Exopolitics Journal
3:4 (June, 2011). ISSN 1938-1719
www.exopoliticsjournal.com
Come Carpentier de Gourdon,
“
Indian Cosmology Revisited in the Light of Current Facts
”
280
ashes, the
Varunastra triggers diluvian rains which flood an entire country, the
Suryastra creates a
blazing light that blinds and paralyses all who see it, the Vayavastra unleashes tornado-like blasts of
air that can overthrow the strongest buildings and ravage the landscape, the sanmohana induces the
target population or army into a collective trance or hallucination while the Tvastra triggers such
confusion and panic that those exposed to it may fight with each other to the death without reason.
The Sudarshan chakra (or fiery wheel) of Vishnu is irresistibly destructive but can only be used
once because on second launch it boomerangs and can annihilate he who shoots it as well as his
troop. It is an “intelligent” missile as the name sudarshan (all seeing) indicates and that feature
irresistibly brings to mind the celestial wheel “covered with eyes” described by Ezechiel in his
Biblical Prophecy. The kaumodaki is Visnu’s mace whose effects are also devastating and
irresistible. The Indravajra is a beam of searing light, a “laser” thunderbolt which is directed and
shot through a circular shield acting as a sort of reflector. Finally the Narayanastra, the
Pashupatastra and above all the
Brahmastra are so lethal that they extinguish all life in the area in
which they are unleashed and cause long-term and fatal damage to the ecosystem.
There is no need to remark that many of the features and effects of those mythical weapons are very
similar to the capabilities of the ballistic, chemical, meteorological, electromagnetic and nuclear
arms that have been developed by the most advanced military powers or are envisioned by strategic
planners and scientists for the future. Though the stock response of academics is that such
descriptions merely reflect the breathless imagination of the ancient bards, the abundance of
uncannily technical allusions appears to indicate the transmission of a very old experiential
knowledge. For instance, in the Mahabharata, Krishna, when his opponent Saubha makes himself
invisible on the battlefield, shoots at him an arrow or missile that is guided by sound to hit its target.
Vimanas are of many sorts and are described throughout the long and rich period of Indian ancient
and medieval literature. In the Mahabharata their builders are said to be the yavanas, a western
people that has been identified with the Greeks by many later sources but that probably refers to a
large family of Western Indo-European nations or tribes. However, the minority religion of Jainism
which is extremely ancient, has recorded that some of its Enlightened Guides (Tirthankaras) came
to the world on jayanta vimanas. In later texts some twenty-five shapes of vimanas of diverse sizes,
Exopolitics Journal
3:4 (June, 2011). ISSN 1938-1719
www.exopoliticsjournal.com
Come Carpentier de Gourdon,
“
Indian Cosmology Revisited in the Light of Current Facts
”
281
from the tiny to the gigantic (celestial cities) are described, some in fairly great details. In the
language of architecture, a vimana is a tower or building that has seven stories and is the specific
name of the spire which arises above the sanctum (garbhabriha: house of the egg or germ) of a
temple. More recent Samskrit treatises such as the Visnudharmottaram, the Aparajitaprachcha, the
Abhilasirtharta Chintamani and the
Narada and
Kasyapa Silpa Sastras contain information on the
construction and performance specifics of Vimanas.
The best known source, the Samarangana
Sutradhara, attributed to 11
th
century King
Bhoja of Dhara and his vast scientific and
literary academy has the following to say on
those space vehicles: “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 mercury, which sets the driving
whirlwind in motion, a man sitting inside may
travel a great distance in the sky. The
movements of a vimana are such that it can
vertically ascend, vertically descend, or move
standing forwards or backwards. With the help
of machines, human beings can fly through the
air and heavenly beings can come down to
earth” (chapter 1, 95-100). The same text describes bio-mechanical robots used as guards and
soldiers (ibid., 101-107),
From the aforesaid we can conclude that Indian sacred, historical and technical literature knows of
many different worlds and dimensions and of several types of beings that generally move back and
forth among those dimensions, just as we probably do unconsciously. Ancient India also kept the
memory - perhaps refreshed by occasional or frequent observations – of artificially built spacecraft