Atomic Warfare In Ancient India - Page 2

brajeshwara das · 01-30-2007, 10:08 AM

I would like to know the source of the article, I don't have faith in that until I see some real documentation though I don't discount the possibility, but I do put my faith in this:

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.7.27:

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
vetthedaḿ droṇa-putrasya
brāhmam astraḿ pradarśitam
naivāsau veda saḿhāraḿ
prāṇa-bādha upasthite

TRANSLATION
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Know from Me that this is the act of the son of Droṇa. He has thrown the hymns of nuclear energy [brahmāstra], and he does not know how to retract the glare. He has helplessly done this, being afraid of imminent death.

PURPORT
The brahmāstra is similar to the modern nuclear weapon manipulated by atomic energy. The atomic energy works wholly on total combustibility, and so the brahmāstra also acts. It creates an intolerable heat similar to atomic radiation, but the difference is that the atomic bomb is a gross type of nuclear weapon, whereas the brahmāstra is a subtle type of weapon produced by chanting hymns. It is a different science, and in the days gone by such science was cultivated in the land of Bhārata-varṣa. The subtle science of chanting hymns is also material, but it has yet to be known by the modern material scientists. Subtle material science is not spiritual, but it has a direct relationship with the spiritual method, which is still subtler. A chanter of hymns knew how to apply the weapon as well as how to retract it. That was perfect knowledge. But the son of Droṇācārya, who made use of this subtle science, did not know how to retract. He applied it, being afraid of his imminent death, and thus the practice was not only improper but also irreligious. As the son of a brāhmaṇa, he should not have made so many mistakes, and for such gross negligence of duty he was to be punished by the Lord Himself.

Wizard Bill · 05-05-2008, 08:22 PM

Hello-- I'm a physicist at NCSU and can tell you without doubt that this discussion is based on a hoax.

India tested nuclear weapons in the area described, which along with accidents etc. can explain an area of high radioactivity. A weapons blast thousands of years ago would be extremely difficult if not impossible to detect above background. The infrastructure required for nuclear weapons construction could not be missed (mines, for example, which are permanent). I have familiarity with nuclear weapon design and it is a very sophisticated area requiring precision machining, materials processing, and many areas of development that were just barely possible in the 1940's. It couldn't be done in the 1930's, much less 3000 BC!
The translated texts would not be quoted in those forms before WWII.

Prabhupad was hopelessly misinformed about scientific subjects; in the above quote, for example, he says "The atomic energy works wholly on total combustibility," which I'm afraid is meaningless; combustion is a chemical reaction, not nuclear, and the nuclear reaction is far from "total" in any sense of the word. He said many things that are beyond his training or exposure. Best to realize his limitations and find out for yourself from people and sources that are expert and accurate about scientific matters.

krsna · 06-18-2008, 09:26 AM

A Blast from the Past
BY: SUN STAFF

Jun 17, CANADA (SUN) — Atomic ruins found in Jodphur from millennia ago may be nuclear blast described in Mahabharat.

As concerns escalates about potential for the use of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, it's interesting to consider discoveries in our recent history, which indicate that nuclear war on planet earth is not a new phenomenon. Several years ago, a report was issued in the UK's World Island Review about a mysterious discovery in Rajasthan of an ancient city that appears to have been leveled by an atomic blast… many thousands of years ago. A construction team discovered the site while preparing to build a housing development near Jodhpur.

According to the report, a heavy layer of radioactive ash was found in a three square mile area around the building site. According to World Island Review, the area concealed "an ancient city where evidence shows an atomic blast dating back thousands of years, from 8,000 to 12,000 years, destroyed most of the buildings and probably a half-million people. One researcher estimates that the nuclear bomb used was about the size of the ones dropped on Japan in 1945," said the newspaper.

Soon after the discovery, the area became highly suspect as being the cause of a high rate of birth defects and cancer in the region. "The levels of radiation there have registered so high on investigators' gauges that the Indian government has now cordoned off the region," said the newspaper. Construction was halted while a five member team, led by Lee Hundley, conducted further investigations.

The Mahabharata mentions just such an historic blast event, which some believe may be the Rajasthan blast site. Descriptions in the Mahabharata include the following:

"…A single projectile charged with all the power in the Universe... an incandescent column of smoke and flame as bright as 10,000 suns rose in all its splendor...it was an unknown weapon, an iron thunderbolt, a gigantic messenger of death which reduced to ashes an entire race.

The corpses were so burned as to be unrecognizable. Their hair and nails fell out, pottery broke without any apparent cause, and the birds turned white.
After a few hours, all foodstuffs were infected. To escape from this fire, the soldiers threw themselves into the river."

