Paavam kannappar. We have been on the same topic for 3 days. So thought will change the subject.
Ravanan with 10heads - myth ?? Why can't it be true ?? Or atleast with multiple heads which could have been exaggerated to 10???
Gene mutation. Today we are seeing many babies being born sticking together. In todays scenario there are lots of people, particularly twins, born together and survive - some have four hands. But if more than 2 go together then chance of survival goes down. But could it be - could it be a reality that such joined-together babies were common those days?? Could it be genemutation (and parinama valarchi) stopped over period of time and here we are the two handed two-legged humans?? May be those brahma (4heads), shanmuga (6 headed) ashtabujadurgai (8handed) and ravanas (10 headed) are gene mutations and walked this earth. Pl remember. Pl remember this could sound strange now but could have been a reality once. Once men used to have long hair (kondai) now leave alone kondai people are getting baldier !! I heard that somewhere in siberia they have discoverd an elephant with horn. And we now believe superstuctures like dinosaur walked this earth. So it could well be a reality that shiva had 4 hands and so could be shanmuga with 6 heads. Also one logical thought - when we created ( uruvagapadhuthumbodhu) gods why would we disfigure them giving 4 heads / 8 hands etc??? Think of the fact when goddesses like lakshmi being worshiped as unparalled beauty, why would they have been given 4 hands. There are multiple ways to describe them if they had to be projected as powerful figures. So did we miss out something in those eons ???
Also facts like sarabeshwar (lion headed), narashima (lion headed), nandi (bull-headed), kamadenu (cowheaded) -- could it be a fusion between a lion and a half-man turned monkey resulted in some of these avatars ?? If it were imagination of some crazy group of people of a very very ancient world, those people would not have such refined creativity. On the other hand, If a mule can happen between horse and donkey today, may be a particular stage of metamorphosis could have allowed such creations to occur.
Just because we don't have proof that it can occur, we cannot dismiss it - atleast till we have a proof that it could not have happened.
> Paavam kannappar. We have been on the same topic for 3 days. So thought will change the subject. > > Ravanan with 10heads - myth ?? Why can't it be true ?? Or atleast with multiple heads which could have been exaggerated to 10???
perhaps he was 10 times brainy or had 10 times the thalai ganam
venketesh
while on the topic
multi headed gods and demons
bramha 4 karthikeya 6 ravana 10
in Roman mythology, Janus, the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings. the month of January, named after him He is most often depicted as having two faces or heads, facing in opposite directions.
Top three that come to my mind from Greek mythology are-
Cerberus- three headed hound Siren- half bird, half buman - similar to Sugha maharishi who had parrot head. Sphinx- leonine body and human face. ( also found among the pyramids of Egypt)
Ganesh, the point is not about genetic mutations and whether or not multiple heads are possible. Oddities are possible in any time and age. It is just that that is not the focus of epics, and the more ordinary way they are presented, the easier it will be for people to focus on the message or spiritual meaning behind it.
In other words, instead of debating if Ravana's parents had kids with genetic mutations and multiple heads it is much easier to percieve Ravana as a highly intelligent scholar perhaps as Venkat said with 10 people's intelligence and yet falls prey to the ego.
The point of epics is not about what is fact/possible and what is not, it is the message it intends to convey that is all.
Hi; Malathi's right. Ravana's 10 heads was not a mutation nor was it about Thalaiganam. This is a layman's misconception. I cant remember exactly but Cho Ramaswamy gave a truly wonderful explanation in his "Engey Brahamanan". It speaks volumes about the goodness in Ravana.The 10 heads are a depiction for us to visualize all this. Infact this is the stage Cho explains how only Hindu mythology shows the "villian" i.e. Ravana having such good characteristics infact in some characteristics he is spoken on par with Rama.
In my opinion, these were glorifications / demonifications to express the stature of the god/demon to common manand not actual genetic mutations,
For example - the halo around the head - is a symbol of wisdom & knowledge. We want our gods to possess all the wisdom and knowledge of the universe right? The thought of a god with poor knowledge or wisdom seems very silly to me. Anyone that sees a god with a halo would easily recognize the wisdom and knowledge...
And we want our gods to bepowerful. For this, they should carry powerful weapons all the time. A god being powerful makes man penitent. And the god should possess ornaments of peace and should provide wealth, health, knowledge andfreedom from mortal worldtothe followers... Two hands are not probably enough....
The 10 heads of Ravanan looks like symbolism of terror.