Fact or Fiction?
Kishore (April 2003)
Lot of times when we read
scriptures whose date cannot be determined we get a doubt in our mind: Is it
fact or fiction?
In India Ramayana, Mahabharata
and Bhagavatam are popular epics. These scriptures are very powerful and convey
spiritual truths. No one knows whether this is history (fact) or story
(fiction).
Sometimes we wonder whether
Rama was a real person or is he invention of a ancient writer? Is Krishna a real
person who incarnated on earth or is he just a character in a story?
I have reasoned myself on these
questions sometimes and the following was thought process.
Learn from your experience
Do you remember what happened
yesterday, last week or last year? We are so much occupied in present and
worried about future that we hardly spend any time remembering past.
Have you ever tried narrating
your past events to yourself? Since you have experienced those events, they are
real for you. Take a very emotional incident that happened in your life. Either
a victory or joyous moment or a tragedy.
Now try narrating these events
to someone else? What is their reaction? Do you think they can react with the
same emotions as you felt? Obviously No. Because for them it is 'not personal'.
Your life may sound as a 'story' to them. A real life incident when you hear or
read about it becomes a story.
Even for us our own experience
becomes 'unreal' after sometime. Time makes a big difference.
How does history sound to
you?
I try to convince my daughter
that when I was a kid there was no computer and TV at home. She does not believe
it. When my father told me that they had only radio when he was kid, I too found
it difficult to believe.
In India, Struggle for Freedom
in history classes sounded more like stories to read than fiction. Since I was
reading than experiencing it, it appeared more like fiction than fact.
Are 'Autobiography of a Yogi'
Or 'My experiments with truth by Gandhi' fact or fiction?
Do you know what happened in
World War I and World War II. Is it fact or fiction?
As you traverse back in
history, gradually history starts sounding more like fiction than fact. In our
mind we can't imagine some of the things we are not used to as real? How do you
feel when you are told that only horse carriages were mode of transport during
last century.
If someone comes and says to
you in 15th Century there were kings and queens all over the world, doesn't it
sound like a fairy tale?
Now, are dramas written by
Shakespeare real?
Don't waste time in debates
World is full of fact and
fiction. Fiction is written for purposes of entertainment and also for
education. At same time facts are also written for educational purposes.
Scriptures are educational.
They are not written for entertainment purposes. Since they convey
educational messages I believe they are fact than fiction.
Related to this thinking,
scriptures are matters that are personal than subjects of debate. I have
sometimes seen great debates happen whether so and so work was really written by
one person or another.
Understanding our purpose in
life and trying to make best of scriptures is better than wasting time in
debates.
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