ago. However, this makes no fundamental difference, as the *avatar* (incarnation) of Shri Ram occurs in the Treta of every mahayuga. Based on the Shri Ram avatar of the present 28th chaturyugi, the date of Shri Ram and the Shri Ram Setu is established to be at least 8.75 lakh years ago. Attempting to date them to 5, 7, or 12 thousand years ago is unauthoritative, contrary to scripture, opposed to the tradition-sanctioned methodology of Sanatan Dharma, and a fraudulent falsehood born of conspiracy.

Those who confine Shri Ram within a few thousand years do not accept that 1 *devavarsha* (divine year) equals 12 thousand human years, equating a devavarsha to a human year instead—an assertion that violates both shastra and *jyotisha* (traditional astronomy). If a divine year were equated to a human year, all planets would begin revolving around the Sun at 360 times their actual speed. All *panchangs* (traditional almanacs) of Bharat are constructed using this very reckoning of time. Scriptural evidence for the aforementioned durations of the yugas can be seen here:-

Evidence:
● Manusmriti, Chapter 1, Verse 67 onwards
● Matsya Purana, "Chaturyuga Mana Varnana" Chapter 56, Verse 46;
● Shrimad Bhagavata Purana, Skandha 2, Chapter 11;
● Brahmavaivarta Purana, Brahma Khanda, Chapter 5;
● Padma Purana, Srishti Khanda, Chapter 2;
and all other Puranas..

All Puranas have accepted the calculation of yuga durations specified in the Manusmriti. Therefore, given the abundant evidence and the unanimous consensus of all acharyas regarding this Vedic reckoning of yugas, fostering confusion is unwarranted.

In truth, the materialistic, Darwin-afflicted intellect of those who attempt to prove Shri Ram existed just a few thousand years ago loses the capacity to think beyond a few millennia. In reality, they too regard Sanatan Dharma as a faith originating at a specific point in time, akin to other religions; hence, they place time's beginningless flow above God and scripture. According to this mindset, regarding Sanatan Dharma as lakhs of years old is unscientific, and the existence of humans as depicted in the Ramayana during that era is deemed impossible because material remains from that period are lacking—remains that serve as the "Supreme God" for materialistic modern science. Those who do not consider dharma to be eternal and timeless are undoubtedly a particular species of atheists, for according to them, time is greater than God and dharma. Such is also held by dharma-corrupting Kabirpanthis. By this logic, scripture, dharma, and God become subordinate to time; and if dharma is not beginningless, i.e., Sanatan, then God too cannot be considered eternal, but rather imaginary and false. Consequently, Shiva, Vishnu, and all others would have to be dismissed as mere temporal fabrications.

Although I call such people a distinct kind of atheist, among them are also religious persons whose intellect is deluded, holding time to be greater than God. Arjun suffered a similar delusion. In the fourth chapter of the Gita, Bhagavan said to Arjun, "I imparted this yoga to Surya; Surya taught it to Vaivasvata Manu, and Manu passed it to Ikshvaku. Thus handed down in succession, the royal sages received this yoga, and that very eternal yoga I have declared to you today."

Then Arjun became bewildered regarding Bhagavan's birth, and failing to see time as subordinate to God, held it to be greater, asking: "Your birth was recent, whereas the birth of Surya occurred in ancient times. How then am I to understand that You originally proclaimed this yoga to Surya at the beginning of creation?"

Then Shri Bhagavan said: "O Arjun, many births of Mine and yours have passed. I know them all, but you do not know." In his commentary (*bhashya*), Adi Shankaracharya wrote that Arjun posed this question about Bhagavan's birth on behalf of fools who question the existence of God, to which Bhagavan replied, "You do not comprehend because your faculty of knowledge is veiled by the impressions (*samskaras*) of virtue and sin." The point is that God is beginningless and eternal. Thus, He cannot be contained within time as conceived by imagination. Such is precisely the plight of these major "researchers"—the distinct class of atheists who condense the era of God to a few thousand years. Later, Bhagavan declared, "जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यं" ("My birth and activities are divine"). Therefore, God's divine birth and activities cannot penetrate a corrupted and egoistic intellect.

*Vedanta* (philosophical school of the Upanishads) states that Time (*kala*), Space (*desha*), and *Brahman* (ultimate reality)—all three are eternal. But Time is eternal in its flowing continuum; Space is eternal in its expansion and contraction. Hence, Time and Space are "relatively eternal" (*sapeksha nitya*). Time being beginningless and its eternal flow is also a conceptualization, for one can only conceive the eternity of time according to the capacity of the intellect; it cannot be seen. To one it appears as thousands, to another as lakhs, to another as crores, and to another as infinite. But the witness Self (*sakshi atman*) that perceives the eternity of time within the inner instrument (*antahkarana*) is neither eternal nor non-eternal—It alone is Truth. Earth, living beings, and all else born within time are transient. Brahman, the substrate (*adhisthana*) of time, is Truth. Therefore, that substrate Brahman, Shri Ram, can manifest lakhs or crores of years ago or in the future, but He cannot take birth within the span of a few thousand years in violation of shastra. For even Brahman does not transgress shastra, because as stated in *'shastrayonitvat'*, scripture alone stands as the father-like authority for the Supreme Being, who occupies the position of a son.

Therefore, followers of Sanatan Dharma must never fall for these baseless theories and experiments. To compress lakhs of years of Sanatan history into a few thousand years is to strangle and murder it. Only the facts recorded in shastra are valid; all remaining fanciful, anti-scriptural research deserves to be thrown into the dustbin.

As new instruments emerge, how ancient our era truly is will become increasingly clear. Science did not even recognize life in plants, but as soon as the proper apparatus was invented, Jagadish Chandra Bose proved the Vedic tenet that plants are also living beings. No one can force 9-lakh-year-old palaces or earthen pottery to remain intact; they will inevitably decay. Therefore, modern science cannot determine chronology arbitrarily based solely on physical artifacts. Wherever modern science turned its face away from Vedic science, it fell flat on its face, ultimately forced to return and accept the truths of Vedic science.

As the search into our antiquity advances,
The luster of our grandeur ever enhances.
Whichever way observers look, our traces they shall find;
How far can they go calling us gone?
Those who laughed at our civilization yesterday in ignorance,
Are embarrassed today by deeper research.
Even in fall, we continued to elevate others;
Even while diminishing, we helped others advance.

Read in this context,
- Itihas Ka Upahas (The Mockery of History), a book by Acharya Shri Vinay Jha, Shri Ram Janmakal Jyotish Se Siddh
- Puran Parishilan, authored by Shri Giridhar Sharma Chaturvedi, published by Bihar Rashtrabhasha Parishad
- Vaidik Vigyan Aur Bharatiya Sanskriti, authored by Shri Giridhar Sharma Chaturvedi, published by Bihar Rashtrabhasha Parishad

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