Mythological tales are regarded as literary works or occasionally as science fiction. However, there is a significant likelihood that mythological stories in any religion are not simply legends or pieces of literature. In this blog, I will explore some remarkable connections between certain Hindu mythological stories and firmly established scientific facts.
Strange Narrations in the Mahabharata
The Mahabharata contains various accounts that defy logical explanations. Some examples include descriptions of flying vehicles (Vimanas), Arjuna's journeys in a flying chariot over the Himalayas and his visit to the Deva territories (an ancient alien base-camp in Tibet?), his battle with the Nivata Kavachas (men in space-suits?), Salwa's attack on the city of Dwaraka using a flying city named Saubha, the triple space-cities of Asuras that orbited around Earth in three circular orbits, which were destroyed by Siva using a single projectile weapon, and many others.
Possible Use of Nuclear Weapons in the Mahabharata War
Some passages from the Mahabharata have raised questions among historians, suggesting the potential use of nuclear weapons during or after the Mahabharata war. This suspicion has been strengthened by the discovery of green glass and numerous radioactive samples in certain archaeological excavations in India, which are believed to be associated with the Mahabharata War. Green glass is said to form when sand melts at the high temperatures produced by nuclear explosions.
According to the Mahabharata, the total number of deaths amounted to around 1.6 billion in just 18 days. It is difficult to comprehend how such a staggering number of casualties could have occurred without the use of weapons of mass destruction. Recent archaeological investigations have started to offer valuable insights into the war. The immense devastation discovered at the site of Mohenjo Daro closely resembles the aftermath of Nagasaki, indicating a possible use of nuclear weapons.
Cloning - Test Tube Babies
Srimad Bhagavatam mentions that when His Excellency Nimi passed away, the sages used the process of Mantha (which may be interpreted as human cloning in modern terms) to create a new baby from his deceased body. The baby was named Janaka since it was cloned by his father using Mantha. It was also known as Videha as it was born through a non-sexual process. As the baby was born through the process of Mantha, it was called Mithila, and the kingdom over which he ruled was also named Mithila.
There are several instances in Hindu mythology where cloning is mentioned. In one such episode, when Sita and Rama's son Lava was lost, Valmiki produced "Kusha" from grass, which can be interpreted as a form of cloning. This cloning technique appears to be more advanced than modern cloning techniques. Another example is the story of Raktabija, where every drop of his blood on earth produced an adult clone of him. These references suggest that the concept of cloning may have existed in ancient times and was possibly used for various purposes.
According to Dr. B.G. Matapurkar, the science of cloning was well-known and practiced during the Mahabharata times. He claimed that the Kauravas were the products of technology that modern science has not yet developed. Dr. Matapurkar suggested that the Kauravas were created by splitting a single embryo into 100 parts and growing each part in a separate container. This implies that people in ancient India not only knew about test-tube babies and embryo splitting but also had the technology to grow human fetuses outside the human body.
Nanotechnology in Ancient Rome
The Lycurgus Cup is a 1,600-year-old Roman chalice that changes color depending on the direction of the light upon it. For a long time, scientists could not work out why the cup appeared jade green when lit from the front but blood red when lit from behind. However, the mystery was solved in 1990 when researchers discovered that the Roman artisans were pioneers of nanotechnology. They had impregnated the glass with particles of silver and gold, ground down until they were as small as 50 nanometres in diameter. This ancient technique shows that the Romans were capable of manipulating materials on a nanoscale, long before modern scientists began exploring the field of nanotechnology.
Embryo transfer and the birth of Balrama
The birth of Balrama is associated with embryo transfer. When Devaki, the mother of Lord Krishna, was pregnant for the seventh time, Lord Vishnu ordered Yogamaya to take out the fetus from Devaki's womb and place it in the womb of Rohini, another wife of Vasudeva who was living in Gokul. This was done through a process of embryo transfer, where the fetus was developed outside the womb and then placed inside the womb of Rohini. Balrama, also known as Balarama, was born to Rohini and is considered the elder brother of Lord Krishna. This ancient concept of embryo transfer, which was used to save the life of the unborn child, is still used today in the form of in vitro fertilization and zygote intrafallopian transfer.
