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Index Page
by Jayaram V
"Our vision of "prehistory" is
terribly inadequate. We have not yet rid our minds from the hold of
a one-and-only God or one-and-only Book, and now a one-and-only
Science." ~ Shri Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950)
The concept of traveling by air using flying machines was popular
in ancient India
and for that matter in medieval and modern India much
before the invention of modern airplanes by the Wright brothers. There
is ample literary evidence to suggest that in ancient India people were familiar with the possibility of men flying in
aeroplanes to
travel long distances or traverse interstellar spaces. These
aeroplanes used mechanical, spiritual and tantric power to fly. In the ancient
literature of Hindus we have detailed descriptions of flying machines
that could carry people from one place to
another or one planet to another to conduct wars, participate in religious
ceremonies, rescue someone in trouble or accomplish some adventurous mission.
In Sanskrit, which was the language of communication in the Vedic
period, the word "vimana" means an air
plane or flying machine. It is not
mere coincidence that the long towers adorning
the Hindu temples are also called vimanas. The word "vimana",
in this context, has a far more deeper spiritual meaning. According to
this, vimana is that which is different from or tur ned away from
the ordinary mind consciousness. It is the higher consciousness
pointed towards the heavens, belonging to the higher realms, and
simply indifferent to the mind and the senses. It is of the higher mental planes,
of the gods, where higher energies submit to higher purpose and
higher will. In contrast, the ordinary mind draws us into samsara and
renders us into mere two legged animals. Blinded by the illusion it
creates, we become earth (bhur) bound, incapable of flying or moving freely into the mid (bhuva) and higher (suva)
realms. In the form of an elongated tower jutting out of the face of the
earth through the roof of the temple, the vimana thus serves a
very important purpose in the religious world of Hindus. It serves as
a strong reminder of our lost worlds and lost consciousness. The
mesmerizing tower filled with colorful figurines of numerous gods and
goddesses, above the ground, away from the humdrum of earthly life, in
the air but still reachable, conveys a symbolic message that before entering the world of gods
we need to turn away from the
distractions of the mind and turn inward towards God for our
salvation.
The word vimana also means a space vehicle or a flying object that
can help us over come our ordinary
limitations of time and space and reach out to the far ends of creation. It is the missing link between our
worlds and the worlds of gods and goddesses and the worlds of which we
have no knowledge. It is not of this world but heavenly. We as human
beings cannot
use it because we rely upon mental and physical energies bound by the
limitations of our beliefs and earthly life. We may perhaps regain our
lost power and ascend to the higher worlds by going beyond the mind.
We can attain God and His innumerable worlds through the
"vimana" (pure consciousness) by turning away from the
temptations of the mind and the body and worshipping God with single
minded devotion.
We have references to the use of
incredible spaceships and flying machines in the Indian lore by gods,
demons and people alike. The most ancient of all epics, the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata mention the use of vimanas or special aerial devices in
ancient times. These are comparable in several respects to the spaceships of
Hollywood science fiction movies such as Star Trek and Star Wars.
In the Ramayana we have descriptions of a special airplane called Pushpak
Vimana. The plane originally belonged to Kubera. He was the king of Yakshas
and that too the wealthiest being in all the worlds. By relation Kubera was also a half brother of Ravana, the
demon king and arch villain in the story of Ramayana. We are told that
Pushpak Vimana was built by Vishavakarma under the orders of Brahma
who had developed compassion toward Kubera as he was disabled. As per
the orders of Brahma, Vishwakarma built the plane and gave it to
Kubera for his personal use. The Pushpaka Vimana was a gigantic plane,
of the size a large city entirely, capable of holding unlimited number
of people. It was propelled by its own tantric power. Having got the gift, Kubera used to
travel in the plane from place to place to distribute wealth and help
the needy people with his abundance and generosity.
Unfortunately, sometime later Ravana stole the ship from him and began using it for
his own wicked ends. He used it to even kidnap and carrya away Sita to
his capital Lanka. He also used it in
his war against Rama. After he was killed in the final battle with
Shir Ram, his brother Vibhishana, who succeeded him as king, suggested
Shri Ram to use the plane to go to Ayodhya without losing further
time. Shri Ram
accepted the offer and was able to take his people and the entire army
in it. The plane was so
big and accommodative that it had no dearth of space. The author of
the epic gave a graphic description of the aerial view of the earth
as the plane traveled over the subcontinent on its way to Ayodhya. The
description was so accurate that according to some it correspond with the
aerial view of the subcontinent form the outer space. Considering the
fact that the epic was written some three or four thousand years ago, it is difficult to imagine
how such a scenery
from the earthly plane could be envisioned by someone without the
actual direct experience of flying.
