Note: This article is not an attempt by me to claim that bramhastra was a nuclear bomb; its an attempt to draw parallels between the two, based on a scientific explanation.
Bramhastra, as per Hindu mythology was a lethal weapon capable of annihilating an entire town / large area in a town. Its said that bramhastra was a Nuclear bomb of the time. While one can neither prove it nor refute it, here is my attempt to explain the parallels between the two.
Astra means a weapon usually released by hand (an iron rod, an arrow released from a bow). Bramhastra, as per mythological references, was an astra capable of causing massive destruction. It was a feat achievable only by highly trained individuals capable of reaching high levels of meditation in a short time (by invocations of powerful chants).
If Bramhastra was indeed a Nuclear bomb, the drawing of parallels between the two would be based on 3 facts:
1. Need of Massive energy:
To cause this massive explosion, a "massive amount of energy" was needed. Where did this energy come from? The astra itself was the source of this enormous energy.
Every object has matter, and matter holds energy (governed by the equation: E = MC2). This energy content is more than you can imagine. A small object weighing 1 gm can be converted to ~25000 Megawatt-hours of energy (using the formula E = MC2 amounting to 1 gm X (300000 km/s)2]. This energy is massive enough to destroy 8 square blocks in Manhattan - but only if unleashed from the matter that is holding it. A nuclear bomb works on this same principle. When dropped on Hiroshima, only 0.9 kg of the total 64 kg of uranium of the nuclear bomb got converted into energy, instantaneously destroying more than 4 sq. miles of the city and 140,000 lives. Rest was blown away.)
There can be possibly no other source of energy than the astra's own matter.
2. Ability to convert matter to energy continuously:
Scientists have figured out ways to cause fission of atomic nucleus a long while ago (Nuclear fission). Lise Meitner (an Austrian physicist) and Otto Hahn (A German chemist) had figured out a way to split a Uranium atom by bombarding neutrons onto its nucleus, as early as in 1934 in Germany. Breaking the neutrons away from protons unleashes "massive" energy. The freed-up neutrons hit other nuclei at exorbitant speed thus releasing more energy and more neutrons to strike and split further nuclei. Once this chain reaction begins, it sustains itself and sets a stage for a massive explosion. And this all happens at lightning speed, literally. Uranium has an atomic mass number of 235 (count of neutrons + protons = 235). So its nucleus is bulky and wobbly and relatively easy to split. Its harder to break smaller nuclei. But theoretically, it should be possible to cause fission of *any* matter (substance).
Unleashing massive energy from the astra's mass was only possible by a self-sustained and continuous chain reaction. (unless you have any other convincing explanation). But what could have triggered the chain reaction?
3. Triggering the chain reaction:
In a nuclear (fission) bomb, an explosion of a smaller bomb sets off a (self-sustaining, unstoppable) chain reaction leading to the explosion of the core made or uranium.
But what could have triggered the fission in a bramhastra? As per our mythology , the bearer of the astra (an arrow ready to leave the bow) went into a deep state of meditation in a very short time, by chanting certain hymns (mantras or मन्त्र) at extraordinarily high speed and in a repeating manner, before releasing the arrow.
The only thing the recitation in a peculiar manner could have done is set the atoms in a of the astra vibrating, significantly enough to shake up the atoms and break their nuclei.
Seems a bit unconvincing for sure. But let's look at something else. The Gayatri mantra (गायत्री मंत्र - a sacred chant in Hindu religion) is said to have the ability to generate heat in reciter's body if chanted many times in a row in a repetitive pattern. The composition of the words in that mantra is such that, when the mantra is recited repeatedly, it sets off strong vibrations to create heat in your body.
What really is heat? It's a manifestation of energy attained by virtue of the atoms *vibrating*. Heat is the extent of vibration of atoms. Larger the vibrations, greater the heat. Could those vibrations be caused by the sound waves from repetitive recitation of these hymns?
Mythological references suggest that bramhastra was activated by the powerful chanting of Gayatri mantra hundreds of thousands of times continuously in a rhythmic and repeated manner. Only a handful of human beings could perform such a feat. These seem to have leveraged their enormous untapped mind-power (which most of the normal human beings can't). Could it be that those highly trained souls were able to vibrate atoms so excessively to break them up and trigger the chain reaction? Cannot be proved but cannot be discarded either.
Some interesting timelines:
Bramhastra, as per Hindu mythology was a lethal weapon capable of annihilating an entire town / large area in a town. Its said that bramhastra was a Nuclear bomb of the time. While one can neither prove it nor refute it, here is my attempt to explain the parallels between the two.
