The Mahabharata and the Ramayana recount many examples that indicate our ancestors had knowledge of nuclear energy thousands of years ago, according to a paper presented in the ongoing national conference on emerging trends in nuclear and chemical technology, at Gitam University here.
The descriptions of weapons such as brahmastra and pashupatastra, which could annihilate several thousands or trigger drought, could only be imaginable in nuclear terms, said Mr K.V. Murali Krishna, chemistry lecturer at Silver Jubilee Government College, Kurnool.
Indian mythology, especially the Vedas, Smritis and Puranas, are storehouses of valuable technological and ethical knowledge offering breathtaking insights hidden in Sanskrit verse, said Mr Krishna’s paper, titled The glimpses of chemistry and technology in Vedic literature.
“Though it is evident that a knowledge in nuclear science existed in ancient India, people should also realise that their use was bound by high values of ethics. (It) calls for only ‘favourable’ and ‘protectional’ use of such extreme energy,” Mr Krishna said.
Starting his journey in the 1980s, Mr Krishna has studied rare scripts and publications, and interacted with Sanskrit scholars, to better comprehend the issue.