Fwd: Search for warfare recipes in India's ancient texts

12-20-2002, 07:28 PM

>From: Bal Ram Singh
>To: bsingh
>Subject: Search for warfare recipes in India's ancient texts >Date: Sat, 14 Dec
2002 13:01:22 -0500 > >Dear Friends, > >Many eastern and western intellectuals
have sifted through India's >ancient texts in search for wisdom and
enlightenment. Many including >Mahatma Gandhi used them to assert their
struggles for justice and >peace. > >Times seems to have truly changed. Ancient
books are now being >examined (see below a BBC report dated May 14, 2002) for
recipes of >war, including chemical and biological warfare agents. The book in
>question was written by Kautilya (also known as Chanakya) who was >the Guru to
India's Emperor Chandragupta Maurya prior to 300 BC. >Emperor Chadragupta
Mauraya was not an ordinary emperor, nor was his >Guru Kautilya. Both of them
were responsible for the defeat of >Alexander the Great (known as Sikandar in
India) and his appointees. > >Kautilya was an Acharya (professor) in world's
first known >university, Taskshila (or Taxila) which is now located in
Pakistan, >not too far from the Afghanistan border. His book Kautilya's
>Arthashastra (translated in English as Economics, which is obviously >very
limited translation) is filled with social, political, >economic, and spiritual
and medical wisdom. > >Those days professors were more than teachers of books,
or worse >constructionists of theories quoting others. Writing of books was
>mostly based on the practice of their philosophy (hypothesis, >thesis,
theories, principles, and laws) by themselves and their >close associates. >
>Kautilya is believed to have written his book after completing his
>responsibility as a teacher, strategist, and leader, and after >taking leave
from his day to day worldly responsibilities. In other >words, it was his
retirement effort while living in remote >mountains. At least in his case, his
real scholarship started after >his retirement. > >Kautilya jumped into the
fray to help fix anarchy that was >widespread in those days at least in his
part of the world due to >irresponsible ways of the King at that time, and
ended his mission >only after defeating Alexander the Great. His struggle began
with >speaking out strongly against the King and actively opposing him. > >From
Kautilya's life there may be lessons for many of us in the >academia. One must
take a stand in the interest of larger good of >the society, and there is a lot
more strength in the principles of a >self-practicing professor (or
intellectuals in general) than we may >realize. > >Let's be bold in speaking
out for truth. > >Bal Ram >
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1986595.stm >BBC News >Tuesday, 14
May, 2002, 11:13 GMT 12:13 UK >India defence looks to ancient text >The book
includes a special diet for soldiers in combat >By Shaikh Azizur Rahman >in
Bombay >Indian scientists are turning to an ancient Hindu text in their >search
for the secrets of effective stealth warfare. >They believe the book, the
Arthashastra, written more than 2,300 >years ago, will give Indian troops the
edge on their enemies. > >India's Defence Minister George Fernandes has
approved funding for >the project, and told parliament recently that
experiments had >begun. >The research is being carried out by experts from the
Defence >Research and Development Organisation and scientists from the
>University of Pune and National Institute of Virology in western >India. >
>The book includes the recipe for a single meal that will keep a >soldier
fighting for a month, methods of inducing madness in the >enemy as well as
advice on chemical and biological warfare. > >Powders and remedies >The book
was written by military strategist Kautilya, also known as >Chanakya and
Vishnugupta, a prime minister in the court of India's >first emperor
Chandragupta Maurya, in the fourth century BC. >The author was an adviser to
India's first emperor >"All of us are excited about the possibilities and do
not for a >moment think that the idea is crazy," said Professor SV Bhavasar, a
>space scientist who has spent many years researching the >Arthashastra. >
>"Decoding ancient texts is not an easy task but we are very hopeful >of
success," he added. >According to a Pune University report, the book says that
soldiers >fed with a single meal of special herbs, milk and clarified butter
>can stay without food for an entire month. >Shoes made of camel skin smeared
with a serum made from the flesh of >owls and vultures can help soldiers walk
hundreds of miles during a >war without feeling tired. >A powder made from
fireflies and the eyes of wild boar can endow >soldiers with night vision. >
>Chemical warfare > >Kautilya wrote in the Arthashastra that a ruler could use
any means >to attain his goal, and Book XIV touches on aspects of chemical and
>biological warfare. > >Scientists say the text can help in modern warfare >The
book says that smoke from burning a powder made from the skin >and excreta of
certain reptiles, animals and birds can cause madness >and blindness in the
enemy. >The book also provides the formula to create a lethal smoke by >burning
certain species of snakes, insects and plant seeds in >makeshift laboratories. >
>"Our focus at present is on how humans can control hunger for longer >durations
and walk for longer period without experiencing fatigue, >Project leader Dr VS
Ghole, head of the environmental engineering >department of Pune university,
said the team was now focusing on the >methods of controlling hunger and
increasing stamina. "Once we have >made some headway we will go into
researching Kautilya's notes on >night vision and other fields," he said. >
>Professor SV Bhavasar said the team also had plans to research other >ancient
Hindu texts. >These include manuscripts which "claim to provide secrets of
>manufacturing planes which can not be destroyed by any external >force, could
be motionless in the sky and even invisible to enemy >planes." > > >Bal Ram
Singh, Ph.D. >Director, Center for Indic Studies >University of Massachusetts
Dartmouth >285 Old Westport Road >Dartmouth, MA 02747 > >Phone: 508-999-8588
>Fax: 508-999-8451 >Email: bsingh (AT) umassd (DOT) edu > >Internet address:
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