Science of Ancient Indian Flying Machines

The science of flight has been very fascinating for mankind from many centuries. But it became even more enthralling and amazing when Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright demonstrated on 17th December 1903 that it was possible for a manned heavier than air machine to fly.

But has anyone ever flew an aircraft before the wright brothers' first flight?

Did the genius Leonardo Da Vinci flew his Ornithopter or is it merely present in his sketches?

Did anyone ever use the knowledge of Vymaanik Shastra to develop a heavier than air aircraft?

A lot of people who are charmed by the art of flying must have encountered these questions.

I first read the "Vymaanika Shastra" three years ago when I was pursuing my graduation and of course I didn't understand it completely as the shlokas which were translated from Sanskrit to English were not easy to understand and if you are studying Aeronautical Engineering then it makes you even more difficult to empathize and appreciate the text as some concepts opposes the modern science of flight.

But I remember how excited I was and I am sure everyone who read this text must have astonished while reading it. I literally believed everything written in that book because it was a very different concept just like a science fiction movie story.

I believe this is what most of the people do, whenever they find something fascinating, they choose to believe its true because if you want to enjoy science fiction, then you must start believing in it.

If you want to enjoy a magic show you start believing in the magics not the tricks behind it and in order to enjoy the magic you must allow yourself to get fooled for that instant.

Vymaanika Shastra

The Vymaanika Shastra ( Science of Aeronautics) is believed to be written by Maharishi Bharadwaaja in the 4th century B.C. The existence of the text was revealed in 1952 by G.R. Josyer, according to whom it is due to Pandit Subbaraya Shastry, who dictated it in 1918-1923. It has total 3000 shlokas (verses) in 8 chapters and was attributed by Shastry to Maharishi Bharadwaaja.

The topics covered in the Vymaanika Shastra include, "definition of an airplane, a pilot, aerial routes, food, clothing, metals, metal production, mirrors and their uses in wars, varieties of machinery and four planes called Shakuna, Sundara, Rukma, and Tripura, which are described in a greater detail.

This text is claimed to be only a one-fortieth part of a larger work "Yantra Sarvaswa" (All about machines) composed by Maharishi Bharadwaaja and other sages for the "benefit of all Mankind".

The propulsion of those Vimanas according to Professor Dileep Kumar Kanjilal in his book "Vimana of Ancient India" is by "Mercury Vortex Engines", a concept similar to the electric propulsion. David Hatcher Childress found the evidence for this mercury vortex engine in the "Samarangana Sutradhara", a 11th century treatise on architecture.

Now we are talking about the electric propulsion, which in recent times achieved a great development. The Ion Propulsion technology is ready to be used in a spacecraft for deep space missions.

Nasa's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (Next)

NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) project has developed a 7-kilowatt ion thruster that can provide the capabilities needed in the future. This technology is slated to propel the spacecraft that will intercept an asteroid in 2019.

It is really astounding if these texts were truly written some thousand years ago consisting of some technologies like electric propulsion which we have developed in the 21st century and even if they were written around 1912 A.D. it is not less surprising.

Now there are two aspects which brought my attention back to Vymaanika Shastra after a long time. And both of these stroked my mind when I was watching the movie "Prometheus" directed by the Science Fiction legend Ridley Scott.

Prometheus Spaceship depicted in the movie "Prometheus"

First is the Ion propulsion technology, which was used in the Prometheus space ship and second is the unknown propulsion system used by the Alien Spaceship.

I did not find any exhaust gases coming out of the Alien Spaceship which was depicted in the movie. So they (Aliens) must have used a very different propulsion system, that means, its a complete violation to the Newton's laws of motion. But its actually not a violation to them, maybe they have different laws of motion, maybe their propulsion system is much more advanced than ours.

One more important aspect which I observed in this movie is the excellent structural strength given to the alien spaceship by Ridley Scott. When both the spaceships collide in the end, Prometheus breaks into countless pieces whereas the alien ship falls on the ground in a single piece. That means Ridley Scott wanted to show how advanced their technology is.

The Alien Spaceship depicted in the movie Prometheus

And in the beginning of the movie, the alien ship just stands still in the air and it also tilts in the air which makes people to imagine that it has some kind of anti-gravity system.

But the science of aeronautics known to Humans require an understanding of a number of disciplines: aerodynamics, aeronautical structures, propulsive devices, materials, and metallurgy. 

