Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan claimed this week that Indian technology was “so advanced” in ancient India that before Wright Brothers built the world’s first airplane, “India had the Pushpak Vimaan”.
Chouhan, who was speaking at the 12th convocation of The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal (IISER Bhopal) Tuesday, claimed India’s technological progress was stemmed when “it fell into the abyss of slavery”.
“This is the land where, when the world was covered in the darkness of ignorance, India lit the lamp of knowledge. Our science and our technology were highly advanced. The Pushpak Vimaan existed when there was no trace of the Wright brothers,” Chouhan said.
Speaking on weapon technology in ancient India, Chouhan claimed: “You must have read about Agniastra, Varunastra, and Brahmastra in India. These were used in the Mahabharata. And those weapons were such that after hitting the target, they would return to the quiver. Today, when missiles are being launched and drones are being sent, our country already achieved such things long ago”.
On what happened to these technologies, Chouhan claimed: “Then came a period when we fell into the abyss of slavery, and during that time science and technology could not progress as much”.
Chouhan said India is “an ancient and great nation that goes back thousands of years”.
“At a time when the sun of civilization had not yet risen in the so-called developed nations of the world, the hymns of our Vedas had already been composed and the Upanishads were being recited,” Chouhan said.
We should be proud of our country, he said.
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“This is the nation whose teachers and sages, not today but thousands of years ago, declared: ‘Truth is one, the wise describe it in different ways. Whichever path you take, you will reach the same destination’,” he said.