A warrior in the womb, Abhimanyu
In the epic Mahabharata, Arjun shared the secret of entering the chakravyuh with his pregnant wife Subhadra. However, she fell asleep before he could explain the exit strategy. As a result, their son Abhimanyu learned the entrance procedure while in the womb but not the exit strategy. This concept was once criticized, but modern science suggests that it is indeed possible. Dr. Makoto Shichida, in his book "Right Brain Education in Infancy," explains that the right brain is active during gestation.
Ram Setu was built by Lord Rama
The construction of Ram Setu is considered to be an extraordinary engineering achievement. According to the scientific viewpoint, the technology to make stones float on the water did exist in the past, and skilled architects like Nal and Neel were able to build a bridge from India to Sri Lanka in just five days, with the help of a dedicated workforce of millions of Vanaras. The Valmiki Ramayana also contains descriptions of civil engineering techniques employed in the construction of this bridge, indicating that it was not a haphazard endeavor based solely on invoking the name of the Lord, but rather a well-planned and executed project utilizing various engineering methods.
Organ Transplants
There are two types of body part replacements: non-vital parts such as hands, arms, and legs, and vital organs such as the heart, liver, and kidneys. While these two types of replacements are distinct, one can imagine a combination of the two in the form of a head transplant. The head is both an external appendage and houses the most vital organ in the body, the brain, making head replacement the most complex organ transplant imaginable.
The story of Ganesha is a well-known instance of the concept of head replacement. There are various accounts of how Ganesha received his head, with one story suggesting that Shani, one of the guests at Ganesha's birth, inadvertently caused the baby's head to turn to ash by looking directly at him. In an effort to comfort Parvati's wailing, Vishnu flew off to find a substitute head and ultimately found a sleeping elephant on the bank of a river. He then severed the elephant's head and affixed it to Ganesha's body, giving him a new head.
Time Travel
There are references to time travel in ancient texts, such as the story of King Raivata Kakudmi in Hindu mythology. According to the story, Kakudmi travels to meet Brahma, the creator, but upon returning to Earth, he finds that 108 yugas (each representing about 4 million years) have passed. Brahma explains that time runs differently in different planes of existence.
In the Quran, there is a reference to the cave of Al-Kahf. The story tells of a group of young Christians who, in 250 AD, fled persecution and took refuge in a cave where God put them to sleep. They woke up 309 years later. This story is similar to the Christian story of the Seven Sleepers but with some differences.
Teleportation
The story of Usha and Chitralekha in "Srimad Bhagavatam" tells of Princess Usha, who had a dream of a handsome young man one night and woke up longing for him. She confided in her friend Chitralekha, who vowed to find the mysterious man and bring him to Usha. However, the challenge was how to identify him, as Usha had only seen him in a dream.
Chitralekha drew several sketches of faces and presented them to Usha, asking if any of them resembled the man from her dream. After examining them, Usha recognized Aniruddha, a grandson of Lord Krishna, as the man from her dream. That night, Chitralekha used some form of teleportation to transport herself to Dwaraka and locate Aniruddha. This story contains two concepts that are relevant to modern times. The first is the ability to identify an unknown person through sketches, which is frequently used in criminal investigations. The second is the idea of teleportation, which is still a topic of scientific research and speculation.
Successful Brain Surgery
According to recent findings by scientists from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the world's oldest recorded successful human brain surgery has been discovered. The team unearthed a 4300-year-old skull from an ancient civilization site, and after analyzing the evidence, they determined that it was a case of trephination, which is the process of drilling holes in a damaged skull to remove shattered bits of bone caused by a skull injury. This is considered the oldest known case of trephination in the world and is a significant discovery in the field of ancient medical practices.
