Science,Mythology and facts

Science and technological inventions have played a vital role in making our lives easier.The importance of science and the realization of its potential is not a modern day concept.Since the dawn of human civilization,man became increasingly fascinated with scientific and technological inventions.It is due to this relentless pursuit towards scientific modernity that human has endeavoured to scale overwhelming heights in the realm of science and technology.

The other interesting picture is that of the relationship between modern science and Indian mythology.The Indian prime minister,in one of his speeches,invoked Indian mythology,by stating that the facial outlook of Lord Ganesha was a product of plastic surgery in ancient times.Moreover,he stated as to how Karna in ancient Mahabharata was born,not inside mother’s womb but outside of it.He attributed it to the prevalence of in-vitro fertilization during the epic period.

The recently concluded Indian Science Congress included a session on ‘Ancient science through sanskrit’for the first time in history.Particularly noticeable was the paper on ancient aviation,wherein a prominent scientist stated that ancient India knew of interplanetary aircraft that existed about 7000 years ago.As a reference ,he was quick to mention the ancient Vymanika Shastra ,a vedic aeronautical treatise by an ancient Rishi.Other prominent individuals have referred to vedas as the source of Heisenberg uncertainity,Pythagoras theorem and algebra.

The veracity of such statements are still not known till date.There is no concrete scientific evidence on matters related to ancient Gods and deities.In this case,eulogizing and glorifying the ancient past is a betrayal of the scientific temperament  and negation of the real scientific achievements that has been achieved so far.The invoking of interplanetary aircraft in a renowned scientific forum like Indian science congress is detrimental to the objective of elevating scientific research that it seeks to achieve.In 1974,a five-member group of aeronautical engineers from IISC Bangalore,took upon themselves the task of examining the viability of the 6*6 feet aircraft model mentioned in Rig veda.After intense deliberation ,they finally came to the conclusion that the the fundamental structure of the aircraft violated the basic principles of aerodynamics and propulsion.In this context,the exaltation of ancient Indian aviation,in the absence of evidence, was a regressive step pertaining to the promotion of scientific temperament.

Moreover,glorifying imaginary facts as a product of true Indian invention negates the real scientific achievements that India has achieved till date,For instance ,Indians can take real pride in Aryabhata’s contribution in astronomy and algebra or science of medicine as familiarized by Charaka.The 7.3 meter long,Ashoka pillar,that has resisted corrosion for centuries,is a classic example of India’s metallurgical richness.Similarly,the Jantar mantar in Delhi speaks volumes about the scientific advancements of India in the field of astronomy.In my view,juxtaposing India’s true scientific achievements with purely imaginary aspects of ancient Indian mythology would do more harm than good in our endeavor to project India as a credible scientific power.

There is no denying the fact that India is a rich civilization and a repository of ancient knowledge traditions.The government would do well to institutionalize history of science department in Indian universities.As an academic department and a full fledged academic course,we could delve deeper into our ancient knowledge tradition and examine the veracity of the oft-repeated scientific achievements of our past which remains still unverified.The mythological aspects should be confined only to pure imagination.It should not be glorified as a means to bring out the sense of superiority in India’s past for narrow political gains.The interlinking of mythology having no scientific basis with scientific achievements as well as the interference of politics in education should be done away with in order to take India to the heights of scientific endeavor.

It is worth mentioning the views of Jawaharlal Nehru as expressed in Discovery of India “If people believed in factual contents of these stories,the whole thing was absurd and ridiculous.But as soon as one ceased believing in them,they appeared in a new light,a new beauty,a wonderful flowering of richly endowed imagination,full of human lessons.”