BJP TODAY

June 1--15, 2003 - Vol. 12, No. 11

Mahabharat: Myth or a legacy of the lost civilization
By Bhupendra Gandhi

The serialization of HINDU religion's epic poem MAHABHARAT in 97 episodes by BBC has aroused immense interest among Hindus and also among indigenous, intellectual people of Britain. After the series was over, numerious other plays and serials were produced in Europe as well as in America.

It is also being discussed in every household that may have the slightest knowledge of Hindu religion.

It is interesting to know how the Western world try to explain about the civilization that may be a thousand years ahead of our present achievement, our advancement.

The following paragraph is from the " Unexplained World Mysteries" by Pam Beasant and published by Collins.

" The Mahabharat is a long Indian poem, written during the second centuary AD. In it, there are many accounts of battles which seem to contain refrences to weapons and equipment which were not invented until the 20th Centuary. The hero, Lord Krishna, for instance, uses arrows that behave like a anti-ballistic missiles. Lord Krishna also kills his enemies with what sounds like Smart Bomb, which seeks out it's target, using sound waves. Some of the equipments are so futuristic that they are still to be invented. The most frightening part of the poem seems to describe so accurately the effects of a nuclear explosion. It tells how the hero Ghatotkach threw missiles against three cities, from his flying machine. It contained all the power of the universe and rose up in a single column after exploding, destroying every thing in the cities. The poem further describes what sounds like the after effects of a nuclear radiation. Hair and nail fell out, food was contaminated and people threw themselves into the water to try to wash off the poison. The accuracy of this description makes people believe that the poet had a vision of terrible weapons we possess today."

Well, how could any one describe so accurately the advance of science in two thousand years' time, unless it was the description of the war that took place some five thousand years ago and the knowledge was passed on, from generation to generation, until it was recorded in a poem form?

Could it be difficult for the Christian European nations to accept the existence of a Hindu Asian civilization with such an advance technology, which even to-day the West is unable to match?

Such an advanced scientific capability defies logical explanation.

Could it be possible that a " Star War " type third world war completely destroyed such an advanced civilization, leaving only the pocket of human existence which had to start from scratch and it took some five thousand years to advance to where we are to-day?

The word Baan (arrow) is very similar to word bomb. Could to-day's weapons be the legacy of the past? Could Agni baan be atom bomb and Varsha baan be a rain bomb not yet invented, to clear the atmosphere, of the radiation fall out? What about the baan that darkens the sky and plunges the day into perpetual darkness, lasting indefinately? Could it be earthquake, a volcanic bomb which releases dust particles on a very large scale, obstructing the sunlight and plunging the earth into perpetual darkness, destroying practically every living thing except those people who were fortunate enough to take shelter in a nuclear bunker? Well, such an explosion occured some thirty million years ago, when a large comet collided with the earth, releasing billions of dust particles and leaving earth in complete darkness, for hundreds of years, bringing ice age and destroying all living things, including DINOSAURS ?

At least that is the explanation put forward by the scientists , for the disappearance of dinosaurs who once monopolised the world. Some of the weapons used in the war of Mahabharat are not even on the drawing board to-day. What about the Naglok, a civilization that build their cities under the sea? Could it be a foresight, to avoid being annihilated by a nuclear war? What type of an advance technology one would need to build a city beneath the sea?

Could civilization of Mahabharat be some thousand years ahead of us? Even inter planetary travel is mentioned in the poem of Mahabharat.

When the war was over, Pandavas were so devastated physically, mentally and morally, at the destruction of unimaginable proportion to their cities and the tragic loss of lives of the people they loved and admired most, including the father of the nation and a grandfather like figure of Bhisma Pitamaha, their noble elder brother Karna and all their children except one, that there was no joy in their victory, only a relief that truth has triumphed over evil.

The five brothers, left every thing behind and went to the highest peak in the Himalayas and left this earth for a while, may be until the radiation was washed away from the atmosphere? Could it be a space travel ?

It is the fervent wish of the American theme park industry, to create an illusory palace to match the one built by Pandavas in their capital city Indraprasth. A visit to this magic palace by Duryodhan was the cause of the greatest conflict ever recorded in the annals of the human history.

In this ilusory palace, full of laser effects, the evil Duryodhan, walked straight into a swimming pool, imagining it to be a beautifully designed marble floor and then lifted his dhoti (trouser) to walk on a marble floor believing it to be a shallow lake. This gave rise to the famous phrase, " Andha Ka Beta Andha " and planted the seeds of the battle to come. The entire account of this eighteen day war, was narrated by Sanjay, to the sightless king Dhrutrashtra, in his own palace, watching the whole episode on TV perhaps?

The most advanced and amazing weapon used in this war, was the Sudershan Chakra, Lord Krishna's favourite weapon. Could it be today's Tomahawk Cruise missiles so devastaingly used by USA in Gulf and Serbian war and now on Afghanistan?

The Tomahawk cruise missle is the most spectacular and technically advanced weapon ever used in a war. It's highly complicated radar and guidance system can be accurate to within a few yards, over fifteen hundred miles range, fired even from a submarine, while submerged some one thousand feet under sea water. The missile hugs the ground as it flies, searching it's way from the Digital Terrian Maps, 3-D pictures showing every contour, with satellite plotting every hill, every tall building and street corners. The missile is so accurate that it could be fired from the island of Malta and make it land into the fountain at Trafalgar square, avoiding all the high rise buildings. Could Sudershan Chakra be towmrrow's Cruise missile, even more advanced and sophisticated, yet a fraction in size, seeking out not only military targets but human being as well? Such a weapon we may not be capable of developing for another hundred years or so?

The Western countries could not be convinced about such an advanced Eastern Hindu civilization, without any physical evidence. But as we have often experinced, truth is stranger than friction, as the recent events have proved.

May be we should seek the evidence in the ruins of Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Could any thing survive an attack, a million times more destructive than the atom bombs dropped on these Japanese cities? Only a very few and privileged people, in isolated pockets, perhaps in underground bunkers, may have survived this mahasangram, to pass down the details of this stranger than fiction storey of Maha-Sangram, the mother of all battles, the battle of Mahabharat.

Every Asian of whatever nationality and religious affiliation should take pride in the storey of Ramayana and Mahabharat, that such an advanced civilization existed in Asia, some five thousand years before the birth of the Holy Child Jesus Christ, who gave us Christianity, the noblest religion to emerge since Buddhism.

Well, your constructive comments please.

The Ramayana describes the strategy adopted by Indrijit, son of Ravana, of fighting Lord Rama from behind the clouds. A little more research is necessary in this case too.

Yours sincerely
AG