KS Bhagwan claims that Lord Rama’s main activity was to sit with Sita and drink wine. ‘I am not saying this. That’s what the documents says’, the writer was heard saying, according to media reports. He made the remarks while addressing an event in Mandya in Karnataka a few days ago, according a to a Report by ANI.

This is not the first time that he has made controversial and objectionable comments on Lord Rama. In 2019, he had also created a big controversy- that according to Valmiki Ramayana, Lord Ram used to drink ‘intoxicants’ and made Sita consume them too. He had made the comments in his book ‘Rama Mandira Yake Beda’.

On Friday, January 20, the alleged Rationalist, and writer sparked an outrage by making controversial comments about Lord Rama and his wife Sita. Bhagwan claimed that the Valmiki Ramayana, had written in Uttar Kaand. KM Nishant, a member of a Hindu rights group had told the Times of India then that the Uttar Kaand was added later to the Valmiki Ramayana and was not in the original text composed by Valmiki. Following Bhagwan’s comments, a few Hindu organisations had launched a protest against him and even tried to hold a puja outside his home in Kuvempunagar.

In his book Rama Mandira Yake Beda, KS Bhagwan quoted verses from Uttar Kaand, in the concluding chapter of Valmiki’s Ramayana. However, most scholars disregard the contents of Uttar Kaand as they believe Valmiki did not write the chapter. There is no mention of Uttar Kaand in any of the 24,000 shlokas that make up the Ramayana,” Nishant had said.

Those arguing that Lord Rama used to consume meat and liquor often quote this shloka from Valmiki Ramayana’s Sundar Kaand:

na māṃsaṃ rāghavo bhuṅkte na cāpi madhusevate |

“There is talk about building a Rama Rajya…If one reads the Uttara Kaand of Valmiki’s Ramayana, it will become evident that (Lord) Rama was not a perfect (ideal) person. Besides, he did not rule for 11,000 years, but only for 11 years,” ANI quoted KS Bhagwan as saying. This would make more sense because Lord Rama came to the world as an Avatar, as a human and it would be hard to believe a human could be on this earth for 11000 years. Moreover, he was exiled for 14 years by his father King Dasratha on the eve of his coronation. He spent the time traversing the length and breadth of India crisscrossing jungles and also fighting a war with King Ravana of Srilanka- that is a well-accepted fact.

Entering planetary positions and zodiac constellations in the Planetarium Gold software to determine the important dates in the life of Lord Rama vis-a-vis the present, it has been calculated by the historians that Lard Rama was born on January 10, 5114 BC, which would make it plausible for wine to exist at least 7137 years back.

That would make India as the oldest producer of the world. Without getting into any controversy, it would still be fair to assume that wine was being produced in India for at least 7137 years ago though more research would need to be carried out based on reports by TOI and HT.

Of course, it would mean massive research to conclusively prove that as a fact.

Subhash Arora