Hidden Science In Indian Epics
By Anirudh Nanduri (B.E. Mechanical Engineering, 2014-2018)
Sketch by Priyanka T V (B.E. ECE, 2013-2017)
In our legendary Indian epics ,including the MAHABHARATHA , there are a lot references to supernatural incidents which is now hugely regarded as myths and fantasies . People were referred to as very huge, tall and lived for over hundreds of years. And the weapons then were too destructive to wipe out the total battalion in an instant. Is it possible that our ancestors had technology far more advanced than we have now? But have you ever wondered if they could have been real? In this article, I have tried to draw out scientific explanations to some widely perceived ‘myths’.
Firstly, let us decipher the word ‘Mythology’.
- ‘Myth’ means a widely held but false belief or idea and ‘ology’ means the study.
- Put together, Mythology means study of something that is a false belief or idea.
This word was used by the Englishmen to refer to our Epics as they have never believed in them. We usually tend to call our epics as mythologies without knowing the meaning of the word. Now let us get back to the scientific reasoning behind the so called myths.
Myth 1. Height of people:
The people in the legendary epic book “MAHABHARATHA” were said to be around 10-12 feet( Reference: adi parva of MAHABHARATHA) .
Theory 1:
I would like to explain this phenomenon of continuous height reduction of humans from the times then to the current period, using gravitational force. Let us first do some calculations-
According to above image,
mg=m (v^2)/r
g=(v^2)/r
Therefore, we can say that, gravitational force is directly proportional to the velocity of earth. Also, the earth is continuously accelerating which means that the velocity is also increasing. We can say that, with the increase in time, the gravitational pull of earth is also increasing. But please note that this change is almost negligible that we don’t notice in our day to day life. But consider the change for thousands of years, the change in gravitational force might be changing considerably. Therefore, as the pulling force of earth increases, the height of a person decreases as the growth hormones are influenced by the gravity. It can be simply put by saying that, as the weight on body increases, then its ability to grow decreases. So, if we think the opposite, that is thousands of years back, the gravitational force is considerably less than that of now. So, as the pull of earth was less, the people then were taller.
Myth 2. Age of people:-
In many ancient Indian texts such as “RAMAYANA” and “MAHABHARATHA” there were sages who used to live for hundreds of years(Reference adi, shanti parvam of MAHABHARATHA). I have two explanations reasoning this.
Scientific explanation1:
Before getting into reasoning, let us first understand some basics. We inhale oxygen for our survival. As most of us know, oxygen first enters our lungs and then is distributed throughout the body by means of haemoglobin. We also know that any reaction is not 100% efficient. Therefore, the oxygen that is carried to our body parts is not completely converted into energy and the remaining quantity of oxygen oxidizes that particular area. This oxidizing is very minimum that we can neglect it for a few years. Also, this is responsible for aging of body. So the more the oxygen we inhale, the more we get close to our death. It is actually a surprising fact that the oxygen that is keeping us alive will be the reason for our death eventually. Now as we know and understand the role of oxygen we can go into reasoning. There are two main aspects so as to the reasoning –
1) By gravitation:-
We know that average life span of the person living on mountain regions is greater than that of people that live in flat or plateau regions. This can be explained by stating that the oxygen density on mountain regions is less compared to that on plateau regions.
We know from our previous discussions that the gravitational force increases by the passage of time. The increasing gravitational force pulls atmosphere closer to its surface. This also includes many gases including oxygen. So, we can say that the oxygen density at a particular altitude increases as the time passes. If we look at it at the opposite way, it means that the oxygen density on the surface in the past was lesser compared to that of now. Therefore, as the oxygen density was less, the amount of oxygen inhaled was less resulting in the increase of life span.
2) By Somras:-
In many of Indian legendary texts, a mysterious drink is mentioned which is termed as “Somras” or “Amrutham” which can be translated to Elixir. By drinking it on a regular basis a person can retain his youth and strength. But what can this drink be? I have a hypothesis that, it is a drink that has the ability to reduce (reverse of oxidize) oxidized body or get oxidized instead of body and act as decoy. This maybe similar to sacrificial anode method which is generally used in electrochemical corrosion prevention method. Maybe this drink was used by sages so that it could increase their life span. But this theory gives rise to many other questions which have no answer as of now. Like why was its preparing method kept a secret?, Why did it go extinct?, etc.
Myth 3. Powerful weapons
It is stated in Drona parvam of “MAHABHARATHA” that there existed weapons that could destroy the enemy battalion within seconds. What were those weapons? It was also mentioned that a weapon used during the war of Kurukshetra had same side effects that of nuclear bombs that were used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during world war two. Is it possible that our ancestors had technology far more advanced than we have now?
Scientific explanation:
The ruins of great Indus valley civilization suggest so. The remains of people once lived there were found by archaeologists of India and Pakistan. They found that the skeletons emitted high radiations. They also found that the walls were vitrified. Vitrification is a process in which rocks, when exposed to high temperature, melt and become glassy like substances. This is only possible if there was high temperature. Combining pieces of puzzle we can come to a possible conclusion that only a nuclear weapon can have such effects. So it is possible that our ancestors were advanced than us.
Aren’t these small things so interesting that they hid so much science and logic behind. There are a lot of questions these epics have thrown at us.
- Why are conducting minerals placed inside of temple pillars? Is it somehow related to telepathy? Or was it to send information on attack on temples as acting transmitters (temples then were very important as kings used to hide their treasures inside temples)?
- Why shiva linga has a shape resembling to a nuclear reactor? Why is there continuous flow of water on shiva linga (consider that there is also continuous flow of water in nuclear reactor)? We treat water flowing through other gods pure and drink them. But why not water flowing from shiva linga(water from nuclear reactor is treated as waste and cannot be used for drinking)?
We don’t have the scientific explanations to a lot of things perceived as ‘myths’. Maybe we are not technologically advanced to decipher them. So, apart from the morals, truths of life, etc, that we learn from our epics, there is also so much science that can be learnt.
ANIRUDH NANDURI (B.E. Mechanical, 2014-2018) is a passionate photographer,who loves to travel. Highly interested in the field of vedic science, he is very spiritual in nature. He has a knack for logical reasoning and biking.
For comments/feedback/suggestions, please write to
thebridge@mail.psgtech.ac.in