Archeologist Francis Taylor told the World Island Review that he had translated some of the etchings in nearby temples, which suggest that the local devotees prayed to be spared from the great light that was coming to lay ruin to the city. Taylor remarked, "It's so mind boggling to imagine that some civilization had nuclear technology before we did. The radioactive ash adds credibility to the ancient Indian records that describe atomic warfare." Of course, students of the Vedic literatures known that all manner of technologies were previously manifest on the earth planet, and in fact were far more advanced than the perverted reflections known to us today.

Indian historian Kisari Mohan Ganguli commented that the Vedic writings are full of such descriptions, which sound like the atomic blast experienced in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He says references mention fighting sky chariots and 'final weapons', which are described as part of an ancient battle narrated in the Drona Parva section of Mahabharata.

"The passage tells of combat where explosions of final weapons decimate entire armies, causing crowds of warriors with steeds and elephants and weapons to be carried away as if they were dry leaves of trees," says Ganguli.

"Instead of mushroom clouds, the writer describes a perpendicular explosion with its billowing smoke clouds as consecutive openings of giant parasols. There are comments about the contamination of food and people's hair falling out."

The architect of the modern atomic bomb who was in charge of the Manhattan Project, Robert Oppenheimer, was asked by a student after the Manhattan explosion, “How do you feel after having exploded the first atomic bomb on earth?” Oppenheimer’s reply to the question was, “Not the first atomic bomb, but the first atomic bomb in modern times”.

Oppenheimer strongly believed that nuclear weapons were used in ancient India, and he based this conclusion on accurate descriptions of such weapons found in the Mahabharata. He believed that the ancient Vedic weaponry mentioned in Mahabharata matched the modern nuclear weapons he was involved in developing. In the following video clip, Oppenheimer discusses the devastation caused by nuclear blast, referring to Sri Krsna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

Wizard Bill · 09-06-2008, 08:31 AM

This is all bogus; a little investigation will reveal that the names of the archeologists do not refer to real people that could be at the places mentioned at the right times. There is no scientific literature backing up such excavations. It is all fantasy.
If you read the account on abovetopsecret you will see that the entire story above stems from a single entry in 1992; to wit,

Radioactive Ash in Rajasthan, India
Many web sites which also reference the Mahabharata have picked up an interesting story. They claim that according to World Island Review, January 1992 (some say 1997), there is a heavy layer of radioactive ash in Rajasthan, India, covering a three-square mile area, ten miles west of Jodhpur. Further, there are claims that scientists have unearthed an ancient city and evidence of an atomic blast dating back thousands of years, from 8,000 to 12,000 years. A blast is said to have destroyed most of the buildings and probably a half-million people, the bomb used being about the size of the ones dropped on Japan in 1945. Radiation is still so intense that the area is highly dangerous.

The single source of this story seems to be a post on March 8, 1992 to KeelyNet. Rajasthan and Jodhpur are real cities. The problem is, "World Island Review" does not seem to exist. Sri Kisari Mohan Ganguli was probably a real person as he is referenced in many places as a translator of the Mahabharata. According to one person on Amazon, "The third translation, and the only complete one I have, is that by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, published between 1883-1896." If that is correct, 96 years would have passed since Ganguli translated the Mahabharata and the story was written. The story claims that "Historian Kisari Mohan Ganguli says that Indian sacred writings are full of such descriptions, which sound like an atomic blast as experienced in Hiroshima and Nagasaki." The word "says"-- present tense--makes it seem like Ganguli was recently consulted. Instead, it is most likely that he was a long dead in 1992. "Archeologist Francis Taylor" does not connect with any real person in my brief search. Reasonable doubt: This story could be a hoax that spread simply because it supports people's preexisting beliefs.

(the above quote from xenophilia )

Oppenheimer believed no such thing about ancient nuclear warfare, this is a complete fabrication. Sorry. I do physics all day and have met people who worked on the Manhatten project on several occasions, have visited Los Alamos etc etc and there is zero possibility that anyone there believes in ancient nuclear weapons.
A little investigation will show that what I say is correct; the only way to keep believing this hoax is to speak to, and read from the writings of, people who believe in it, and ignore all others. If that's what you want, then no appeal to reality will do any good.

atamananda · 09-07-2008, 10:38 AM

First thing is that the events written and the description of wars in Mahabharat could have happened in some other plane (lokas). So searching for physical evidences will be futile.
The thing is that people should keep in mind that Ancient Indian Civilization didnt believe only on physical aspect of life.Infact many people at that time could dematerialize their body into some other plane.
So all discussions are useless