The Mahabharata also mentions the use of flying chariots powered by
lightening, capable of flying long distances into the solar system and
beyond. There are descriptions of a demon king Salva using a flying
machine to attack Dwaraka, the capital of Madura, and how Lord Krishna
fought with him and destroyed the flying machine. In the epci Srimad
Bhagavatham (sixth Canto, Part 3)we come across the following
reference:
"One time while King Citaketu was
traveling in outer space on a brilliantly effulgent airplane given
to him by Lord Vishnu, he saw Lord Siva..." "The arrows
released by Lord Siva appeared like fiery beams emanating from the
sun globe and covered the three residential airplanes, which could
then no longer be seen."
Many scholars in the past expressed awe and amazement at the
mention of spaceships and aeroplanes in ancient Hindu literature. About the knowledge of flying machines in ancient India, Col. Henry S Olcott
(1832 � 1907) wrote:
"The ancient Hindus could navigate the air, and
not only navigate it, but fight battles in it like so many
war-eagles combating for the domination of the clouds. To be so
perfect in aeronautics, they must have known all the arts and
sciences related to the science, including the strata and currents
of the atmosphere, the relative temperature, humidity, density and
specific gravity of the various gases...� ~
Prof. D. K. Kanjilal made the following observation referring to
the description of the use of flying machines in the Matsyapurana 1*:
"Behind the veil of legend and scientific truth
comes out that three flying-cities were made for and were used by
the demons. Of these three, one was in a stationary orbit in the
sky, another moving in the sky and one was permanently stationed in
the ground. These were docked like modern spaceships in the sky at
particular time and at fixed latitude/longitudes. Siva's arrow
obviously referred to a blazing missile fired from a flying
satellite specially built for the purpose and the brunt spaceship
fell in the Indian ocean. Vestiges of onetime prosperous
civilization destroyed in battles only flicker through these
legends.
The Vedas also mention flying chariots of multiple shapes and
configurations. There are references to the
fire chariot with two engines, the elephant-chariot with more engines,
and other types of vehicles named after some animals. Surya
the sun god is described as traveling across the skies every day from
east to west illuminating the worlds in his radiant chariot. When
invocated gods descended from heavens
in their space vessels to bless the worshippers. In his Anti-Gravity Handbook,
writing about the "Ancient Indian Aircraft
Technology", D. Hatcher Childress made the following
comments:
According to ancient Indian texts, the people had
flying machines which were called �vimanas�. The ancient Indian
epic describes a vimana as a double- deck, circular aircraft with
portholes and a dome, much as we would imagine a flying saucer. It
flew with the "speed of the wind" and gave forth a
�melodious sound�. There were at least four different types of
vimanas; some saucer shaped, others like long cylinders (�cigar
shaped airships�)."
Apart from the description of these mechanical devices, we also
find references to men and gods materializing
instantaneously wherever they wanted through the exercise of their
supreme will power and also be present at different places at the same
time. In the age of Truth all men had the same power which they lost
gradually as men become more materialistic and lost their inner
purity. Sage Narada could traverse through the three worlds
instantaneously chanting the name of Lord Vishnu. The Yoga Shastra of Patanjali
describes the attainment of siddhis or special powers by the practitioners
of yoga whereby they can levitate in the air or travel astrally long
distances.
With all due respect to these descriptions and references, it needs
to be mentioned that from the historical and archaeological
perspective, other than the literary references, there are actually
no first hand descriptions of any instances of people flying in the air using
mechanical or aerial devices. The ancient vimanas of Hindus were
powered mostly by mantric and tantric power in contrast to the yantric
(mechanical) power used by the modern airplanes. So in all probability
we have lost the power to use such machines and also all memory
associated with their construction and use.
In ancient India as we know it academically, there were no
airplanes, no rockets and no flying machines that flew with the help
of mechanical power. People used simple means of traveling. They traveled
either by foot, or by using animals such as horses, elephants, camels
and asses. They used chariots, bullock carts, boats and ships to
travel long distances or carry merchandise from one place to another. Traveling
in ancient India was a very risky venture because of wild animals,
bandits and fear being held as a spy or foreigner.
Some of the descriptions we find in the ancient Indian literature
may be the work of pure imagination just like the description of incredible
spaceships we find in modern science fiction. Others could be
attributed to the residual memories we have in our collective
consciousness about our innate capability to travel by means of
mantric and tantric powers or the powers of our higher minds. Any
real knowledge of the spaceships such as the ones mentioned above or
the ones that are described in the Vimaanika
Shastra of Maharshi Bharadwaaja,
which could be powered by the spiritual nature of man, are probably
lost to the mankind just as the knowledge of ancient science known to
the people of Atlantis was lost in the depths of time.
Suggested Further Reading
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