In that beautiful palace, Hanuman saw the Pushpakavimana which was a kind of flying machine which looked like a paradise, which had descended on the earth. It was richly decorated with fine works studded with diamonds and other precious stones. Earth, trees, mountains, etc., had been painted on its walls. Hanuman looked at it in total amazement. He was highly impressed by its majestic beauty. It was capable of flying wherever one wanted and it was given by Lord Brahma to Kubera from whom it was usurped by his brother Ravana after defeating him. Hanuman got into it and sat there admiring its beauty. As he looked around he saw a very big palace. The steps of the palace were made of gold and were decorated with precious stones. The pillars were studded with diamonds, pearls, and corals. The palaces were so lofty that they seemed to reach out to the sky. Inside lights shone brightly which were reflected by the ornaments worn by people and which glowed like flames. There were so many ladies sleeping on rich carpets. Most of those ladies had been brought by force by Ravana.
Let me discuss such Vimanas. Did Vimana really
exist? One is led to answer yes. Several ancient Sanskrit texts such as
Ramayana, and Mahabharata mention flying machines or Vimanas. In Ramayana, the Pushpaka Vimana was used to transport people over long distances. There
were also Vimanas that were used on the battlefield. In the epic Mahabharata
also it was used in the war. For instance, Salva who was an ally of Kauravas
used one such machine called Saubha and fought from the sky. It was lord
Krishna who followed his Vimana and destroyed him.
The realization of a Vimana is attributed to the great
rishi Bhardwaj. The Vaimanika Shastra a 4th century BCE Sanskrit text was
found in a temple in 1875. Most of the text is lost but a few chapters were
found. It dealt with Vimanas for long flights, which were supposed to be
powered by solar energy. A description is given of 31 essential parts of these
vehicles and 16 materials were used for construction and which were capable of absorbing light and heat. These Vimana took off vertically like modern
helicopters. It is believed that Indians flew around in the Vimanas. Curiously
the writing found in Mohenjodaro which is yet to be deciphered resembles very
much the ones in Easter Islands! How did they communicate?
Some Sanskrit texts mentioned pulse jets. It seems
that the Nazis had sent a big team of people to Tibet, India, and other places
and took away several ancient manuscripts dealing with such flying machines.
They even developed some pulse jets to start with.
In another Sanskrit work called Samarangana Sutradhara, it
is written that the body must be strong and durable like a flying bird and made
of light material. Some use mercury compounds. It is of interest to mention
that NASA has been experimenting with ion propulsion using mercury!
The Babylonians seem to have been using flying
machines.
What about the practicality of this knowledge? According
to the scholar Ratnakar Mahajan wrote about one Talpade a Marathi scholar
who had studied several ancient texts, such as Vimanachandrika, Yantra Kalpa,
Vimana Bindu, and so on to construct a flying machine. He learned about mercury
engines and the utilization of the Sun's rays (solar energy). Maharaja Sayaji Rao of
Gaekwad of Baroda was his sponsor. In 1895 in Bombay before an audience
headed by the famous Judge Ranade and H.H. Sayaji Rao himself, Talpade set off
his unmanned aircraft called ‘Marutshakti’. It flew to a height of 1500 feet and
then fell down. It is said that it was 8 days before the Wright brothers flew
their airplane. However, the British government warned the Maharaja of Baroda
to stop such flight experiments as they did not like India to develop such
machines which could be used for warfare. Talpade passed away in 1916 an unsung
hero.
It is indeed hard to conceive how the world had lost all
the knowledge of producing flying machines that in the 18th Century CE the
scientific people ruled out flying anything heavier than air!
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