Mahabharata , more then just a story ?

I have recently under took the daunting task of reading the 4000 year old epic text , the Mahabharata . en.wikipedia.org... and sathyavaadi.tripod.com...

Mahabharata epic story was written by, Vedavyaasa (or Krishna Dwaipaayana) after the Mahabharata war. Vyaasa is also credited with codifying the existing branches of Vedas. It is perhaps the longest poem of its kind of such antiquity

This book is based on a Hindu religious text dating back 4000 years and it totals 900 + pages . This Indian text describes a great war that took place in very ancient time with weapons that sound much like a nuclear conflict . The book also speaks of a world governed by a signal world government / head of .

Now to only say that about this book , that its a book about a war , would be a serious offense . Given , I have just started this book and am just over 100 pages into it , I must say its very captivating . There is much to this book / ancient Indian text , lets not forget that part , that pull you in right from the start .

This ancient text , as beautiful as it may be , one has to wonder how it came to be regarded as " holy " ? Why do many except this book as a testament of history and not just some fairy tail ? Is there something to it ?

I in my attempt to learn more about this book I stumbled across a couple of interesting links that I will post ....
www.thaindian.com...

4,000-year-old Mahabharata relic found in Nepal?
A structure found in the Kathmandu valley is a divine relic that goes back 4,000 years to the time of the epic Mahabharata, says an Indian seer who is in Nepal for a month’s rituals dedicated to Hindu god Shiva.

And ....

www.philipcoppens.com...

Best Evidence?

Are the Indian remains of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, their sudden abandonment and the apparent discovery of an ancient site with a layer of radioactive ash the best available evidence for the possibility that our ancient ancestors possessed a highly advanced technology – which might have included atomic warfare?

Is there something to this book ? Is there a bit of truth based in this epic tail that is a religious text to millions ?

Whatever it is , I can say it's well worth reading !!

Are any of you out there familiar with this book or its legend ?

Share your thoughts ?

Indian people God lov'em are a very superstitious people, they believe all kinds of crazy crap. It is ok to be superstitious but when taken to the extreme that they do is kind of whacked.
www.iloveindia.com...

I can make millions selling "religious" tidbits to the Indian people...

i think it perfectly describes a nuclear explosion.

edit for a second line..

[edit on 22-10-2009 by whateverponcho]

reply to post by joey_hv


There is much more to this book then ancient dribble about nothing and to assume that it is , is an injustices .

Its a very old story told in a very captivating way which will keep your eyes glued to its pages for hours on end . This is a great work worthy of reading and not to be dismissed based on the fact that some view it as religious doctrine .

[edit on 23-10-2009 by Max_TO]

the inventor of the atomic bomb was interviewed aftewards.

he quoted the vedic text, the ramayana,

and said "Now if am become vishnu??, destroyer of worlds".

when asked if it was the first atomic bomb ever tested, he replied:

Yes, IN MODERN HISTORY.

funny that.

also would explain sodom and gomorrah.

the radioactive corpses lying in teh street of mohenjo daro.

the libyan desert glass used by egyptians to make jewellery. fused green glass litters the desert. just like it does in atomic bomb testing sites.

also exlains the rock vitrification on lots of ancient buildings/forts/structures. worldwide.

ancient nuclear war. clearly.

[edit on 23-10-2009 by rapunzel222]

Originally posted by rapunzel222
the inventor of the atomic bomb was interviewed aftewards.

he quoted the vedic text, the ramayana,

and said "Now if am become vishnu??, destroyer of worlds".

Please provide quote and link.

also would explain sodom and gomorrah.

So does an earthquake.

the radioactive corpses lying in teh street of mohenjo daro.

These don't exist

the libyan desert glass used by egyptians to make jewellery. fused green glass litters the desert. just like it does in atomic bomb testing sites.

These have already been explained. A crater was found. The glass was created by an impact. There's a thread about it here in this section of ATS.

ancient nuclear war. clearly.

Lack of curiosity and research.
Clearly.

Harte

Seeing how it was requested I thought I would post the video .

Now please don't assume that I offer this video as evidence proving the Mahabharata to be " factual " I post this video out of intreats sake .

I am still left wondering , has anyone out there ever read the book ?


Here is a bit more info that I stumbled across .

