[The report reproduced below at sl. no. I clearly asserts that the so-called "Vyamanika Shastra'', or "Vimana Samhita", is just not bunkum, it's also an act of forgery. Yet, this Indian Science Congress opted to put it on a pedestal. And, that's how the wind is blowing these days. Mercifully, at least a section of the delegates protested.]
I/III. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/science-meet-didnt-hear-40-years-ago-iisc-debunked-flying-claims/99/ Science meet didn't hear: 40 years ago, IISc debunked flying claims Written by Johnson T A | New Delhi | Posted: January 6, 2015 4:52 am | Updated: January 6, 2015 6:31 am At the Indian Science Congress on Sunday, at a special session called "Vedic Science through Sanskrit'', a former pilot, Captain Anand J Bodas, claimed that aircraft technology existed in India thousands of years before the Wright brothers' first flight in 1903. To substantiate his claim that aeronautical engineering in India dates back to Vedic times, Bodas referred to a book, Vyamanika Shastra, that claims to document ancient sage Maharishi Bharadwaja's musings on aviation technology. What was not mentioned, however, was that exactly 40 years ago, a group of five young Indian scientists from the aeronautical engineering and mechnical engineering departments of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore had debunked such claims after conducting a thorough study. The group, led by H S Mukunda, a now retired professor of aerospace engineering from IISc, had found that none of the technologies documented in the Vymanika Shashtra would allow an object to fly. They also found that the Vyamanika Shastra was based on a figment of imagination of a man who lived in the 20th century, and not the ancient sage Maharishi Bharadwaja. ***In a paper titled "Critical Study of the Work Vyamanika Shastra'', published in the journal Scientific Opinion in 1974, Mukunda, S M Deshpande, H R Nagendra, A Prabhu and S P Govindaraju said: "The planes described are at the best poor concoctions rather than expressions of something real. None of the planes has properties or capabilities of being flown; the geometries are unimaginably horrendous from the point of view of flying; and the principles of propulsion make then resist rather than assist flying."*** [Emphasis added.] ***Following futile attempts to establish the Vedic origins of the claims in the Vymanika Shastra , the scientists found that the book was in fact "brought into existence sometime between 1900 and 1922 by Pandit Subbaraya Shastry'', an interpreter of Sanskrit shlokas whose work was documented by an aide before his death in 1944 as the Vyamanika Shastra. The work, according to the paper by the IISc scientists, was discovered in 1951 by A M Joyser, the founder of an International Academy of Sanskrit Research at Mysore, who published it.*** [Emphasis added.] While the science of aeronautics requires understanding of "aerodynamics, aeronautical structures, propulsive devices, materials, and metallurgy'', the Vyamanika Shashtra paid "little or no emphasis on aerodynamics'', said the IISc paper. "It is worth pointing out that that the history of aeronautics (western) in regard to production of heavier- than-air craft is studded with initial failures, significantly traceable to a non-understanding of aerodynamics,'' it said. "What we feel unfortunate... is that some people tend to eulogise and glorify whatever they can find about our past, even without valid evidence. In the absence of any evidence, efforts will be made to produce part of the evidence in favour of antiquity,'' the scientists noted. "Anybody who talks about these things has the responsibility to prove these things as well -- at least on a small scale,'' Prof Mukunda told The Indian Express. "If you see the drawings presented with the Vedic papers, it is grotesque. What is this nonsense? We went out of the way to find some substance for it at that time. We put in enormous effort. We have not stated it in the paper, but we went to great extent to find the origin of that book,'' he said. "I don't know where we are going by glorifying the past. It makes sense if the ancient knowledge is put to use, not otherwise. In a way, I regret doing all that work to write the paper. Ultimately it seems to have no meaning,'' said Prof Mukunda. "Look, if my father was an outstanding man and I am ordinary, what can I do by carrying on about what a great man my father was? What purpose is served by going on about that?" II/III. http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/01/pilot-claims-india-invented-airplane-7000-years-ago/ Pilot Claims India Invented Airplane 7,000 