The literature of Vymaanika Shastra describes only propulsive devices and structures of the planes and there is no view expressed on the aerodynamics of the aircraft. It is known to us that the history of aeronautics in regard to the development of heavier than aircrafts is studded with initial failures due to a non understanding of aerodynamics. 

Lets have a brief description of a few planes of Vymaanika Shastra's text.

Shakuna Vimana

As the name suggests, this plane is like a bird. It is supposed to contain the following parts: Peetha (floor board), hollow mast, three wheeled keelakas (hinges) with holes, four heaters, air suction pipes, water jacket, oil tank, shakuna yantra, two wings, tail portion to enable the vimana to fly, owshyamaka yantra or heat engine, etc.

It has several tiers, each one containing different yantras (machines). The drawings show parts like cylinder, piston worm gear, and pumps which seem entirely modern (beyond 18^th century).

A few lines have been devoted in the book to the function of wings and tail and they appear to be incorrect. It appears that great importance is given to the tail portion for the generation of lift. Also the function of the hinge wings becomes unclear in this context. It may be noted that it is the wings which should contribute to the lift of the craft and the tail portion to its controllability.

The height and width of the craft are in such proportion as to put its stability in serious question. There are inconsistencies in the dimensions mentioned in the verses and those given in the drawings.

There is mention of a number of materials. The floor board is made of ‘raja loha’. This material, supposedly, is to be made from ‘prana kshara’ (ammonium chloride), Bengal gram, benzoin, mercury borax, mica, silver, and ‘panchamrita’, all mixed, heated to 800 ‘kaksha’ (unit of temperature), and poured out.

It can be pointed out here that the essential idea of flying like a bird has been tried by many people over several centuries right from the time of Leonardo‐Da‐Vinci, but a successful design has never been obtained. Hence the feasibility of a craft of the above type is a near impossibility  at least as per the modern science of aeronautics.

Sundara Vimana

This plane meant for flight only in the air has five tires and a number of parts. These are: ground plate, smoke chimney, five gas engines, metal pipe wind blower, electricity generator, four faced heater, and outer cover.

The plane has been described in considerable detail, though no basic principles of operation have been mentioned. In this plane the electricity is generated by some means (what appears to be a combination of friction, heat, solar rays, waterfall etc.) through use of ‘jyotirmukha’ and several other materials including sixteen ‘drona’ measures of donkey’s urine. The use of 80 ‘link’ of electricity is expected to vaporize oil. Also, steam is generated separately. It appears that by operating some switches, these two (oil and steam) can be mixed to produce 500 ‘kaksha’ heat. These are then passed through a pipe called ‘shundala’ (like elephant’s trunk) for purposes of propulsion.

Further there is detailed description of some machinery. Looking into drawings and the text leads one to conclude that air is sucked from the bottom, and hot gases are allowed to exhaust through pipes toward the top. And this is expected to produce force to lift the plane up, a statement which is a gross violation of Newton’s laws.

The speed of smoke from the gas engine (dhoomodga yantra) is said to be 2113 ‘link’. Wind speed from ‘nala stambha’ is said to be 600 ‘link’. Speed of the craft is given in: Four hundred yojanas are covered in one ghatika. Ghatika has a standard implication of 24 minutes.

Yojana has an implication of about 8 to 10 miles (some interpret yojana to mean more). Even with the smaller figure the craft speed amounts to 8000 mph, which is a fantastic figure by any standards. It may be noted that no aircraft of today has attained such speed inside the atmosphere.

One of the vessels used for the production of electricity is expected to be filled with apamarga, sampasya, and ayaskanta soaked in elephant’s urine mixed with mercury. Another vessel is to be filled with cow’s urine, and so on.

Rukma Vimana

This plane has a five tier structure, with passenger cabins on the third tier. The plane is meant for flight only in the air.

According to the texts this plane consists of long vertical ducts containing fans at the top. The direction of airflow was not indicated in the text. It can be assumed that upward flight would be feasible by running the fans to suck air from the top and send it down the ducts, generating a lift in the process, essentially like a vertical takeoff and landing craft (VTOL).

The purpose of fans has not been indicated in the text, whereas in the figure they have been captioned as “lifting fans”. Further, like in the previous craft, the static stability is in some doubt.

Tripura Vimana

This plane is supposed to fly in air, and move in water and land. when moving over water the wheels are to be retracted.

