To those readers for whom Rāvana is unfamiliar, the ancient Vaiṣṇava epic (itihāsa), Rāmāyaṇa (pronounced Rah-mah-yuh-nuh), relates him as a powerful king of demons (rakṣāsas). The work depicts Rāvana as of a superhuman stature: he has ten heads, twenty arms, and metaphysical capacities of various sorts; for example, in battle, when any of his heads are cut off by Rāma, he grows new heads in its place (much like the Hydra of Greek legend).
Toward the beginning of the Rāmāyaṇa's "second act", Rāvana abducts Prince Rāma's lovely wife, Sītā. Consequently, Rāma befriends a clan of Ape-men (cf., vṛṣākapi) and other animals; with their aid, Rāma seeks out and pursues Rāvana back to Śrī Lāṅka, where, having slain the demon king, he reclaims Sītā as his own.
The other day, as I was perusing the omniscient internet for plausible leads regarding Rāvana's celestial identity, I came across a very remarkable image. A number of traditional South Asian images depict one of Rāvana's heads as that of an ass or donkey. I was surprised to find this, as I had never come across it prior (for one thing, some of the images suggest that he has eleven heads, not just ten). And of course, as I looked for explanations, I found a few duds, which put a "the moral of this story is. . ." on an otherwise very curious element, thinking that they had thus settled the matter for good (this method is more common than it should be: note how one conversation winds up going no where in particular).
For various reasons, a bit of which I will go into below, I suspect that this "Asshead" feature actually discloses Rāvana's celestial locus in the region of Boötes. This further suggests other important associations, such as the locus (loci?) of Sītā.
Our Provisional Hypothesis:
A) Rāvana is identical or nearly identical to the Constellation, Boötes (or else Hercules, or both),
and
B) Sītā is identical or nearly identical to the Constellation, Ursa Major (or else Corona Borealis, Ursa Minor, or all three).
The Evidence:
1) The Boötes/Plough connection = Rāvana stealing Sītā (her name means "tip of the Ard Plough" [cf., "sītā" as "tip of the plough" in the Ṛg Veda].
a) An Irish commemorative flag dedicated to the "Easter Rising of 1916" depicts Ursa Major as the "Starry Plough";1 apparently, this is an old tradition in the region of the UK and Ireland, though I've not been able to trace its earliest origins as yet (note the reference here, as elsewhere...). The geographic remoteness of this tradition, represented on the one hand, in the far West of Europe, and on the other, in South Asia from antiquity, is somewhat suggestive of an even more ancient source; perhaps Roman, or perhaps even earlier, coinciding with the Gaelic exodus from the Caucusus Valley. We know, for example, that the ancient Norse legends identify Ursa Major as the "Man's Cart", and Ursa Minor as the "Woman's Cart";
The significations of UMa/UMi vary widely, but a farming instrument is common (cart, scythe, plough). As such, it is present in numerous traditions in ancient Mesopotamia (ex., St. John's vision "I hold the keys of Death and Hades" [Revelations 1:18]). Other interpretations include a horse and a bear (I doubt that I've exhausted the possibilities here).
b) Sītā is "unearthed" when her father is running the plough in a ritual through the Earth. Being the "Tip", she may well signal a single star, rather than the whole plough. This would suggest one of two dates (a: when UMa is ascending into "Vaikuntha", or b: when UMa is descending into the Earth; the former hypothesis has in its credit, that Sītā finally descends into the Earth at the end of her life. Further, she is said to have been born at a time prior to the Kali-yuga, while that star descends well into the Kali-yuga. Naturally, these dates should be calculated from the position of the site that Daśarātha is related to have unearthed her. Further determinative, Wikipedia mentions that Sītā's "Birthstar" is the Aśleṣā Constellation (the seventh, later ninth, lunar mansion) in the month of Chaitra.wiki:Sita. Rāma's father is named "Daśarātha" or "Ten Chariots" = Rāvana's other name is Daśānana or (Ten heads)
Noteably, Rāvana Doesn't take a significant role in the story until after Rāma's father has died. This may indicate that the time of death coincides with the Ω date for a particular star, which we have yet to identify concretely. (Note: The terms, "A date" [alpha date] and "Ω date" [omega date], refer in this essay to the periods in which stars enter into a region of the sky known either as "Satya-Loka" or "Vaikuṇṭha".
3) The "Ass" constellation in Boötes plausibly correlates to Rāvana's Ass-head
There are three stars which ancient tradition associates with Donkeys, known as Kappa, Theta, and Iota Boötes. I imagine that the triangle these three form does in some sense approximate the narrow shape of a donkey's face, with ears pointed upward. There is another set of stars which are also associated with Donkeys, and which thus provides us two "contending" loci (the alternative set are located in the constellation, Cancer). We might suppose Cancer's stars as a candidate, but they are quite distant from any of the stars that constitute Hercules, Corona Borealis, Boötes, or Ursa Major. As such, I regard them as less plausible candidates.
4) By virtue of the Rāma-Hanuman-Lakṣmana = Hercules-Corona Borealis-Boötes thesis, Sītā naturally follows in a straight line.