Years Ago January 6, 2015 Paul Seaburn Forget the Wright Brothers and the Apollo program. A paper presented this week at the Indian Science Conference by retired pilot Captain Anand Bodas claims that India invented airplanes 7,000 years ago and they could not only fly but stop in mid-air, move in any direction and travel to other planets. Bodas, a retired pilot, trainer and one of the two authors of the paper "Ancient Indian Aviation Technology," attributes the first aircraft to the Maharshi Bharadwaj. Here's his description of what the Maharishi was flying: The basic structure was of 60 by 60 feet and in some cases, over 200 feet. They were jumbo planes. The ancient planes had 40 small engines. Today's aviation does not know even of flexible exhaust system. Bodas claims the ancient Indians had a radar system called "rooparkanrahasya" that displayed the actual outline of the aircraft. Pilots drank the milk of buffalo, cows and sheep and wore clothing made from underwater vegetation. He says all of this information and more was written by Maharishi Bharadwaj in the book Vimana Samhita. If a 7,000-year-old airplane wasn't enough, a previous speaker claimed that ancient Indian mathematicians invented algebra and discovered the Pythagorean theorem but credit went to other countries. ***What's going on here? The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA), host of the conference, is an organization of over 30,000 scientists whose objective is to "advance and promote the cause of science in India." Many of the scientists in attendance signed an online petition objecting to Bodas' presentation, calling it a "pseudo-science talk." They believe it was endorsed by the country's new Hindu nationalist rulers to foster national pride.*** [Emphasis added.] Addressing a symposium on "Ancient Indian Sciences Through Sanskrit," computer scientist Vijay Bhatkar disagreed. We observe that it is for the very first time in 102 years at the Indian Science Congress, that we have discussed ancient science. Why did it take 100 years for us to do so? The first question to be addressed is, why should we study, research, investigate ancient Indian sciences. This should have been an integral part of every Congress. What do you think? Did Indians invent airplanes? Should the ancient Indian texts be studied as science? III. http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/others/Ancient-sciences-exhibition-Helmet-on-Mars-cow-bacteria-to-make-gold-veg-diet-and-peace/articleshow/45756485.cms Ancient sciences exhibition: Helmet on Mars, cow bacteria to make gold, veg diet and peace By Vikrant Dadawala, Mumbai Mirror | Jan 5, 2015, 08.41 AM IST The exhibition accompanying the symposium on `Ancient Sciences through Sanskrit' on Sunday created a stir, with representatives of one of the invited teams claiming that a helmet left behind on Mars was proof of aviation capabilities of ancient Indians, and that cows possessed a bacteria that turned anything it consumed into gold. On Saturday, the same venue had hosted talks by a Nobel Laureate and a molecular biology professor. Kiran Naik, along with three colleagues from the International Indian University in Khedbramha, Gujarat, was demonstrating the Institute's Veda-inspired anti-hail and anti-fog rockets that run on sugar. Surrounded by illustrations of Vedic verses on aviation, Naik claimed that a helmet found on Mars was proof of ancient India's aviation technologies. "In the Mahabharata, two kings were fight ing on Mars when the helmet of one of them fell off.Now, if we Google `Helmet on Mars', you will get a full description with photographic evidence, published by NASA," said Naik, who teaches Vedic sciences and aviation.He also claimed that a bacteria found in cows could turn anything it consumed into gold. "The cow carries a bacteria in its body. Whatever it consumes will turn it into 24-carat gold. This bacteria is known to NASA also," Naik said. One of the books exhibited by the Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage (Thiruvananthapuram) claimed the Vedas proved scientific demerits of non-vegetarian food. ***Not all visitors were impressed. "While one must always investigate and critically look at the foundations of science in ancient India, it's quite another thing to claim that all domains of scientific research ever achieved in modernity actually came from ancient India. In my opinion, some of these displays are antihistorical and counter the very spirit of scientific inquiry," said Arvindhan Nagarajan, a research scholar at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.*** [Emphasis added.] -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
