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How is it possible to rule a kingdom for so many years?

Or was it like his kingdom followed his dynasty for so many years?

Ravana lived more than Lord Shree Ram as per this link. How is this possible?

What I assume is Ram Rajya was there for 11000 years, he created such a robust living style that it was continued for 11000 years.

TheLoneKing
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AReddy
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    There are 2 types of yuga theories - traditional one and Sri Yukteswar's theory. In traditional theory, the years in yugas are multiplied by 360. I consider Sri Rama's rule of 10,000 years as inflated so if you divide it by 360, we get approx. 28 years or 30 years in case of 11,000 years. Now this looks more realistic considering the life span of humans is approx. 100 years as told by Sita in Ramayana. – Pinakin Mar 17 '17 at 10:46
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    Rama only lived for 100 years. See this answer. Ramayana is both poetry (kavya) and history (itihasa). Some people take every word written in it to be true. Things that defy the laws of nature need to be rejected using common sense and the various pramanas. – Say No To Censorship Mar 17 '17 at 17:02
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    Related: Ramayana ➡ Mahabharata: 31 Ikshvaku Kings. What was the (average) age of those kings? – Say No To Censorship Mar 17 '17 at 17:04
  • our common sense is not good enough to determine what is true and what's not. the span of yugas and corresponding lifespan of humans decreases from krita yuga (16 lakh years) to kali yuga (4 lakh years). Would you rather believe ancient Valmiki muni or some recent yukteshwar's theory. Just because something is kavya doesn't mean it is imagination or untrue. It is history written in form of poetry. The 'laws of nature' we've seen are only for the past few hundred years. It is silly to think we can infer everything from that small timeframe. – ram Mar 18 '17 at 07:11
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    @ram Is Valmiki Muni above Vedas? Vedas clearly mention life span of humans as 100 years. – Pinakin Mar 21 '17 at 12:16
  • @ChinmaySarupria, people have lived for ~120+ years even in this day and age - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_verified_oldest_people . They must clearly be flouting the laws of Vedas. – ram Mar 22 '17 at 06:06
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    @ChinmaySarupria, did you hear or see the vedas yourselves (mantra drashta) ? if not, then everything we know about vedas are only through munis/rishis. If you question valmiki muni, also question vishvamitra who did tapas for thousands of years and gave us gayatri mantra, or question bhrigu. Itihasa puranabhyam vedam saupabrahmayeth - vedas are meant to be understood with the help of itihasas and puranas. What vedic verses mean however can only be understood from scholars who have devoted their life and blood to vedas. – ram Mar 22 '17 at 06:13
  • There are people who live only for 70 years, 40 years, even a few days. Vedas do not guarantee 100 years as the upper nor lower limit for human lifespan. Shastras mention several deeds which increase or decrease an average human's lifespan by few months (e.g. shaving on tuesdays reduces it, shaving on wednesdays increases it). For great mahatmas, their yagas and tapas and dharmas can increase their lifespan greatly, especially in previous yugas. – ram Mar 22 '17 at 06:18
  • The concept of deva year where 1 deva year = 360 human years, is because 6 months of uttarayana for humans is day-time for devas Imagine north (uttara) pole where sun does not set for 6 months. and 6-months of dakshinayana is night-time for devas. Imagine south(dakshina) pole where sun does not rise for 6 months. 1 year is 360 days traditionally. kali yuga = 1200 deva years (4,32,000 human years). dwapara yuga is 2400 deva years, treta is 3600, krita is 4800. I think yukteshwar confused deva & human years. Even modern concept of gravity & time dilation say time is not uniform in all worlds. – ram Mar 22 '17 at 06:59
  • @ram Vedas never say 100 is the upper max limit, it's the average life span. Whenever Smriti contradicts Shruti, Smriti has to be rejected, it's the general rule. Vedas also say in some cases, some rishis can live much more than 100 years. Take for example - Mahavatar Babaji who is still alive, more than 2000 years have passed since his birth. Sri Yukteswar didn't got confused but cleared the wrong theory, I suggest you to read his book "The Holy Science" to know more about his theory and why it is correct. – Pinakin Mar 22 '17 at 15:24