In much of the traditional Śeṣa-Śayī-Viṣṇu iconography, Lakṣmī sits at the foot of Viṣṇu, massaging his foot. I suspect that this signals either Corona Borealis or Ursa Major. Notably, A portion of Ursa Major is termed "the thigh" (according to Egyptian astronomers), lending weight to the UMa thesis.
5) This quote from Frederick Smith's The Self Possessed:
"Hanumān as lord of bhūt-prets is reminiscent of other deities who command armies or troops, notably Gaṇeśa, "Lord of Hosts," usually of undefined character or, more appositely, of Khaḍgarāvaṇa, a minor deity often associated with possession, who is specifically called bhūtarāja (King of Spirits) and bhūteśaṃ (Lord of Spirits)." (Ch. 4).
The connotations here draw a line between Yāma (judge of the newly dead), Śiva, and Balarāma. Note also that Hanumān is himself referred to as "Bālā-jī", connecting him to Balarāma, at least in name. The locus of Rāvaṇa is plausibly that of Boötes.
The Inference:
(α) Sītā is either Ursa Major as a whole, or some portion thereof, or partially contained within Ursa Major.
And, in light of the instabilities of the auspiciousness/threatening appearance of constellations,
(β) Boötes (who is identified with the Grim Reaper, or Yāma), can play a double role, sometimes as Rāma's brother, sometimes as his enemy.
Some Lingering Questions/Problems:
a) Concerning Rāvana's "Ten Heads", are these ten discernable stars in Boötes?
b) Are these ten heads the very same as Daśarātha's "Ten Chariots"?
c) What, if anything, does this suggest about the Time of composition for Valmīki's Rāmāyaṇa??
d) If Hercules is the Greek equivalent of Rāma, does this make Corona Borealis also Rāma's Cakra?
e) Which star in particular is Sītā's? β UMa? h UMa? (both are significant contenders, given the variant depictions of UMa over the years and in different traditions; both give significantly different Α/Ω dates).
f) Does Valmīki mention Sītā's birthstar as in the seventh or ninth lunar mansions? This might help indicate an earlier or later date for his Rāmāyana...
As you can all see, this investigation is far from over. But it does at least provide us with some important cosmological grounds for advancing the inquiry further, while suggesting crucial astrotheological features of the whole narrative.
Toward the beginning of the Rāmāyaṇa's "second act", Rāvana abducts Prince Rāma's lovely wife, Sītā. Consequently, Rāma befriends a clan of Ape-men (cf., vṛṣākapi) and other animals; with their aid, Rāma seeks out and pursues Rāvana back to Śrī Lāṅka, where, having slain the demon king, he reclaims Sītā as his own.
The other day, as I was perusing the omniscient internet for plausible leads regarding Rāvana's celestial identity, I came across a very remarkable image. A number of traditional South Asian images depict one of Rāvana's heads as that of an ass or donkey. I was surprised to find this, as I had never come across it prior (for one thing, some of the images suggest that he has eleven heads, not just ten). And of course, as I looked for explanations, I found a few duds, which put a "the moral of this story is. . ." on an otherwise very curious element, thinking that they had thus settled the matter for good (this method is more common than it should be: note how one conversation winds up going no where in particular).
Rāvana is, quite literally, an Asshead.
A) Rāvana is identical or nearly identical to the Constellation, Boötes (or else Hercules, or both),
and
B) Sītā is identical or nearly identical to the Constellation, Ursa Major (or else Corona Borealis, Ursa Minor, or all three).
The Evidence:
1) The Boötes/Plough connection = Rāvana stealing Sītā (her name means "tip of the Ard Plough" [cf., "sītā" as "tip of the plough" in the Ṛg Veda].
a) An Irish commemorative flag dedicated to the "Easter Rising of 1916" depicts Ursa Major as the "Starry Plough";1 apparently, this is an old tradition in the region of the UK and Ireland, though I've not been able to trace its earliest origins as yet (note the reference here, as elsewhere...). The geographic remoteness of this tradition, represented on the one hand, in the far West of Europe, and on the other, in South Asia from antiquity, is somewhat suggestive of an even more ancient source; perhaps Roman, or perhaps even earlier, coinciding with the Gaelic exodus from the Caucusus Valley. We know, for example, that the ancient Norse legends identify Ursa Major as the "Man's Cart", and Ursa Minor as the "Woman's Cart";
The significations of UMa/UMi vary widely, but a farming instrument is common (cart, scythe, plough). As such, it is present in numerous traditions in ancient Mesopotamia (ex., St. John's vision "I hold the keys of Death and Hades" [Revelations 1:18]). Other interpretations include a horse and a bear (I doubt that I've exhausted the possibilities here).
