FReeper Canteen ~ Part IX of War in Ancient India ~ September 7, 2004

A Tribute to Hinduism ^ | September 7, 2004 | LaDivaLoca

[LaDivaLoca]

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ANCIENT WARFARE





Part IX: War in Ancient India

Aerial Warfare

No question can be more interesting in the present circumstances of the world than India’s contribution to the science of aeronautics. There are numerous illustration in our vast Puranic and epic literature to show how well and wonderfully the ancient Indians conquered the air. To glibly characterize everything found in this literature as imaginary and summarily dismiss it as unreal has been the practice of both Western and Eastern scholars until very recently. The very idea indeed was ridiculed and people went so far to assert that it was physically impossible for man to use flying machines. But today what with balloons, airplanes…..” 

Turning to Vedic literature, in one of the Brahmanas occurs the concept of a ship that sails heavenwards. The ship is the Agnihotra of which the Ahavaniya and Garhapatya fires represent the two sides bound heavenward, and the steersman is the Agnihotrin who offers milk to the three Agnis. Again in the still earlier Rg Veda Samhita we read that the Asvins conveyed the rescued Bhujya safely by means of winged ships. The latter may refer to the aerial navigation in the earliest times.  

In the recently published Samarangana Sutradhara of Bhoja, a whole chapter of about 230 stanzas is devoted to the principles of construction underlying the various flying machines and other engines used for military and other purposes. 

The various advantages of using machines, especially flying ones, are given elaborately. Special mention is made of their use at one’s will and pleasure, of their uninterrupted movements, of their strength and durability, in short of their capability to do in the air all that is done on earth. Three movements are usually ascribed to these machines, - ascending, cruising thousands of miles in different directions in the atmosphere and lastly descending. It is said that in an aerial car one can mount up to Suryamandala, ‘solar region’ and the Naksatra mandala (stellar region) and also travel throughout the regions of air above the sea and the earth. These cars are said to move so fast as to make a noise that could be heard faintly from the ground. The evidence in its favor is overwhelming. 

An aerial car is made of light, wood looking like a great bird with a durable and well-formed body having mercury inside and fire at the bottom. It had two resplendent wings, and is propelled by air. It flies in the atmospheric regions for a great distance and carries several persons along with it. The inside construction resembles heaven created by Brahma himself. Iron, copper, lead and other metals are also used for these machines. All these show how far art and science was developed in ancient India in this direction. Such elaborate description ought to meet the criticism that the vimanas and similar aerial vehicles mentioned in ancient Indian literature should be relegated to the region of myth. 

The ancient writers could certainly make a distinction between the mythical which they designated as daiva and the actual aerial wars designated as manusa. 

After the great victory of Rama over Lanka, Vibhisana presented him with the Puspaka vimana which was furnished with windows, apartments, and excellent seats. It was capable of accommodating all the vanaras besides Rama, Sita and Lakshman. Again in the Vikramaurvaisya, we are told that king Puraravas rode in an aerial car to rescue Urvasi in pursuit of the Danava who was carrying her away. Similarly in the Uttararamacarita in the flight between Lava and Candraketu (Act VI) a number of aerial cars are mentioned as bearing celestial spectators. There is a statement in the Harsacarita of Yavanas being acquainted with aerial machines. The Tamil work Jivakacintamani refers to Jivaka flying through the air.   

Kathasaritsagara refers to highly talented woodworkers called Rajyadhara and Pranadhara. The former was so skilled in mechanical contrivances that he could make ocean crossing chariots. And the latter manufactured a flying chariot to carry a thousand passengers in the air. These chariots were stated to be as fast as thought itself. 

(source: India Through The Ages: History, Art Culture and Religion - By G. Kuppuram p. 532-533).

(for more information on vimanas please refer to chapter on Vimanas

Next Tuesday, Part X of War in Ancient India

[E.G.C.]

((HUGS))Good morning, Star. How's it going?

[E.G.C.]

((HUGS))Good morning, Beach. How's it going?

[treeclimber]

Great story!! Thats a great song...another one of that genre was by pre-sausage Jimmy Dean...Big John

But the origin of the song with the details shed a new light on that tune...

"St Peter dontcha call me
cuz I cant gooooooooooooooo...

I owe my soul to the company store"

[tomkow6]

Morning, Lauren!

[laurenmarlowe]

Good morning to you Tomkow! I hope you have a great day.

