Have we been there before ?
India’s recent successful launching by ISRO of the Mars exploratory satellite Mangalyaan, makes us proud of our scientific and technological prowess, as well as the resourcefulness of our scientific and engineering community. Our current space program combined with long range missile capability gives us a sense of pride in India’s technological prowess. India is now a member of an elite group of nations that have indigenously developed satellites as well as the rocket technology necessary to place satellites into space in predetermined orbits.
The Vedic conception of time is that time moves in cycles of diminishing periods, namely, Satya-yuga, Dvapara-yuga, Treta-yuga, and Kaliyuga. At the end of Kali-yuga, there is the advent of a new Satya-yuga. The third canto of the Srimad- Bhagavatam states that the duration of the present Kali-yuga is 432,000 years, of which 5000 years have passed. There is still a period of 427,000 years remaining for Kali-yuga to end, and for the start of another new cycle. The four yugas progress in diminishing durations of time, with Kali-yuga being the shortest. When we consider the Vedic system of time progression in cycles, it is easy to understand that man has at some point in distant history been scientifically advanced as much as, or even more, than where we stand at present in terms of scientific advancement.
Deciphering the Vedic Age
The ancient Vedic literature of India detail a worldwide civilization with interplanetary connections, that thrived at a time most modern historians would have us believe that humans existed as hunters gatherers, or had not yet come into being. The Vedic civilization, centered in India, employed technologies based on understanding of not only the physical elements and laws, but also more subtle material and conscious elements. All of these factors were recognized to have as their central source, a supreme conscious intelligence. Where modern science sees only ordinary matter and its transformations, the Vedic perspective saw the action of the supreme conscious intelligence behind everything, and fashioned a way of life that focused less on domination and exploitation over matter, and more on elevating each individual conscious self to its original pure state in relation to the Supreme Conscious Self, God.
As the Vedic scientific overview saw time progression as cyclic rather than linear, they clearly recognized that what goes away comes back again. After life there is death, after which there is life again (Gita 2.27). Thus there can be nothing new under the sun. Everything goes away and then comes back, and this keeps repeating time after time, eons after eons. Hence, why pay too much attention to the sequence of mundane everyday events on the revolving wheel of existence? It is much better to concentrate on exemplary lifestyles, especially those that directly foster freedom from the wheel of time.
India’s past spiritual prowess is manifested by the great alternative religions which originated in this land, such as Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. India has historically proved also that its spiritual prowess took in its stride alternate religious streams to be duly respected and tolerated. Visitors belonging to other denominations such as Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam were also given shelter and solace in Vedic India, and allowed to profess and perpetuate their faith at different points in India’s long and chequered history, indicating a spiritual maturity, tolerance and sophistication unparalleled in human history.
Vedic Astronomy
The Vedic Universe, as painstakingly described in the Srimad- Bhagavatam, can provide an amazingly accurate map of our solar system. When seen in perspective, the cosmos described in the Srimad- Bhagavatam presents distances between astronomical bodies that strikingly approximate the calculations of present day scientists. How could the ancient Vedic sages come so close in their descriptions and calculations – without presumably possessing our present technology?
Interestingly, there is a unique project in West Bengal, called Temple of Vedic Planetarium (TOVP), at Mayapur, West Bengal. Being constructed under the auspices of ISKCON, and slated for inauguration in 2015, this towering structure shall include a 200 seat planetarium, 3D computerized graphics, and other modern tools. The exhibits will take the visitor through a tour of the Vedic cosmos of higher and lower realms and beings. With this project, ISKCON will demonstrate to pilgrims the worthiness of Vedic cosmology and astronomy.
Vedic Technology and Mystic Power
In Vedic literature we find references to:
· aircraft and flight
· vivid descriptions of advanced military technology
· earth wars and star wars
· mystic and psychic powers far superior to what contemporary humans can achieve
· planets inhabited by beings with varying levels of ability and consciousness
· interplanetary travel via aircraft
· interplanetary travel via personal yogic power
Vedic technology does not resemble our world of nuts and bolts, or even microchips. We might label Vedic technology as psychic based. Mystic power, in the form of sonic vibration, plays a major role. The right sounds, vibrated as a mantra, can launch terrible weapons, directly kill, transport persons, or create exotic aircraft. The word vimana, aircraft, is ubiquitous in Vedic literature. Throughout the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Bhagavatam, these flying devices appear. According to the Vedic texts, different manner of beings pilot these aircraft. On different planets, the aircraft are of different types. The Vedic perspective is that on a gross planet such as Earth, the aircraft are gross machines. On planets where more subtle beings reside, the aircraft are subtly powered by mantras.
The Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.23.41) describes the space adventures of Kardama Muni who took his wife Devahuti on an interplanetary pleasure tour. The devas were considered the standard for luxury and prowess in flight. Kardama Muni, though an earthling, had excelled the devas in their own specialty, and had taken Devahuti on a tour of the devas’ special vacation spots throughout the universe. Are there similarities between the old and the new? Vivid imagination of the ancient sages? If it were indeed imagination, we must concede that they had perfect foresight.
Where do we Stand Today in the Vast Cosmic Arena?
There was a time, going by Vedic clues, that man was even more, rather, far more advanced than he is today. A massive palace cannot stand in the way of the ravages of time. Great kingdoms decline and disappear over time. Civilizations are totally erased from the face of the Earth. Time the killer, time the regenerator, time the equalizer, time the game changer, time the only controller of an ever changing material reality ( Gita 11.32).
ISRO plans to launch a number of new generation Earth Observation Satellites in the near future. It will also undertake the development of new launch vehicles and spacecraft. It has plans to send unmanned missions to Mars and Near-Earth Objects. It has planned 58 missions during 2012-17; 33 satellites missions in next two years, and 25 launch vehicle missions thereafter, costing 20,000 crore (US$ 3.4 billion). In the historical context therefore, and in view of other pressing problems being faced, is this expenditure justified?
We have been there before, and much further as well, further than we can even imagine. Our Vedic forebears could muster up immense power by the use of sonic technology or mantras. In spite of possessing immense technological capabilities to build pleasure palaces for themselves, spaceships, rockets and missiles, they considered these activities mundane and concentrated more on spiritual prowess and enlightenment, and were closer to the ultimate truth than we are today, several millennia down the line.
Acknowledgement : Devamrita Swami – Searching for Vedic India
Gautam Saha graduated in chemical engineering from IIT Bombay and holds a diploma in Export Management. He has been involved in business development and investment in a few African and Asian countries and is ex-CEO of the Indo-Angola Chamber of Commerce & Industry. He is guest speaker at Mumbai University’s Centre for African Studies and a frequent contributor BTG.