The origins of Ramayana are said to lie in the first sloka uttered spontaneously from Sage Valmiki's shoka (sadness). While bathing in the river, he observed a pair krauncha (heron family) birds in love. A hunter shoots down one of the birds with his arrow. Witnessing the sorrow of the surviving bird, Valmiki reacts against the cruelty of the hunter with "Ma Nishada" (Abstain! Wild Man). Why "wild man/hunter" should be referred using a word that shares roots with 'black' and 'night' can make another equally interesting discussion about the racial prejudices in Ramayana. But here I want to sketch a mind map of another thought. And keeping in mind that this is a facebook note, not a journal paper, read on :-)
Michael Wood in "Story of India" talks about the origins of human speech lying probably in imitating bird song (http://www.youtube.com/wat
Genetically now we know that the FOXP2 gene plays a crucial role in the human ability to manipulate tongue, mouth, throat to produce complex array of sounds. It is a very tricky genetic combination discussed at length in "Not A Chimp" (Jeremy Taylor). Without this gene and related epigenes we wouldn't have had speech and therefore language and therefore civilization. 'Not A Chimp' does not discuss much about why such a gene might have come about.
Random mutation is an easy explanation. But from epigenetics and 'horizontal evolution', we can now seriously consider the possibility that genetic change occurred from behavioral change. We are now open to the possibility of even the simplest behavior affecting the body deep into genetic level. We are aware that at the lowest level genes at the beginning of life were acquired from across species in the same environment. Neanderthals and other lost cousins of Homo Sapiens apparently never managed to acquire FOXP2 (Milestones of Civilization, Blandford).
Was it because our prehistoric ancestors, hundreds of thousands of years ago, paused to listen to the birds instead of hunting them down that I am able to express this to you online today?! Was it because a sage saw beautiful romance in a pair of birds than tasty dinner that we are who we are?!
It is fascinating to consider that an ancient epic can be interpreted to allude to possibly the very origins of mankind.
Now before any idiot misconstrues this to be an argument for Hindu supremacy, I'd like to quickly mention about the apple: The apple from the Garden of Eden. It is true that the origin Hebrew or Aramaic versions of the Bible don't refer to apple, but simply talk about a "fruit" of the forbidden tree. It probably became apple only much later with the King James version. However, apple is a marvelous fruit and its use in genesis can be interpreted quite philosophically.
Inside an apple, every single seed is genetically different. There is no predicting what type the fruits will be from a tree born from an apple seed. All the specific varieties of apples are grown in orchards with trees synthetically grafted. If we plant two seeds from a red delicious apple, we are going to end up with two trees bearing totally different types of apples. With that in mind, did the feeling of individuality get mankind (and womankind) ousted from Eden? Like the apple seed, did Adam and Eve forget where they came from or realize that they are each "different" in their minds as well based on their physical individuation? But I am not going to call John Chapman (Johny Appleseed) the one true messenger of God :-)
Since I mentioned Ramayana and Bible, I will finish with Mohammad. Koran calls human the one who points and names. That is the most beautiful, precise definition of our species covering the essence of language. Word is indeed God here too.
Only Carolus Linnaeus came closer to this when he simply put "Know Thyself" (Nosce te ipsum) as the definition of the species Homo Sapiens in Systema Naturae.
As always I look at my own mind maps and repeat, "Ma Nishada"
Since I mentioned Ramayana and Bible, I will finish with Mohammad. Koran calls human the one who points and names. That is the most beautiful, precise definition of our species covering the essence of language. Word is indeed God here too.
Only Carolus Linnaeus came closer to this when he simply put "Know Thyself" (Nosce te ipsum) as the definition of the species Homo Sapiens in Systema Naturae.
As always I look at my own mind maps and repeat, "Ma Nishada"
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