No mention of any principles of operation has been made. Power is said to be generated from the generator at the top using Sun's rays and some acids in a manner not described.

The general description and the diagrams seem to indicate the use of electric motors which were known only in the 19th century.

In order to prevent water from seeping into the craft, when it is moving over water,it is said to be covered with a cloth known as Milk Cloth. Also the description of an alloy has been given which is supposed to be light and fire resistant.

A study by aeronautical and mechanical engineering at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India in 1974 concluded that the aircrafts described in the text were "poor concoctions" and that the author showed a complete lack of understanding of aeronautics.

They further Stated "None of the planes has properties or capabilities of being flown; the geometries are unimaginably horrible from the point of view of flying; and the principles of propulsion make them resist rather than assist flying. The text and the drawings do not correlate with each other even thematically."

Even I don't think these planes were ever flown. What made me interested is the texts related to chemistry, advanced metallurgy and material science.

Propulsion as far as the descriptions were concerned, might be defined as electrical and chemical but solar energy was also involved. For instance, the 'Tripura Vimana' according to Italian professor Dr. Pinotti, was a large craft operated by 'motive power generated by solar rays.'

"Tamogarbha Loha", a lead alloy capable of light absorption has already been produced in a laboratory which is light in weight, black in color and found to be resistant to acids. 

A laboratory test done in 1996 in Physics Department of Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, indicated laser absorption characteristics up to 79% of incident light from a laser (this alloy was used in 'Tamo Yantra' for the purposes of absorption of light escaping from a photo chemical reaction which resulted in absorption of light, thereby generating darkness).

"Panchaloha", a copper alloy which is highly malleable and highly corrosion resistant to salt (NaCl) has been produced.

"Chapala grahaka" , a soft glass (of low temperature melt) has already been produced and characterized to be resistant to acids and alkalis and its refractive index is found to be 1.614 (highest known among soft glasses made at low temperatures).

There are many more special materials which have already been produced and some are deciphered and are yet to be produced in the laboratories. 

As an Aeronautical student I don't believe the planes described in the texts ever flew but being a science fiction believer I'm not allowed to believe in impossibility.

If we look in the optimistic way that the planes were actually flown, then according to me these are the probabilities :

• Maharishi Bharadwaaja wrote the Vymaanika Shastra a few thousand years ago and the planes were flown.
• Pandit Subbarayya Shastri has written the Vymaanika Shastra and gave the credit to Maharishi Bharadwaaja.
• As Vymaanika Shastra is only a one-fortieth part of Yantra Sarvasva (All about machines), it is difficult to understand the planes completely without the major part of the book.
• Pandit Subbarayya Shastri rewrote the text and missed many important aspects.
• The mercury vortex engine overcomes all the aerodynamic and stability inefficiencies of the airplanes.

Conclusion

Vymaanika Shastra deals with advanced metallurgy, material science, machine design and mechanical engineering but the planes described in the texts don't have any capabilities of flying in the Earth's atmosphere. The text describes detailed procedures in the preparation of several hundreds of materials such as Alloys and Glasses which are unknown to modern science. Some of the materials have already been reproduced and most of them can be reproduced in the laboratory even now. 

It has been found that they have special properties which are not available in any known materials of modern times. One machine “Vakra Prasarana Yantra” was reproduced as a working model and is found to be novel gear mechanism with sixteen gear wheels. In addition, “Agni Sthambana”, a fire proofing spray, “Anahara” a food substitute have also been produced. Patents are also being obtained for some of these items.

While it is not clear how these texts originated or whether they are authentic. Even though some persons have hinted at the whole text being a modern work, composed by the oral deliverer himself, the experimental results of special materials uphold the veracity of the textual contents and also indicate lack of availability of these materials and machines in their exactness in modern times, thereby hinting at an ancient historical origin.

As a Science fiction lover, I was actually very disappointed what I found after studying them, that the planes described in the texts were actually not possible to be flown.

As you know every great magic trick consists of three parts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary, consider its a fiction concept which you come across . The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. This is the part when you believe the fiction can actually be Science. And finally every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige" in which you will find whether the fiction can be converted into Science or its merely a fiction.

But being a Science fiction admirer doesn't mean I should believe in every concept which I come through. Believing in fiction is one part and realizing that the fiction can no longer be converted into exact Science is an another important part.