b) Sītā is "unearthed" when her father is running the plough in a ritual through the Earth. Being the "Tip", she may well signal a single star, rather than the whole plough. This would suggest one of two dates (a: when UMa is ascending into "Vaikuntha", or b: when UMa is descending into the Earth; the former hypothesis has in its credit, that Sītā finally descends into the Earth at the end of her life. Further, she is said to have been born at a time prior to the Kali-yuga, while that star descends well into the Kali-yuga. Naturally, these dates should be calculated from the position of the site that Daśarātha is related to have unearthed her. Further determinative, Wikipedia mentions that Sītā's "Birthstar" is the Aśleṣā Constellation (the seventh, later ninth, lunar mansion) in the month of Chaitra.wiki:Sita. Rāma's father is named "Daśarātha" or "Ten Chariots" = Rāvana's other name is Daśānana or (Ten heads)
Noteably, Rāvana Doesn't take a significant role in the story until after Rāma's father has died. This may indicate that the time of death coincides with the Ω date for a particular star, which we have yet to identify concretely. (Note: The terms, "A date" [alpha date] and "Ω date" [omega date], refer in this essay to the periods in which stars enter into a region of the sky known either as "Satya-Loka" or "Vaikuṇṭha".
These terms indicate that, unlike other stars seen from the equatorially-proximate longitudes of the Earth, they do not descend below the horizon, nor ascend from beneath it, but become, as it were, more or less "permanent" fixtures in the Northern sky, due to a close proximity with the Northern Zenith, some of these, for millenia (the duration of such a state for any particular star depends in part upon their proximity to the "Wheel of the Yugas" (a matter I take up elsewhere), and in part to the point of observation from the ground (the further North one is standing, the longer the apparent A and Ω dates are apart from each other; hence, determining the apparent observation site matters critically to the dating of the works that describe such events). Much like the North Star (Polaris, i.e., α Ursa Minor), they neither rise nor set. These periods thus assign a terrestrial "life" and "death" of such stars (cf., the four Kumāras curse Jāya and Vijāya to incarnate as demons).
note how many of the stars in this video do not set below the horizon, but simply circle about overhead in the northern region.
There are three stars which ancient tradition associates with Donkeys, known as Kappa, Theta, and Iota Boötes. I imagine that the triangle these three form does in some sense approximate the narrow shape of a donkey's face, with ears pointed upward. There is another set of stars which are also associated with Donkeys, and which thus provides us two "contending" loci (the alternative set are located in the constellation, Cancer). We might suppose Cancer's stars as a candidate, but they are quite distant from any of the stars that constitute Hercules, Corona Borealis, Boötes, or Ursa Major. As such, I regard them as less plausible candidates.
Note that the Lynx and Leo Minor separate Cancer from Ursa Major.
4) By virtue of the Rāma-Hanuman-Lakṣmana = Hercules-Corona Borealis-Boötes thesis, Sītā naturally follows in a straight line.
In much of the traditional Śeṣa-Śayī-Viṣṇu iconography, Lakṣmī sits at the foot of Viṣṇu, massaging his foot. I suspect that this signals either Corona Borealis or Ursa Major. Notably, A portion of Ursa Major is termed "the thigh" (according to Egyptian astronomers), lending weight to the UMa thesis.
Note that Viṣṇu's bent knee matches the basic geometric shape of the upper part of Boötes. Ananta-Śeṣa, the Many-headed Divine Serpent (nāga), additionally matches with Draconus and/or Serpens well in this account.
5) This quote from Frederick Smith's The Self Possessed:
"Hanumān as lord of bhūt-prets is reminiscent of other deities who command armies or troops, notably Gaṇeśa, "Lord of Hosts," usually of undefined character or, more appositely, of Khaḍgarāvaṇa, a minor deity often associated with possession, who is specifically called bhūtarāja (King of Spirits) and bhūteśaṃ (Lord of Spirits)." (Ch. 4).
The connotations here draw a line between Yāma (judge of the newly dead), Śiva, and Balarāma. Note also that Hanumān is himself referred to as "Bālā-jī", connecting him to Balarāma, at least in name. The locus of Rāvaṇa is plausibly that of Boötes.
The Inference:
(α) Sītā is either Ursa Major as a whole, or some portion thereof, or partially contained within Ursa Major.
And, in light of the instabilities of the auspiciousness/threatening appearance of constellations,
(β) Boötes (who is identified with the Grim Reaper, or Yāma), can play a double role, sometimes as Rāma's brother, sometimes as his enemy.
Some Lingering Questions/Problems:
a) Concerning Rāvana's "Ten Heads", are these ten discernable stars in Boötes?
b) Are these ten heads the very same as Daśarātha's "Ten Chariots"?
c) What, if anything, does this suggest about the Time of composition for Valmīki's Rāmāyaṇa??
d) If Hercules is the Greek equivalent of Rāma, does this make Corona Borealis also Rāma's Cakra?
e) Which star in particular is Sītā's? β UMa? h UMa? (both are significant contenders, given the variant depictions of UMa over the years and in different traditions; both give significantly different Α/Ω dates).
f) Does Valmīki mention Sītā's birthstar as in the seventh or ninth lunar mansions? This might help indicate an earlier or later date for his Rāmāyana...
As you can all see, this investigation is far from over. But it does at least provide us with some important cosmological grounds for advancing the inquiry further, while suggesting crucial astrotheological features of the whole narrative.