Astra means a weapon usually released by hand (an iron rod, an arrow released from a bow). Bramhastra, as per mythological references, was an astra capable of causing massive destruction. It was a feat achievable only by highly trained individuals capable of reaching high levels of meditation in a short time (by invocations of powerful chants).
If Bramhastra was indeed a Nuclear bomb, the drawing of parallels between the two would be based on 3 facts:
To cause this massive explosion, a "massive amount of energy" was needed. Where did this energy come from? The astra itself was the source of this enormous energy.
Every object has matter, and matter holds energy (governed by the equation: E = MC2). This energy content is more than you can imagine. A small object weighing 1 gm can be converted to ~25000 Megawatt-hours of energy (using the formula E = MC2 amounting to 1 gm X (300000 km/s)2]. This energy is massive enough to destroy 8 square blocks in Manhattan - but only if unleashed from the matter that is holding it. A nuclear bomb works on this same principle. When dropped on Hiroshima, only 0.9 kg of the total 64 kg of uranium of the nuclear bomb got converted into energy, instantaneously destroying more than 4 sq. miles of the city and 140,000 lives. Rest was blown away.)
There can be possibly no other source of energy than the astra's own matter.
2. Ability to convert matter to energy continuously:
Scientists have figured out ways to cause fission of atomic nucleus a long while ago (Nuclear fission). Lise Meitner (an Austrian physicist) and Otto Hahn (A German chemist) had figured out a way to split a Uranium atom by bombarding neutrons onto its nucleus, as early as in 1934 in Germany. Breaking the neutrons away from protons unleashes "massive" energy. The freed-up neutrons hit other nuclei at exorbitant speed thus releasing more energy and more neutrons to strike and split further nuclei. Once this chain reaction begins, it sustains itself and sets a stage for a massive explosion. And this all happens at lightning speed, literally. Uranium has an atomic mass number of 235 (count of neutrons + protons = 235). So its nucleus is bulky and wobbly and relatively easy to split. Its harder to break smaller nuclei. But theoretically, it should be possible to cause fission of *any* matter (substance).
Unleashing massive energy from the astra's mass was only possible by a self-sustained and continuous chain reaction. (unless you have any other convincing explanation). But what could have triggered the chain reaction?
3. Triggering the chain reaction:
In a nuclear (fission) bomb, an explosion of a smaller bomb sets off a (self-sustaining, unstoppable) chain reaction leading to the explosion of the core made or uranium.
But what could have triggered the fission in a bramhastra? As per our mythology , the bearer of the astra (an arrow ready to leave the bow) went into a deep state of meditation in a very short time, by chanting certain hymns (mantras or मन्त्र) at extraordinarily high speed and in a repeating manner, before releasing the arrow.
The only thing the recitation in a peculiar manner could have done is set the atoms in a of the astra vibrating, significantly enough to shake up the atoms and break their nuclei.
Seems a bit unconvincing for sure. But let's look at something else. The Gayatri mantra (गायत्री मंत्र - a sacred chant in Hindu religion) is said to have the ability to generate heat in reciter's body if chanted many times in a row in a repetitive pattern. The composition of the words in that mantra is such that, when the mantra is recited repeatedly, it sets off strong vibrations to create heat in your body.
What really is heat? It's a manifestation of energy attained by virtue of the atoms *vibrating*. Heat is the extent of vibration of atoms. Larger the vibrations, greater the heat. Could those vibrations be caused by the sound waves from repetitive recitation of these hymns?
Mythological references suggest that bramhastra was activated by the powerful chanting of Gayatri mantra hundreds of thousands of times continuously in a rhythmic and repeated manner. Only a handful of human beings could perform such a feat. These seem to have leveraged their enormous untapped mind-power (which most of the normal human beings can't). Could it be that those highly trained souls were able to vibrate atoms so excessively to break them up and trigger the chain reaction? Cannot be proved but cannot be discarded either.
Some interesting timelines:
- Bramhastra references were found in Mahabharata (which is assumed to have happened over 4000-5000 year ago). Is there any evidence of a nuclear blast from that long ago?
- The Mohenjo Daro civilization (assumed to have existed 4500 to 5000 years ago) has been found to be destroyed by a massive explosion that killed thousands of people.
- Evidence of hundreds of bodies found lying dead suggests a massive explosion.
- Evidence also suggests that the rock in the explosion area had vitrified and fused due to intense heat (the way as it did at the test site of Manhattan project in New Mexico where the US tested its nuclear bomb in 1944).
Many questions remain unanswered or have unconvincing answers. But the parallel between the ancient bramhastra and modern nuclear weapon cannot be ignored.
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