Vimana

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Vimana

(Artistic rendition)

A Vimana or Vimaana, according to some, is an ancient type of flying machine used by an advanced civilization believed to be described in the Vedic Epics Ramayana and Mahabharata which, according to Hinduism, are dated roughtly 1.2 Million years ago and 30,000 years ago respectively. [1]

1 Popular concept
2 Power source
3 Historical appearances
4 Sources
- 4.1 Ancient
- 4.2 Modern
5 Skeptic's views
6 See also
7 Notes
8 External sources
9 Relevant discussion threads

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Popular concept

Vimanas are popularly equated with futuristic aircraft capable of operating in space, air or water. In some cases they seem to be warplanes. In an interpretation of a passage from the Mahabharata which originated in Charles Berlitz' book Mysteries of Strange and Forgotten Worlds and was popularized by David Hatcher Childress' Technology of the Gods: The Incredible Sciences of the Ancients they are used to deliver a Bhramaastra, a weapon eerily similar to a nuclear bomb [2].

Gurkha, flying a swift and powerful vimana hurled a single projectile charged with the power of the Universe. An incandescent column of smoke and flame, as bright as ten thousand suns, rose with all its splendor. It was an unknown weapon, an iron thunderbolt, a gigantic messenger of death, which reduced to ashes the entire race of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas. The corpses were so burned as to be unrecognizable. Hair and nails fell out; Pottery broke without apparent cause, and the birds turned white. ...After a few hours all foodstuffs were infected... ...to escape from this fire the soldiers threw themselves in streams to wash themselves and their equipment." Dense arrows of flame, like a great shower, issued forth upon creation, encompassing the enemy... A thick gloom swiftly settled upon the Pandava hosts. All points of the compass were lost in darkness. Fierce wind began to blow upward, showering dust and gravel. Birds croaked madly... the very elements seemed disturbed. The earth shook, scorched by the terrible violent heat of this weapon.

A less ominous version, sans Ghurka and Vimana, is available on Sacred-Texts.com. [3]

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Power source

According to the most popular story, these craft are powered by a poorly understood property of Mercury.

Some have suggested that electromagnetism was used to generate a vortex in a pool of mercury which could power a turbine.

A passage supposedly from an ancient text called Samarangana Sutradhara (supposedly meaning Battlefield Commander) says

Strong and durable must the body of the Vimana be made, like a great flying bird of light material. Inside one must put the mercury engine with its iron heating apparatus underneath. By means of the power latent in the mecrcury which sets the driving whirlwind in motion, a man sitting inside may travel a great distance in the sky. The movements of the Vimana are such that it can vertically ascend, vertically descend, move slanting forwards and backwards. With the help of the machines human beings can fly in the air and heavenly beings can come down to earth

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Historical appearances

Vimanas are claimed to have harrassed Alexander the Great's invasion of India. During a river crossing, it is said that two "silver shields" dove on the army repeatedly, spitting fire by some accounts, an frightened the army's beasts of burden so badly that the crossing was delayed for a day. [4]

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Sources

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Ancient

Vamanas are reported to be the subject of many ancient texts, but regrettably virtually none of them can commonly be verified to dates earlier than the late 19th century, and in most cases, the early 20th. Commonly cited sources and publication history where available include:

Vimanika Shastra: claimed to be penned thousands of years BC, claimed to be rediscovered in 1875 in a Hindu temple, known to be written beginning in 1903, earliest confirmed publication 1918, oldest copy known to exist dates to 1973.
Samarangana Sutradhara: confirmed origin in 12th Century India under King Bhoja. Currently exists only in part. Relevance to aircraft is disputed.
Mahabharata and Ramayana: Vedic texts, confirmed to have been written in the 1st century BC. Astronomical evidence within the text suggests an origin either of 1478 or 3106 BC.
Book Six of the Nine Unknown Men. No historical record is apparent. Modern popularization of the idea has come from Louis Jacolliot, Talbot Mundy, and later Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier Nine Unknown Men.

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Modern

Modern literature about Vimanas abounds, particularly on the internet. David Hatcher Childress' books, his online magazine Nexus, and other endeavors have been particularly influential.

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Skeptic's views

It bears mentioning that Samarangana Sutradhara is actually an architectural work dating to the 11th Century AD, but is an incomplete work as we now know it [5]. The quote given under the "Power Source" Section has not been confirmed to be from this work.

Not coincidentally, a Vimana can mean a temple roof, not a flying machine [6].

There may be a connection to the popular concept of flying vimanas and the fact that the demon-lord Raavana in the Vedic Epic Ramayana had a temple in the sky.

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