“The Mahabharat is a long Indian Poem written during the second century A.D. In it there are many accounts of battles, which seem to contain references to weapons and equipment, which were not invented until the 20th Century. The hero, Arjuna, Lord Krishna’s disciple, for instance, uses arrows that behave like anti-ballistic missiles. Arjuna also kills his enemies with what sounds like ‘Smart Bombs’, which seeks out its targets using sound waves. Some of the weapons are so futuristic that they are still to be invented. The most frightening part of the poem seems to describe so accurately the effects of a nuclear explosion. It tells how hero Ghatoth Katch threw a missile against three cities from his flying machine. It contained all the power of the universe and rose up in a single column after exploding, destroying every living thing in the cities. The poem further describes what sound like the after effects of a nuclear radiation. Hair and nail fell out, food was contaminated and people threw themselves into water to wash off the poison. The accuracy of this description makes people believe that the poet had a vision of weapons we possess today.

How could anyone describe so accurately the advance of science in two thousand years time unless it was the description of the war that took place some five thousand years ago and the knowledge was passed from generation to generation until it was recorded in a poem form? Could it be that it is difficult for European nations to accept the existence of Hindu civilisation with such an advanced technology, which even today they are not able to match? Such an advanced scientific capability defies logical explanation. Could it be possible that a “star war” type third world war completely such an advanced civilisation, leaving only a pocket of human existence which had to start from scratch and it took some five thousand years to advance to where we are toady!

The world Baan (arrow is very similar to word Bomb. Could to-day’s weapons be the legacy of the past? Could Agni Baan be atom bomb and Varsha Baan is rain bomb not yet invented, to clear the atmosphere of radiation fall out? What about Baan that darkens the sky and plunges the day into perpetual darkness lasting indefinitely? Could it be earthquake, volcanic bomb which releases dust particles on a very large scale, obstructing the sunlight and plunging the earth into perpetual darkness, destroying practically every living things except those who were fortunate enough to take shelter in nuclear bunkers? At least that is the explanation put forward by the scientist for the disappearance of dinosaurs who once monopolised the world. Some of the weapons used in the battle of Mahabharat are not even on the drawing board to day. Could civilisation of Mahabharat be some thousand years ahead of us? Even inter planetary travel is mentioned in the poem of Mahabharat.

When the war was over the Pandavas were so devastated physically, mentally and morally at the destruction of unimaginable proportion to their cities and the tragic loss of lives of the people they loved and admired most, including the father of the nation and a grand father like figure of Bhisma Pitamaha, their noble elder brother Karan and all their children but one, that there was no joy in their victory, only relief that truth had triumphed over evil. They left everything behind and the five brothers, with their favorite dog went to the highest peak of the Himalayas and left this earth. Could it be space travel?

It is fervent wish of the American theme park industry to create an illusionary palace to match the one built by Pandavas in their capital city lndraprasad. A visit to this magic palace by Duryodhan was the cause of the greatest conflict ever recorded in the history of the world. In this illusionary palace full of laser effects, the evil Duryodhan walked straight into a swimming pool imagining to be a beautifully designed marble floor and then lifted his dhoti (trousers) to walk on the marble floor believing it to be a shallow lake. This gave rise to the famous phrase “Andha ka beta andha” and sowed the seeds of the battle to come. Sanjay narrated the entire account of the eighteen-day battle to the sightless king Dhratrashtrya in his own palace, watching the whole episode on T.V. perhaps!

The most advanced and amazing weapon used in this war was the Sudershan Chakra, Lord Krishna’s favorite. Could it be today’s Tomahawk Cruise missiles so devastatingly used by U. S. A. in the Gulf war. The Tomahawk Cruise missile is the most spectacular and technically advanced weapon ever used in a war. It’s highly complicated radar and guidance systems can be accurate within a few yards over a thousand-mile range. The missile hugs the ground as it flies, searching its way from the Digital Terrain Maps, 3-D pictures showing every contour, with satellites plotting every hill, tall buildings and street corners. The missile is so accurate that one could be fired from the coast of Ibiza and make it land into the fountain of Trafalgar Square, avoiding all the high rise buildings. Could Sudarshan Chakra be tomorrow’s Cruise missile, even more advanced and sophisticated yet a fraction in size, seeking out not only military targets but human beings as well, like Saddam Hussein, which we may not be capable of developing for another hundred years or so?

The western countries could not be convinced about such an advanced Hindu civilisation without physical evidence. But as we have so often experienced, truth is stranger than fiction. May be we should seek evidence in the ruins of Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Could anything an attack a million times more destructive than the atom bombs dropped on these Japanese cities? Only very few people in isolated pockets, perhaps in underground bunkers may have survived to pass down the details of this stranger than fiction episode of Maha-Sangram, the mother of all battles, the battle of Mahabharat.

Everyone of whatever nationality And religious affiliation should take pride in the epic of Ramayan and Mahabharat, that such an advanced civilisation existed in Bharat some five thousand years ago before the birth of the holy child Jesus Christ.

An article from Bhakti Darshan
Year: 8, Issue: 73/74 May-June 2003