[Common Tator]

Jimmy Dean wrote Big Bad John on an airplane in route from Washington D.C. to Nashville. He wrote it on on the back of an envelope. There was nothing else. The melody only existed in his head. He was flying in for a recording session. Jimmy just sang Big Bad John for the session musicians and they made up an arrrangement on the fly. It took less than an hour from the time the musicians first heard it until they had it in the can.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on September 07:
1533 Queen Elizabeth I England, (1558-1603) daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
1829 August Kekule von Stradonitz discovered structure of benzene ring
1829 Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden US, geologist (Geograph Survey 1859-86)
1860 Grandma (Anna Maria) Moses NY, primitive painter (Old Oaken Bucket)
1900 "Janet" Taylor Caldwell England, novelist (Melissa)
1908 Dr Michael E DeBakey artificial heart pioneer
1908 Paul Brown Norwalk Ohio, NFL hall of famer (Browns, Bengals)
1909 Elia Kazan Canstaninople Turkey, director (Streetcar Named Desire)
1913 Anthony Quayle England, actor (Anne of 1000 Days, Lawrence of Arabia)
1914 James Van Allen discovered Van Allen radiation belts
1922 Art Ferrante pianist (Ferrante & Tachere-Exodus)
1923 Peter Lawford London England, actor (Mrs Miniver, The Thin Man)
1924 Daniel Inouye (Sen-D-Hi), chair of Iran-Contra hearings
1924 Leonard Rosenman Bkln NY, TV composer (Marcus Welby MD)
1930 Sonny Rollins NYC, jazz saxophonist (Blue Room)
1934 Bill Giles Rochester NY, baseball owner (Phila Phillies)
1936 Buddy Holly singer (Peggy Sue, That'll Be the Day)
1939 S David Griggs Portland Oregon, astronaut (STS 51D, STS 33)
1942 Garrison Keillor humorist(or so it's said) (Praire Home Companion)
1942 Richard Roundtree actor (Shaft, Earthquake)
1949 Gloria Gaynor Newark NJ, disco singer (I Will Survive)
1950 Peggy Noonan author (What I Saw at the Revolution)
1954 Corbin Bernsen North Hollywood Calif, actor (Arnie Becker-LA Law)
1957 Melvin Edward Mays one of FBI's most wanted
1985 Tatia Jayne Starkey Ringo's 1st grandchild

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Deaths which occurred on September 07:
1151 Geoffrey Plantagenet conquered Normandy, dies at 38
1909 Eugene Lefebvre dies test piloting a Wright A aircraft
1966 Al Kelly double talk comedian (Ernie Kovacs Show), dies at 67
1969 Everett McKinley Dirksen ("The Wizard of Ooze")(Sen-IL.R), dies at 73
1971 Spring Byington actress (Lily Ruskin-December Bride), dies at 84
1978 Keith Moon, rock drummer (Who), dies of drug OD at 31

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION
( Expanded with full Bios, history, & MIA report )

HIP HIP HOORAY!!! No one missing in action Today!!!!

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
3114 BC Presumed origin of Mayan "long count" calendar system
0070 Roman army under Titus occupies & plunders Jerusalem

1571 At the Battle of Lepanto in the Mediterranean Sea, the Christian galley fleet destroys the Turkish galley fleet.

1630 The town of Trimontaine, in Massachusetts, is renamed Boston, and becomes the state capital.
1664 Peter Stuyvesant surrenders New Amsterdam to English fleet
1714 Treaty of Baden-French retain Alsace, Austria gets right bank of Rhine
1776 American submersible craft Turtle attacks British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship Eagle in the first use of a submarine in warfare.
1800 Zion AME Church dedicated (NYC)
1813 "Uncle Sam" 1st used to refer to US (Troy Post of NY)
1822 Brazil declares independence from Portugal (National Day)
1825 The Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution, bade farewell to President John Quincy Adams at the White House.
1864 Union General Phil Sheridan's troops skirmish with the Confederates under Jubal Early outside Winchester, Virginia
1876 The James-Younger gang botches an attempt to rob the First National Bank of Northfield, Minnesota.
1880 Geo Ligowsky patents device to throw clay pigeons for trapshooters
1889 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of The Engineer's Thumb" (BG)
1892 James J Corbett kayos John L Sullivan in round 21 at New Orleans
1896 1st closed-circuit auto race, at Cranston, RI
1896 A. H. Whiting won 1st closed-circuit auto race held
1903 Federation of American Motorcyclists organized in NY
1914 New York Post Office Building opens to the public
1916 Workmen's Compensation Act passed by Congress
1923 Boston Red Sox Howard Ehmke no-hits Phila A's, 4-0
1927 Philo Farnsworth demonstrates 1st use of TV in SF
1934 Luxury liner "Morro Castle" burns off NJ, killing 134
1936 Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam) begins operation
1940 German Air Force blitz London for 1st of 57 consecutive nights
1948 1st use of synthetic rubber in asphaltic concrete, Akron Oh
1952 Outfielder Don Grate throws a baseball a record 434'1" (Tenn)
1954 Integration begins in Wash DC & Balt MD public schools
1956 Bell X-2 sets Unofficial manned aircraft altitude record 126,000'+
1963 1st US TV appearance of the Beatles (Big Night Out-ABC)
1963 Pro Football Hall of Fame dedicated in Canton Ohio
1970 Donald Boyles sets record for highest paracute jump from a bridge, by leaping off of the 1,053' Royal George Bridge in Colorado
1976 US courts find George Harrison guilty of plagarism (He's So Fine)
1977 Convicted Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy was released from prison after more than four years.
1978 1st game of the Boston Massacre, Yanks beat Red Sox 15-3
1979 The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) made its cable television debut.
1980 32nd Emmy Awards shown despite boycott
1980 Earnest Gray becomes 2nd NY Giant to score 4 TDs (vs St Louis)
1981 Judge Wapner & the People's Court premier on TV
1983 Drury Gallagher sets fastest swim around Manhattan (6h41m35s)
1986 Desmond Tutu installed to lead south African Anglican Church
1988 Guy Lafleur, Tony Esposito & Brad Park inducted in NHL Hall of Fame
1988 Security & Exchange Comm accuses Drexel of violating security laws
1991 Monica Seles wins the US Open
1993 President Clinton and VP Gore announced a broad program to streamline the government.(ROTFLMAO)
1995 Sen Bob Packwoord (R-Ore) resigns rather than face expulsion.
2000 A jury in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, awarded $6.3 million to a woman and her son who were attacked by Aryan Nations guards outside the white supremacist group's north Idaho headquarters.

