Rarh and Magadh

[Citraku’ta is famous for being a place where the ca mental concept of Ra’ma’yana was conceived by Valmiki wrote Ra’ma’yana in Sanskrit. The place has a uni ecological similarity with what the poet has expressed in book. ]

25 March, 1984

On the route to Allahabad from Banda, Baba visited (har kuta. Chitrakuta is part of Gondwanaland and is situated af north-western extremity of the Vindhya ranges from when the Yamuna valley starts.

Baba asked us 3 questions about the locality:

1. Is there a river nearby?
2. Does the river take a turn!
3. Is there any village by the name of Ranka or Lanka situat here?

While surveying the locality we discovered a river nearly which turned beside a place called Lanka.

While at Allahabad Baba made the following observat about the origin of the Ramayana.

Valmiki wrote the Ramayana in Sanskrit in the post Buddhist period about 1300 years ago sladi cated by the criticism Valmiki makes of Buddha in his book The Ramayana was translated in Bengali during the first portion of the Pathan period, while Tulsidas wrote Ram Charit Manas Avadhi during early Moghul rule.

25% of the Ramcharit Manas is in Bhojpuri because Tulsidas wrote version of Ramayana in Varanasi.

The environment around Citrakuta most probably inspried Valmiki’s imagination and explains why there is a close correla tion between the environment described in Valmiki’s Ramayant and Chitrakuta. Kuta means a hill while Citrakuta means a hill on which Valmiki sat to conceive and compose the entire panel ma or citra of his epic Ramayana.

In Avadhi, Bagheli, Bundeli and Bhojpuri, Ranka or Lanka is a low-lying place surrounded by a turning river. A place called Lanka, is situated near Cakula while another place by the same name is situated in Varanasi The latter place is situated on low land, where the Ganga makes turn. The Lanka near Chitrakuta was most likely covered in water during the days of Valmiki while the hill on which he imagined his epic was probably strewn with rocks.

Monkeys having black faces and long chins are called Hanuman monkeys and found aroun Chitrakuta. !lowever the actual recognition of Hanuman as a deity is a recent phenomenon and occured only four hundred years ago. The place could have been called Chitrakuta, because of cave-paintings here, but mostly because Chitrakuta is the place where Valmiki got the inspiration to con- sive and write his epic.

The Ramayana is a Purana, an imagined story; it is a Purana, but it is a Purana which has educative value. It teaches moral values and inspires people to follow Dharma. Although Rama, Hita, Hanuman, Ravana, and Lanka, a land surrounded by water where the approaching road is made of rocks which floated on water, are all products of Valmiki’s imagination. They have inspired and enthralled generations of readers. Medininagar (Daltongonj) March 31, 1984

Baba came to Medininagar from Allahabad. During His ataya here Baba visited Betala, a forest reserve for wild animals, where He talked about the eco-biological background of Magadh. First, Baba made the following observations about the animal life in the region. Indian elephants are of three varieties-south of Nagpur variety, Chotanagpur variety and Bengal-Assam variety. While lions sometimes eat bamboos, elephants do not eat hard wood. Royal Bengal tigers can live in this region. Wild bore and small deer are the favourite food of tigers. Rhinoceroses can not lie around Betala because there is no mud for them to wallow in. Pan- thers and elephants of east and south Indian varieties all live here. The average rainfall of Betala is higher than the regional average.

The mammoths existed here 2 millon years ago.

The 4 present varieties of elephants are their direct descendants.

1. An African variety from just south of the Sahara which has a small head and little intelligence.

It cannot be tamed.

2. The Indian variety found in Orissa, West Bengal, North Bengal and Assam.

It has a big head. The male has tusk, but it is smaller than the African variety.

In Sanskrit, the big Indian elephant was known as area’vata.

3. The North-east Indian variety found in Tripura, Nagaland, Assam and Burma.

It is 3/4 of the size of the big Indian variety and is of ash colour.

It is very intelligent but cannot be tamed.

Sometimes it might walk on rail tracks during the night and obstruct trains in hilly areas.

4. The south variety is found in Burma and Thailand and is whitish in colour but rarely found.

People worship this variety. 150 years ago, such elephants were found in Tirhuta.

In the past, large numbers of rhinos and elephants were found around Medininagar because of the high rainfall in the region.

But deforestation had adversely affected the rainfall and the region has practically become a desert.

If the rainfall increases, rhinos, elephants and even crocodiles will be able to live here.

Indian crocodiles are of 3 varieties:

1. Those that eat small fishes, Bangalites which live in non saline water and sometimes eat people (in the local language they are known as magaramach); and Bangalites Gangelites which are found near Sundervana and Gangasagar are the most dangerous variety.

In the past Betala had plenty of rainfall. Cane was grown here (cane means Beta in Sanskrit), and the place was known as Betrala. Presently it is known as Betala.

Deforestation caused the rainfall to decrease and cane production also diminished.

Reforestation will increase the rainfall in the region and Medininagar (Daltonganj) and the Koyal dam will have water throughout the year.

A constant supply of water apart from reforestation, is inappropriate because they are too costly.

There are several varieties of animals of the cat group.

1. Tiger

The Royal Bengal tiger is the biggest animal in the group.

It conists of 2 types:

• Those that eat people
• Those that don’t

2. The leopard, known as Citra-vyaghra in Sanskrit.

3. The panther, known as Gulbagha, since it contains the print of a ‘gulab’ or rose in its coat.

4. The Jaguar which is found in South America.

5. The hyena

6. The wild cat

7. The domestic cat which is the smallest animal in the group.

Topographically, Palamu is the highest place in Magadh, while the lowest is Mokama.