  • @ram Shaving on tuesdays or on wednesdays have different effects is pure nonsense. Don't believe in such superstitions. Lifespan is based on number of breaths, the slower you breathe, the more you'll live, the faster you breathe, the early you'll die. This is the reason why tigers, rats etc.. die so early and tortoises die after centuries. – Pinakin Mar 22 '17 at 15:25
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – Pinakin Mar 22 '17 at 15:35
  • According to you, it is nonsense superstition. According to Dharma Shastras, it is valid cause-effect. People die early, meet with accidents, suffer from various diseases, get robbed, cheated etc. Modern science, while able to cure some of these issues, is unable to pinpoint the cause. People attribute it to 'fate' or 'karma', not realizing that the 'fate' and 'karma' are nothing but consequences of their own actions, either in this life or previous ones. – ram Mar 23 '17 at 06:33
  • @ram When did I say it is not karma, I said what you said about shaving is nonsense superstition. Diseases, death etc.. are results of one's own actions. – Pinakin Mar 23 '17 at 16:27
  • so what actions cause diseases and death ? how to prevent diseases ? all this is given in shastras. without actually experimenting it, you don't have the proof to say it is nonsense. No matter how outrageous a claim is, if you're a scientist, all you can say that you don't have time or inclination to investigate it, you cannot say it is superstition. – ram Mar 24 '17 at 17:07
  • @ram That which is bound to happen will happen, cause produces effects, no one can prevent disease except if you get grace of Guru or God. – Pinakin Dec 17 '17 at 11:15
  • @ChinmaySarupria, then why are you even studying or working, or even eating. if it is bound to happen, someone will feed you every day while you do nothing. – ram Dec 17 '17 at 18:12
  • @ram It doesn't matter if someone wants to study or not, that which is bound to happen will happen. Many people don't want to study or work and yet they do because they are destined to do. – Pinakin Dec 18 '17 at 09:34
  • @ram the scriptures are not meant to be taken 100% literally. The Ramayana is poetry/mythology and not actually history. – Wikash_ Dec 20 '20 at 16:03
  • @Wikash_ , lol, It is literally called 'Itihasa' (it was such) - it's a contemporary account of events written by Valmiki during Rama's avatar. Your lack of belief in scriptures is not surprising, given that people doubt anything that happened before their lifetime nowadays (Holocaust deniers, Moon landing deniers etc.) – ram Dec 20 '20 at 20:14
  • @ram if it was history then we would have seen evidence in line with the events yet none is found. Moreover, it is not possibly for humans to live longer than the maximum length of the telomers (which is about 120 years or so). Since evolution goes very slowly it is impossible that Rama lived that long. The scriptures tend to exaggerrate events to a large extent. We see this also in other religions. – Wikash_ Dec 21 '20 at 08:21
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    @Wikash_ There are hundreds of astronomical events mentioned in Ramayana which can be verified using todays' softwares. Read up on the works of Nilesh Oak, he has done excellent research. – Pinakin Dec 21 '20 at 15:59
  • @Pinakin yes you are right. There is also botanical evidence which aligns with reality yet no evidence is found of Rams existence or any of his kingdom for that matter. – Wikash_ Dec 21 '20 at 19:14
  • @Wikash_ - Lol, there is no 'evidence' of Jesus or Hitler either but you believe both. You'll reply - 'photographs of Hitler are evidence'. I'll counter with 'paintings of Rama are evidence'. You'll say 'photographs are real, paintings are imaginary'. I'll counter with 'photographs can be manipulated with photoshop, hence they're just as imaginary as paintings for a skeptic like me'. – ram Dec 23 '20 at 07:01
  • @ram there is plenty evidence of Hitler and photshopping can be detected. I just do not understand why evidence that is in every case normal is absent in religions – Wikash_ Dec 23 '20 at 08:19
  • @Wikash_ - there is plenty of evidence of Rama, and it is possible to deepfake/photoshop without detection. I just do not understand why evidence that is easily tamper-able is rejected in religions but present in science. – ram Dec 24 '20 at 06:22
  • @ram detection is always possible. Also, the evidence of Ram is contradicting and mostly just stories. If you found it claim opur Nobel prize since then it is not a religion anymore. – Wikash_ Dec 24 '20 at 09:34
  • @Wikash_, detection is not always possible. Also, the evidence of Hitler is contradicting and mostly just stories. Nobel prize idiots don't care about Hindu religion. – ram Dec 24 '20 at 09:49