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Brazil : Independence Day (1822)
US : National Grandparents' Day (Sunday)
Wall-to-Wall Sports Television Day
Kiss a Bald Head Week Begins
National Bourbon Month

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Religious Observances
Feast of St. Regina, virgin and martyr.

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Religious History
1724 The first American congregation of Dunkards (German Baptists) gathered in Philadelphia, PA.
1785 The Sunday School Society was formed in London, under the leadership of Robert Raikes. It provided weekly Christian tutoring for the poor. Eventually 3,730 schools were formed, and their success ultimately inspired the founding in 1824 of the American Sunday School Union.
1807 Protestant Christianity first came to China when English missionary Robert Morrison, 25, arrived on this date. (Catholic missions had first penetrated China in the 16th century with the arrival of Jesuit Matteo Ricci in 1582.)
1845 St. Louis, Missouri, became the site of the first Hebrew synagogue to be built in the Mississippi Valley.
1958 The first cathedral of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the U.S. and Canada was dedicated in Hackensack, NJ. The American archdiocese for this branch of Orthodoxy was created the previous year by Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Yacoub III.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"One man tells a falsehood, a hundred repeat it as true."

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Translating Southern United States Slang to English...
BAHS - noun. A supervisor.

Usage: "If you don't stop reading these Southern words and git back to work, your bahs is gonna far you!"

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Quotes" About Cats...
The real measure of a day's heat is the length of a sleeping cat.

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Politically Correct Terms For Males...
He will never : GROW BALD
He will become : FOREHEAD ENHANCED

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Bumper Stickers...
Consciousness-the annoying time between naps

[Spotsy]

Welcome Back Diva Betsy Ross!!!
It's so good to see you!

[tomkow6]

1916 Workmen's Compensation Act passed by Congress

[Spotsy]

Good Tuesday morning to you Lauren Marlowe.
That is a beautiful picture of Fall colors.
Perfect for the day after Labor Day.

[Spotsy]

Good Morning Darkwing!
I'm glad you are safe from all the hurricanes.
BTW, do you really have a "Florida yard Dog" named Freddie??

[darkwing104]

BTW, do you really have a "Florida yard Dog" named Freddie??

Yes I do, he does a great job keeping away bruka salesmen.... ;)

[laurenmarlowe]

Hi Spotsy! Yes, Fall is a beautiful season, and here in North Texas we actually have a light north wind today! I hope you have a great day!

[beachn4fun]

Morning Sarge. Thanks for the update on demented sister. Glad to hear they came through ok. I guess she'll be bracing for Ivan soon, huh? Better stock up that liquor cabinet again!

[Spotsy]

Good Morning Ma!
Thank you for the cute teddies.
Having fun with your new computer?

[tomkow6]

[Spotsy]

Good Morning Beachy!
I'm glad to hear your son and his family are safe and sound and that their home didn't sustain substantial damage. Note to hurricane Ivan - leave Florida alone!!

Thanks to your mental telepathy messages yesterday, my nose was itching all day. ;)

[tomkow6]

mine

[tomkow6]

mine

[tomkow6]

mine