Furthermore, there is no apparent cause of a physically violent death. A. Gorbovsky, in Riddles of Ancient History, reported the discovery of at least one human skeleton in this area with a level of radioactivity approximately 50 times greater than it should have been due to natural radiation. Furthermore, thousands of fused lumps, christened “black stones”, have been found at Mohenjo-Daro. These appear to be fragments of clay vessels that melted together in extreme heat.

Another curious sign of an ancient nuclear war in India is a giant crater near Bombay. The nearly circular 2,154-metre-diameter Lonar crater (left image), located 400 kilometers northeast of Bombay and aged at less than 50,000 years old, could be related to nuclear warfare of antiquity. No trace of any meteoric material, etc., has been found at the site or in the vicinity, and this is the world’s only known “impact” crater in basalt. Indications of great shock (from a pressure exceeding 600,000 atmospheres) and intense, abrupt heat (indicated by basalt glass spherules) can be ascertained from the site.

With the apparent discovery of this radiated area, parallels were quick drawn to the Mahabharata, the Indian epic.

www.bibliotecapleyades.net...

And
sci.tech-archive.net...

Manhattan Project chief scientist Dr J. Robert
Oppenheimer was known to be familiar with ancient Sanskrit literature.
In an interview conducted after he watched the first atomic test, he
quoted from the Bhagavad Gita: "'Now I am become Death, the Destroyer
of Worlds.' I suppose we all felt that way." When asked in an
interview at Rochester University seven years after the Alamogordo
nuclear test whether that was the first atomic bomb ever to be
detonated, his reply was, "Well, yes, in modern history."

[edit on 23-10-2009 by Max_TO]

[edit on 23-10-2009 by Max_TO]

Out of interest sake here is a link where you can find a text version of the book online

www.sacred-texts.com...

Also , for interest sake , here is a link to the version of the book that I am reading
www.amazon.com...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256322841&sr=8-1


[edit on 23-10-2009 by Max_TO]

Originally posted by Max_TO
Here is a bit more info that I stumbled across .

Furthermore, there is no apparent cause of a physically violent death. A. Gorbovsky, in Riddles of Ancient History, reported the discovery of at least one human skeleton in this area with a level of radioactivity approximately 50 times greater than it should have been due to natural radiation. Furthermore, thousands of fused lumps, christened “black stones”, have been found at Mohenjo-Daro. These appear to be fragments of clay vessels that melted together in extreme heat.

Please provide actual evidence that this is true, not a quote from a fringe author.

Until you do, I can dismiss it without evidence, as I'm sure you understand.

Another curious sign of an ancient nuclear war in India is a giant crater near Bombay. The nearly circular 2,154-metre-diameter Lonar crater (left image), located 400 kilometers northeast of Bombay and aged at less than 50,000 years old, could be related to nuclear warfare of antiquity.

It could be, but it is not.
Do a little research on this crater lake to see why.

With the apparent discovery of this radiated area, parallels were quick drawn to the Mahabharata, the Indian epic.

It is true that "parallels were drawn." After all, you're doing this yourself right now, right?

However, no radioactive archaeological site has been found in India. Lots and lots of radioactive contamination exists in the area of Mohejo-Daro, all of it from improperly disoposed and/or stored nuclear waste from nearby power plant facilities.

You can find this info on the web. What happened, you weren't curious at all or something?

sci.tech-archive.net...

Manhattan Project chief scientist Dr J. Robert
Oppenheimer was known to be familiar with ancient Sanskrit literature.
In an interview conducted after he watched the first atomic test, he
quoted from the Bhagavad Gita: "'Now I am become Death, the Destroyer
of Worlds.' I suppose we all felt that way." When asked in an
interview at Rochester University seven years after the Alamogordo
nuclear test whether that was the first atomic bomb ever to be
detonated, his reply was, "Well, yes, in modern history."

Two different quotes from two different times concerning two different instances?

Then why did you phrase it:

the inventor of the atomic bomb was interviewed aftewards.

he quoted the vedic text, the ramayana,

and said "Now if am become vishnu??, destroyer of worlds".

when asked if it was the first atomic bomb ever tested, he replied:

Yes, IN MODERN HISTORY.

