The Anashva Rath Will Run Again

What Prime Minister Narendra Modi means when he says ‘Make in India’ is that it is time we started taking pride in the fact that we have created, manufactured, in the most scientific manner possible, everything possible, everything that could improve our lives. So whether it be the first spacecraft, television or car, or plastic surgery, or rockets there’s nothing that wasn’t conceived, designed and executed by Indians aeons ago. What Modi is saying is that the source of everything is here in India, the inspiration too is here. So come, he is saying to the West, science and spiritualism will go hand in hand in this land.

Over the years, our colonial masters succeeded in creating an inferiority complex in us, which made us crave everything foreign. To my mind, three men are responsible for robbing the glory of India: Karl Marx, who said the only history India has is of kneeling before invaders; Macaulay, who said he’d create black Indians who spoke the English tongue; and Max Mueller who, for money, misinterpreted the Vedas. These three distorted our history, education and culture. India was called a golden sparrow not merely on account of its boundl­ess wealth. It was the strength of our wisdom and the kno­w­ledge of our seers who invented things attributed to the west.

A person who has spent 12 years of his life learning the Vedas is seen as uneducated not only by society, but also by the person himself. Modi is asking the West today to come to India, make use of our wisdom and manufacture according to our scientific knowledge accumulated over centuries. I recommend that you read Pride of India—A Glimpse Into India’s Scientific Heritage. The book provides us precious gems on what we had achieved years ago. And it is not I who am saying all this. I can provide information on how scientists from the West praised India for its contribution to science and technology:

• “Let us sequence the metals required for making an aircraft. Thermal (saumaka), acidic (soundalika) and matters relating to shape (maurtvika). Aircraft technologists say by allowing these three metal categories, 16 varieties of heat-conducting metals come into being.” (Source: Brihad-vimana Shastra, Lohadikaranam, Maharshi Bharadwaj). Besides, who can forget the Pushpaka Vimana, which is men­tioned in the Ramayana. The Pushpaka Vimana was nothing but the spacecraft that people talk about now.
   
• “Mathematics is the science to which Indians have contributed the most. Our decimal system, place notation, numbers 1 through 9, and the ubiquitous 0, are all major Indian contributions to world science. Without them, our modern world of computer sciences, earth-launched satellites, microchips and artificial intelligence would all have been impossible. Zero, the modest and most valuable of all numerals, is the subtle gift of India to mankind.” (Source: An Introduction to India, by Stanley Wolpert).
   
• The generation of electricity in a cell. This was mentioned in the Agasthya Samhita of the 14th century AD.
   
• “Explosives are prepared in different ways, by mixing in varying proportions fire, charcoal, sulphur, potassium nitrate, red arsenic, yellow arsenic, lead oxide, vermillion, steel powder, camphor, lac, turpentine and gum.” (Source: Shukra Nitih, Chapter 4, Section 7).
   
• The Big Bang is the ‘biggest budget universe’ ever, with mind-boggling numbers to dazzle us—a technique pioneered by 5th century AD Indian cosmologists, the first to estimate the age of the earth at more than four billion years.
   
• People talk about cars and take pride in their make. But the motorcar existed during the Vedic period. I have said that the ‘anashva rath’ is a chariot that runs without the aid of horses. There’s mention of it in the Rig Veda.
   
• Tipu Sultan used rockets for the first time. And Mangalyaan (mission to planet Mars) is actually revisiting what our sages had done years ago.
   
• Atomic bombs, which America takes credit for, is credited to India by Andrew Tomas in the Riddles of Ancient Science. He writes: “The sacred writing of ancient India contain descriptions of weapons which resembled atomic bombs. The Mausola Parva of Mahabharat speaks of a thunderbolt—a gigantic messenger of deaths—which red­uced to ashes whole armies and caused the hair and nails of the survivors to fall out. Pots broke without a cause and the birds turned white. In a few hours, all foodstuff was poisoned. The ghastly picture of Hiroshima comes to mind when one reads this ancient text from India.”
   
• Prof Jagdeesh Chandra Bose—a versatile genius—pioneered wireless communication.
   
• Sushruta started plastic surgery in the 6th century BC.
   
• Ashoka’s iron pillars are proof of the development achieved by India in the realm of metallurgy.
   
• How Bharatiya Modi is—this is evident from his decision not to partake of food during the ongoing period of fasting. This is proof of the strength of body and mind, achieved through yoga, which was pioneered in India. It is time we start taking pride in what we have and what we can achieve if we apply our minds now. To quote Dr Arnold Toynbee, it is already becoming clear that a chapter which has a western beginning will have to have an Indian ending. At this supremely dangerous moment, salvation for mankind lies in the Indian way. You have to only go by what great minds in the West are saying and writing about India. Make in India will be Made In India. And remember, we made everything first.

(As told to Anuradha Raman)

Dina Nath Batra Swadeshi activist