2 Answers2

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Yes.

http://www.valmikiramayan.net/utf8/baala/sarga1/balasans1.htm#Verse97

raamaraajyam upaasitvaa = Rama having served the kingdom dashavarSasahasraaNi = for ten thousand years; dashavarShashataani ca = and also for thousand years; brahmalokam gamiShyati = will go to the abode of Brahma.

"Having served the kingdom for ten thousand years and another one thousand years, i.e. for a total of eleven thousand years, Rama will go to the abode of Brahma... [1-1-97]

If you don't believe it is possible for humans to live this long, I empathize with you, so let us be really scientific for a moment.

Do you believe Rama existed ? Yes or No ?
If Yes, did you see him personally ? Yes or No ?
If No, then what is your basis/proof for the belief that he existed ?

We all know about Rama only through Valmiki muni's Ramayan.
If you believe Rama existed just because it is said so in Ramayan (meaning you have faith in the book Ramayan), then you should also believe Rama ruled for 11,000 years just because it is said so in Ramayan.
Similarly, if you reject the 11000-year life based on 'common sense' (you don't see anyone living for more than 100+ years nowadays), then you should also reject Rama's existence based on common sense (you don't see Rama nowadays).
If you neither accept nor reject the 11000 year-rule, then you should neither accept nor reject Rama's existence. All you can scientifically say is "I do not know enough about either claim to confirm or deny it".

Apply the same level of belief OR non-belief on an evidence. If you want to be scientific, you cannot accept one part of an evidence based simply on faith, and reject another part of an evidence based on 'common sense', which is subjective.

ram
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  • How the verse linked in your question answers the question? It says Lord Vishnu took avatar and it doesn't say anything about how many years Sri Rama lived. – The Destroyer Mar 18 '17 at 08:12
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Figure of 11000 years, is likely a case of bad translation.
Following is the verse, which is not specified in the Qn:

दशवर्षसहस्राणि दशवर्षशतानि च । रामो राज्यमुपासित्वा ब्रह्मलोकं प्रयास्यति ।। [source]

In Sanskrit the word "सहस्र / Sahastra" is translated as "many/several" or "thousand". An accurate number like "thousand" is least likely to be the right word for such verses.
However, some people would strictly translate as following: 

दशवर्षसहस्राणि = 10 thousand years
दशवर्षशतानि = 10 hundred years
Total = 10000 + 1000 = 11000 years!

This is not only irrational, but is also not sensible even from Ramayana perspective itself.

  • Archaeology: As per recent survey, RAmAyana happened 7000 years back (i.e. killing of RAvana). In that sense, RAma must be living till now!
  • RAmAyana: Just imagine if the ages were 10000 years, then would Kaikeyi make RAma to exile for just 14 years!? 14 years in 10000 years is as good as 51 days in 100 years. :-)

So here is more sensible interpretation:

After serving the kingdom for several decades and ten years after [the age of] hundred, RAma proceeded towards Brahmaloka (highest of all planes).

So RAma's life span can be 110+/- years. During that, he ruled the kingdom for few decades (5-7).

Here is another misinterpretation of Dasaratha's age depicted as 60000 years!

षष्टिः वर्ष सहस्राणि जातस्य मम कौशिक ... [Valmiki Ramayana- Verse-10]
Sixty thousand years have passed from my birth, ...

In 60000 years, 14 years of exile of RAma would have felt like 9 days! It's unbelievable, that Dasharatha would have died in grief of just short span!
Now here is how one should interpret:

षष्टिः = 60 
सहस्र = many or several (not thousand)

[1] Six decades of years have passed from my birth, ...
[2] As many as Sixty years have passed from my birth, ...

Refer this post for some more information on the same topic.

iammilind
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    Well, you translated the verse in a wrong way. Dasha varsha sahasrani doesn't have an "and" in it. When the word formation is like that, they should be added. According to which translation, it is "After serving the kingdom for several decades & ten years after [the age of] hundred" ? – Sarvabhouma Dec 13 '17 at 04:52
  • @NogShine, Sanskrit is Not a strictly ordered language. The word can be jiggled here and there, still churning out the same meaning. The jiggling is however limited typically to a sentence. "I am going to Mumbai" in Sanskrit can also be written as "Mumbai am go I to". Both have identical meaning. Anyways on your main Qn - the word "च" is translated as "and" in Sanskrit. Moreover "Dasha varsha sahasrani" is translated as "several decades". The "and/&" comes after that, which links "10 years after hundred". – iammilind Dec 13 '17 at 04:56
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    and also Sahasra means thousand or infinite. It is not used for several which are less than 100 or similar. several is not the word for sahasra. – Sarvabhouma Dec 13 '17 at 05:19
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    Good post. Upvoted. – Wikash_ Dec 21 '20 at 08:22
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    Bad post. Downvoted. – ram Dec 24 '20 at 10:06