No evidence of any ancient nuclear weaponry has ever, ever been found. Never.

Not one iota.

You can see all this info here at ATS, btw. However, the search function here is somewhat cumbersome.

Harte


[edit on 10/23/2009 by Harte]

reply to post by Harte


You may very well be right , as I said , I was posting the links for interest sake .

There are many credible people that believe that there was some type of conflict involving a WOMD in the ancient world . The foundation for these notions are based in part to these ancient Indian texts , such as the Mahabharata .


Now do we simply disregard this ancient text simply on the bases that we can't prove that it happened ? Or can we still look at this work as a great peace of literature that has survived for 1000's of years ?

Is there something to this story ? Was there some ancient war that was the bases of this text ? If not then what inspired this work ? Has anyone out there in ATS land read this book ? Care to share your thoughts on this text ?

One thing is for sure , the text is of an ancient and lost civilization and on that bases I would be very interested to hear any thoughts or findings regarding this work .

Myself , I am amazed by what I have read so far . To think this book / text was written so long ago and is such a captivating read is merit for discussion on that bases alone .

Originally posted by Max_TO

Is there something to this story ? Was there some ancient war that was the bases of this text ? If not then what inspired this work ? Has anyone out there in ATS land read this book ? Care to share your thoughts on this text ?

Simple common sense - as well as research into the history of human narrative (and not just verbal) - would dictate that, yes, there must be a "real" event, or series of events, at the root of this story and of all other enduring stories. Even the most far-fetched legends surely contain a solid grain of historical truth, however distorted it may appear to be on the purely factual level. (That's why no serious researcher should ever completely discard "old wives'" stories.)

I have started reading it many more times than I care to remember. Clashing swords and battle rumbling have a peculiarly soporific effect on yours truly...
(Which is why I could not make myself read through the Iliad either. The Odyssey, on the other hand, has been my favourite since childhood!)

But now, thanks to you and to this thread, I am resolved to read through the Mahabharata, even if it kills me...

And I, too, am looking forward to a serious discussion about it.














[edit on 23-10-2009 by Vanitas]

For the sake of interest here is another link that I found regarding this work...
www.indiaprofile.com...

NThe foundation of boulders on which the city's walls were erected proves that the land was reclaimed from the sea about 3,600 years ago. The Mahabharata has references to such reclamation activity at Dwaraka. Seven islands mentioned in it have also been discovered submerged in the Arabian Sea. Pottery, which has been established by thermoluminiscence tests to be 3,528 years old and carrying inscriptions in late Indus Valley civilization script; iron stakes and triangular three-holed anchors discovered here find mention in the Mahabharata. Among the many objects unearthed that further prove Dwaraka's connection with the epic is a seal engraved with the image of a three-headed animal. The epic mentions that such a seal was given to the citizens of Dwaraka as a proof of identity when the city was threatened by King Jarasandha of the powerful Magadh kingdom. "The findings in Dwaraka and archeological evidence found compatible with the Mahabharata tradition remove the lingering doubt about the historicity of the Mahabharata," says Dr Rao, of the National Institute of Oceanography that was instrumental in conducting much of the underwater excavations. We would say Krishna definitely existed."

reply to post by Vanitas




Thank you and happy reading !

Please share your thoughts as you get into the book and feel free to add any findings that you stumble across that add to Mahabharata's historical merit .

Well Krsna was 'posed to have grown up in Vrindavan en.wikipedia.org...

As metioned, there is the underwater city of Dwarka en.wikipedia.org... www.s8int.com...

My uncle Roland (born in the 40's & Hindu) told me that 'They used to have nuclear weapons in those days'. this en.wikipedia.org... was what he was talking about.

Like all religion, there's a lot of ritual as dogma (I'm saying that as someone brought up with Christianity and Hinduism), but, where there's muck, there's brass. I thought it was really far-out as a youngster, but the older I get and the more I learn about the Earth's history the possible it becomes

Thanks for posting those links

I found something else of importance with regards to dating the Year of Mahabharata .

www.reversespins.com...

For thousands of years, we have believed in the divinity of Shri Krishna. For us he was a Karmayogi par excellence who gave us action oriented philosophy of life in the form of Bhagavad Gita. But questions have constantly haunted us as to whether Krishna was a historical or mythical character and whether the war of Mahabharata was actually fought.

