A few days ago, we were offered proof that the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and birth of Karna is proof that "genetic science" was advanced. "Plastic surgery" [sic] was also advanced in pre-historic India, as witnessed in the transplanting of an elephant's head on to a human body.
These procedures require a grasp of multiple technologies and a deep understanding of basic science. No modern scientist is capable of grafting a pachyderm's head on to a human body. Most say this is impossible. Even IVF is a relatively new procedure - the first (modern) test-tube baby was born only 36 years ago.
Many other examples of advanced technology are detailed in the epics. Flying chariots (possibly powered by fusion drives); weapons of mass destruction; miracle drugs curing everything including death; communication between intelligent animals and humans.
Quite a few of these wonders of ancient science are corroborated by several sources. The Greeks, for instance, have multiple descriptions of flying chariots, and so do the Egyptians. The Greeks and the Egyptians also describe composite creatures like the sphinx, the minotaur and the chimaera. The ancient Egyptians had an entire array of Gods with human bodies and animal heads. The Greeks also described miracle drugs used to resurrect the dead.
The biblical prophet Ezekiel describes the "Chariot of Fire". The Norse legends also describe flying chariots. In the case of the Norse God Thor, the vehicle is powered by goats, which can be eaten and miraculously resurrected as required. Obviously, these goats are cloned and regrown. We have rediscovered this technique with Dolly the sheep. But the Norsemen could apparently clone full-grown goats every night. We haven't managed to accelerate clone regeneration to that extent.
Flying vehicles were apparently common enough in pre-history, if not a dime a dozen. So were weapons of mass destruction and also precision, remote-controlled devices like the Sudarshan Chakra. Sodom and Gomorrah, for instance, appear to have been razed by nuclear weapons, with terrible radioactive effects. Atlantis was also drowned in a day.
Thor's hammer Mjölnir can raze buildings. Or it can be used as a precision targeted weapon, much like the Shakti energy pulse weapon that knocked out Lakshman, or the Indrastra that Karna used to kill Ghatotkacha. The Bible also describes a precision bio-weapon, which Moses used to kill only the first-born of Egyptian families. These are beyond the ken of modern science.
There is evidence that some of these artefacts survived into the modern era. A 17th century French adventurer called Cyrano de Bergerac made a voyage to the moon, preceding Neil Armstrong by over 300 years. Another Frenchman, Jules Verne, made a special study of these ancient sciences and described, among other things, a submarine designed by an Indian prince, and genetic experiments melding human and animal DNA.
It is a great pity that this detailed scientific knowledge has disappeared. We were left only with the wonderful poetry, with little in the way of helpful hints for scientists. The manuals and textbooks utterly vanished. Even the vocabulary vanished. There isn't a passing reference to DNA sequencing, or to fusion power in any text predating the last century. Where are the climate-controlled gene-banks where genetic material could be stored? Why is there no trace of the assembly lines where flying chariots were put together?
This lack of physical evidence is very mysterious given that eminent men of science and historians like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dinanath Batra assure us these things were part and parcel of our ancient heritage. How could such vast scientific-industrial complexes disappear?
One clue rests perhaps in ancient rituals where the use of hallucinogens is documented. Human beings have great powers of imagination and they have been using drugs to enhance that power of fantasy since antiquity. Sometimes poets imagine magical things. Eventually, in a reversal of Clarke's Law, when technology becomes sufficiently advanced, it may turn the magic into reality.
Twitter: @devangshudatta
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