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Heard at science meet: Ancient Indian planes flew to planets
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Indians had mastered aviation thousands of years before the Wright brothers, claimed a controversial paper presented at the 102nd Indian Science Congress here on Sunday.
Ancient aviation, as described by Maharshi Bharadwaja, was more advanced than modern day technology, said the paper presented by Captain Anand Bodas and Ameya Jadhav. "The knowledge of aeronautics is described in Sanskrit in 100 sections, eight chapters, 500 principles and 3,000 verses. In the modern day, only 100 principles are available," stated the paper.
Bodas said Maharishi Bharadwaj spoke 7,000 years ago of "aeroplanes which travel from one country to another, one continent to another and one planet to another. He mentioned 97 reference books for aviation."
'Sanskrit had a huge science repository'
"Indians had developed 20 types of sharp instruments and 101 blunt ones for surgeries, which largely resemble the modern surgical instruments. Vaikrutaapaham, retaining the original colour and texture of the skin after a surgery, is one of the seven post-operative treatment steps for abscess. The process is not so common in the modern surgical practices," said a paper presented at the 102nd Indian Science Congress in Mumbai on Sunday.
READ ALSO: Pythagoras's theorem actually an Indian discovery, Vardhan says
Portrait of Pythagoras of Samos (circa 570 to 495 BC), Ionian Greek philosopher,
mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called
Pythagoreanism. (Via Getty Images)Ancient Indian engineers had adequate knowledge of Indian botany and they effectively used it in their constructions, said professor of civil engineering from Nagpur, AS Nene, in his paper.
Most of the scholars who presented their papers on Sunday appealed to young Indian scientists and researchers to look at ancient Sanskrit literature and derive advanced methodologies from them.
Rajan Welukar, Mumbai University's vice-chancellor, said that "one should at least look at the Vedas, but need not accept it". Vijay Bhatkar, acclaimed Indian scientist, mentioned that "Indians are so used to the slave mentality that we will only need a foreign nation to acknowledge the vast source of information. Once they do it, we will follow".
Union minister Prakash Javadekar, the chief guest at the event, claimed that he usually starts his day by watching the news in Sanskrit. He said those interested in pursuing knowledge don't see what the source is, or how old it is. He said everything that is old may not be gold, but all that is old is also not a waste.
READ ALSO: Don't debunk ancient science, Tharoor says
Javadekar said the scientific community gathered at the Congress should pay attention to the source material available in Sanskrit and use it for betterment of humanity.
He wondered why when Germany could make use of ancient Indian concepts and adapt them to produce cutting edge inventions, India could not do so. He said India is lacking in innovation and research, but if the gaps are filled we can work and grow well.
The topic on ancient sciences was incorporated in the Science Congress for the first time on the insistence of Sanskrit scholars, said Gauri Mahulikar, head of the Sanskrit department, Mumbai University. "We believed that Sanskrit also had a huge science repository and it should be brought before the scientists. They should be open minded and not have an orthodox outlook to this literature. This is just a thought, it should be followed by a debate and then experimentation. We cannot do research as we are not scientists. That is why we appeal to the science fraternity to take this knowledge forward," said Mahulikar.
But the idea of 'pseudo-science' has not gone down well with academicians and scientists. An Indian scientist from the US, who attended the session out of curiosity, said, "Knowledge always grows, its flow never stops. So if all this knowledge was available in the ancient days, I need to know where it stopped. Why did it fail to grow? Why was there no advancement? When did it stop? I am not aware of the chronology of events, but I am definitely willing to learn more and find out."
READ ALSO: After vedic aeronautics, vedic surgery
An exhibit shows ancient Indian Susruta surgery at the Science and Technology Heritage Exhibition in New Delhi, on October 28, 2009. (Getty Images file photo)
Another expert pointed out that a scientist always needs to be skeptical.
"If these texts and literatures were available, why was nothing put together using the ancient technology? If something was made in substance, it would have been easy to believe," he added.
An online petition started by a NASA scientist, which is signed by over 200 scientists, opposed one of the lectures in the larger context of increasing attempts in India to mix mythology with science, with the recent example of PM Narendra Modi calling Lord Ganesha a product of ancient India's knowledge of plastic surgery.
READ ALSO: Fears grow about Hindu 'Modi-fication' of education
The petition said, "We as a scientific community should be seriously concerned about the infiltration of pseudo-science in science curricula with the backing of influential political parties."