Till recently, we did not have the wherewithal to search for and establish the truth. But modern scientific tools and techniques like computers with planetarium softwares, advancements in archaeological and marine archaeological techniques, earth-sensing satellite photography and thermo-luminescence dating methods, all have made it possible to establish the authenticity and dating of many events narrated in ancient texts like the Mahabharata. Recent archaeo- astronomical studies, results of marine-archaeological explorations and overwhelming archaeological evidence have established the historicity and dating of many events narrated in the Mahabharata. These have led to the conclusion that Mahabharata War was actually fought in 1478 BC and Shri Krishna's Dwarka City got submerged under the sea in 1443 BC.

Astronomical Evidence: In the Mahabharata references to sequential solar and lunar eclipses as also references to some celestial observations have been made. Dr RN Iyengar, the great scientist of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, examined relevant references and searched for the compatible dates by making use of planetarium software (PVIS and EZC). He concluded that most of these references were internally consistent and that the eclipses and celestial observations of Mahabharata belong to the period 1493 BC-1443 BC of Indian History, (refer Indian Journal of History of Science/38.2/2003/77-115).

In the Mahabharata, there are references to three sequential solar eclipses and some other planetary positions. Reference to the first solar eclipse comes in the Sabha Parva (79.29), graphically described by Vidur when Pandavas start their journey to the forest on being banished for 12 years of life in exile and one year of life incognito after they had lost everything in the game of dice. After 13 years of exile and incognito life, the Pandavas returned to Hastinapur and demanded their kingdom back, but Duryodhana refused. Several efforts to prevent war failed and war became imminent.

[edit on 23-10-2009 by Max_TO]

Originally posted by Vanitas
Simple common sense - as well as research into the history of human narrative (and not just verbal) - would dictate that, yes, there must be a "real" event, or series of events, at the root of this story and of all other enduring stories. Even the most far-fetched legends surely contain a solid grain of historical truth, however distorted it may appear to be on the purely factual level. (That's why no serious researcher should ever completely discard "old wives'" stories.)

Hmmm.

Would you mind, then, relating to us the "grain of historical truth" behind the legend of Paul Bunyan?

Specifically, the historical truth behind how he created the Grand Canyon?

Originally posted by Wendroid

My uncle Roland (born in the 40's & Hindu) told me that 'They used to have nuclear weapons in those days'. this en.wikipedia.org... was what he was talking about.

From your link:

It is believed to be obtained by meditating on the Creator in Vedic mythology, Lord Brahma, and used only once in a lifetime.

Doesn't sound like a nuke to me.

Nukes, in general, are not created through meditation. Additionally, as has been demonstrated, nuclear weapons can be used more than once in a lifetime.

Harte

reply to post by Harte


Thanks for adding your thoughts to the discussion of the Mahabharata

It is obvious to me that you do not feel that this ancient text in any way indicates that there was an ancient nuclear attack in India . You have also sighted the lack of evidence to back up any such claim of some ancient catastrophe in India .

Given that , I am inclined to ask you your thoughts on the text as a whole ? Given that the book is based on much more then one glorious climatic battle .

having just started reading the book and subsequently having just started researching the book I am inclined to think that there is something to the testament and times made by the Mahabharata and there does seem to be some historical merit for the Mahabharata , even if that merit doesn't include the use of nukes it's still one great text .

[edit on 23-10-2009 by Max_TO]

reply to post by Harte


Got the Dalai Lama's e-mail? If you could meditate up a nuke, he'd know.

Ever heard of siddhi? www.experiencefestival.com...

All sorts of hoopy things are 'posed to happen when you meditate

From the Mahabharata:

Herein also hath been described the eternal Vasudeva possessing the six attributes. He is the true and just, the pure and holy, the eternal Brahma, the supreme soul, the true constant light, whose divine deeds wise and learned recount; from whom hath proceeded the non-existent and existent-non-existent universe with principles of generation and progression, and birth, death and re-birth.

Anyone cares to comment (seriously, please) on the passage in red?

reply to post by Vanitas


Ok I will take a shot at it ....

Perhaps it in some way is trying to illustrate that this person transcends space and time , or something to that effect ?