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Ancient Nuclear Weapons? Another Aspect of the Ancient Indian Astronaut Connection

Colin Mulligan

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Summary: Is it really possible that the ancient Indians had the capacity to deploy devastating nuclear weapons against their enemies?

IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE THAT THE ANCIENT INDIANS HAD THE CAPACITY TO DEPLOY DEVASTATING NUCLEAR WEAPONS AGAINST THEIR ENEMIES? MOREOVER, IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE, AS MANY UFOLOGISTS CLAIM, THAT AWESOMELY POWERFUL NUCLEAR WEAPONS WERE ACTUALLY GIVEN TO THE ANCIENT INDIAN WARRIORS BY EXTRA-TERERSTRIALS, HIGHLY ADVANCED SPACEMEN FROM OTHER PLANETS? WELL, PASSAGES FROM ANCIENT INDIAN NATIONAL EPICS CERTAINLY APPEAR TO BE EVIDENCE OF SUCH ASTONISHING CLAIMS….

It is in ancient Indian epic poems such as such The Mahabarata and The Ramayana that we can read what appear to be references to an otherwise relatively primitive people having the capacity to wield highly destructive nuclear weapons. Not surprisingly it is as a direct consequence of such compelling passages that many UFOlogists like Erich Von Daniken and W. R. Drake (See for I.E. According to The Evidence – Souvenir, 1977 and Gods & Spacemen In The Ancient East - Sphere, 1976 ), have argued that the highly advanced capacity to use (and misuse) nuclear weaponry must have being handed down to these ancient people by the Gods or, in other words, highly-advanced extra-terrestrial spacemen.

How else, these proponents of ancient astronauts say, could such an ancient people manage to develop the extremely advanced technological status necessary to make such complex and destructive weaponry that could ‘scorch the universe’ and make ‘inauspicious winds’ blow? Surely even the crude but ultimately terribly destructive nuclear device dropped on Hiroshima demanded an highly advanced science to develop and deliver it, they say.

Reading through the various passages of The Ramayana and The Mahabarata with an eye to references of destructive nuclear type weapons certainly does lend itself to believing such claims, too. The evidence does appear to be highly compelling. For instance on p.383 of the Drona Parva we come across the following lines which certainly could be construed as evidence of the loathsome effects of detonating a nuclear weapon of some sorts:

“Encompassed by them (bowmen)…Bhisma smiting the while and uttering a leonine roar, took up and hurled at them with great force a fierce mace of destruction of hostile ranks. The mace of adamantine strength, hurled like Indra’s thunder by Indra himself, crushed, O King, thy soldiers in battle. And it seemed to fill…the whole earth with a loud noise. And blazing forth in splendour, that fierce mace inspired thy sons with fear. Beholding that mace of impetuous course and endowed with lightening flashes coursing towards them, thy warriors fled away uttering frightful cries. And at the unbelievable sound …of that fiery mace, many men fell down where they stood and many car (vimana or flying vehicle) warriors also fell down from their cars.”

As Drake says on p.49 of Gods And Spacemen In The Ancient East (Sphere, 1976), we are startled here by these lines which bear an “Uncanny resemblance to future wars, when our earth’s capitals may be blasted with bombs of anti-matter launched from space-satellites” .

According to Indian tradition The Mahabarata, a fabulously rich verse epic, was first collected together by Vyasa, probably an incarnation of the God Vishnu. It was first recited by one Vaicampayana and, at least in its present form, is reckoned to date from around the 4th century BC to around the 4th century AD. Like The Ramayana, which is reckoned to have emerged at around the time when The Mahabarata was taking its final shape, The Mahabarata is made up of fables, parables, essays, poetry and prose from the earliest of times. Interestingly, too, as some proof of its importance and relevance to many people today still, in July 1985 it was produced by the renowned Peter Brook in Avignon (See: p.113, Sacred Writings Of World Religions, Chambers, 1992).

Though eclectic in style, throughout The Mahabarata runs the story of the long war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Interestingly, too, for our purposes here, during the epic we are told of a terrible battle during which Asvatthaman, cornered by Pandavas in a forest, launches a terrible weapon which is said to be capable of destroying an entire world. Astonishingly, even though the all powerful Krishna deflects the missile from reaching its goal, Asvatthaman still manages to direct it instead at the Pandava women, the children they are carrying, and will carry in later years. On p.677 of the Drona Parvawe we can read more about the devastating effects of Asvatthaman wielding his awesome ‘Agneya’ weapon:

“The sun seemed to turn around. The universe scorched with heats seemed to be in a ever. The elephants and other creatures of the land scorched by the energy of weapon, ran in fright, breathing heavily and desirous of protection against that terrible force…”

Also in the very same passage: “A thick gloom suddenly shrouded the… host. All points of the compass also were enveloped by that darkness. Rakshashas and Vicocha crowding together uttered fierce cries. Inauspicious winds began to blow.”

All in all such descriptive passages amount to compelling and frightening stuff. As Drake says on p.49 of Gods And Spacemen In The Ancient East (Sphere, 1976): “Arjuna and his companions (our warrior heroes in The Mahabarata) appear(ed) to possess an arsenal of diverse, sophisticated nuclear weapons, equal to, perhaps surpassing, the missiles of the Americans and Russians today”. Von Daniken also seems to agree. It is difficult not to think of Hiroshima, he says, when reading passages like the following from The Mahabarata and cited on P. 164 of his book According To The Evidence (Souvenir, 1977):

“The heavens cried out, the earth bellowed an answer, lightening flashed forth, fire flamed upwards, it rained down death. The brightness vanished, the fire was extinguished. Everyone who was struck by the lightening was turned to ashes”. And again from the same source: “It was a ghastly sight to see. The corpses of the fallen were so mutilated they no longer looked like human beings. Never before have we seen such an awful weapon, and never before have we heard of such a weapon”.

Although, of course, these days we have seen and heard about such awful weapons and, moreover, the terrifying effects that such awful weapons cause when detonated. For didn’t the media relay the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to awesomely horrific effect?

Reading through the above passages it would obviously be foolhardy to simply dismiss outright the idea that the ancient Indian warriors did possess some terrible weapons, possibly even of a nuclear type. But perhaps it could be considered an equal oversimplification to admit that the ancient Indian warriors did undoubtedly possess such weapons also. The argument still stubbornly remains as to whether such ancient writings are actually based in fact or simply meant to be interpreted symbolically. All of which means, of course, that the highly contestable question of whether the ancient Indians were really given such awesome nuclear weapons by spacemen, ancient astronauts from other planets, must remain so. It seems, at this point, that we either do or do not believe. It appears to all boil down to a simple matter of faith.

Perhaps though, this said, there is actually something else, a little more substantial even, that we are able to take away from our brief sojourn through the ancient Indian epics . Namely a (reinforced?) belief that peace must always be mankind’s ultimate goal. For certainly, whether rooted in truth or merely symbolic, the explicitly shocking descriptions of death and destruction to be found in, say, The Mahabarata are undeniably terrifying and, as such, give grave forewarning to all nations of the world of the importance of steering a path of non-violence.

To this particular end, when we hear today about India’s newly (newly?) acquired nuclear capabilities or, say, American President George Bush’s proposed ‘Son Of Star Wars’ Nuclear Missile Defence Programme, we should certainly be very much on the alert. Should we admit that the ancient Indian epics can be interpreted as poetic lessons, we can consider ourselves duly warned against expanding rather than depleting the world’s nuclear stockpiles. Clearly, if nothing else, it can be interpreted that as Bhisma sought a general reconciliation at the end of The Mahabarata, so must we be resolved on reconciliation in all our global relations today, too.

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