Myth masquerading as ancient knowledge can brainwash, says scientist

Sule-Vimana Collage of Aniket Sule (Supplied) and a 'Vimana' flying object (Facebook page of Bharatam Reawakening)

The Vaimanika Shastra may not immediately ring a bell for a lot of people. But many of us who have been inundated by social media and email forwards on Indian ‘achievements’ would remember claims of a certain Shivkar Talpade beating the Wright brothers to the first flight by eight years.

Talpade's 'aircraft', supposedly flown at Mumbai in 1895, was believed to have been influenced by Vedic texts, in particular the Vaimanika Shastra, though no concrete evidence to substantiate these claims has been found.

Thus, the Vaimanika Shastra has become a textbook example of the conflict between proponents of the knowledge contained in ancient Indian texts and supporters of modern science. A recent seminar on the Vaimanika Shastra, organised in Mumbai, not surprisingly, hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons as modern science and ancient knowledge 'clashed'.

The Vaimanika Shastra claims advanced flying objects that could travel across continents and even into space existed in India nearly 7,000 years ago. However, an Indian Institute of Science study in 1974 claimed the Vaimanika Shastra was concocted with false claims and was dated back to 1904, rather than thousands of years before.

The Mumbai seminar on the Vaimanika Shastra was organised by Bharatam Reawakening, an organisation that claims to be interested in “ancient Indian knowledge systems, history and culture.” Media agencies reported that three scientists ‘exposed’ the alleged pseudoscience claims made at the seminar, leading to arguments with members of the audience and organisers. Some of the claims reportedly involved the descriptions in the Vaimanika Shastra of fuels that used donkey urine and an allegation that Talpade was imprisoned by the British, who stole his design.

Aniket Sule was one of the three scientists who attended the seminar. Sule works at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, which falls under the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and is also a visiting faculty at University of Mumbai's Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences.

Sule, who holds a doctorate in astrophysics from University of Potsdam in Germany, has worked extensively on the history of astronomy of India and has been associated with the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics. He has also been an activist, seeking to promote the spread of critical thinking and has been an opponent of pseudoscience. In a conversation with THE WEEK, Sule discusses the seminar on Vaimanika Shastra, the problems posed by pseudoscience and his decision to become a scientist-activist.

  1. What motivated you to go to the Bharatam Reawakening event on Vaimanika Shastra on September 9 as it could be argued that an event purportedly dealing with aeronautics doesn't strictly fall in your area of expertise, which is astrophysics?

    This issue is not a question about expertise. The claims about Vaimanika Shastra that were made at the event are based on school-level physics and other basic sciences, not principles of aeronautics.

    When you are involved in school-level education, you will immediately understand the dubious nature of the claims being made. Anyone who has studied till class 12 will understand that the devices being described in the Vaimanika Shastra wouldn't work. Teaching science is not just about teaching facts; it is also about teaching students how to raise questions by collecting their own evidence.

  2. Your version of what transpired at the Vaimanika Shastra seminar was covered in media reports. Do you think the 'ruckus' at the event could have been avoided?

    One aspect that has been wrongly reported about the Vaimanika Shastra seminar was that the event organisers removed me and the other two scientists from the spot. This was not the case—they had only threatened to do so.

    On whether the ruckus could have been avoided, I and my two associates decided to go for the event as the disputes on the authenticity of the Vaimanika Shastra have been going on for around 15-20 years and we had examined the previous work of the speakers. We decided to go for the event as we knew there would be members in the audience who weren't 'closed minded'. As the claims that would be made at the Vaimanika Shastra seminar wouldn't be based on scientific evidence, we felt compelled to present a scientific counter at the event.

    The problems at the event can be attributed to the fact that some members of the audience and event organisers were biased and felt that we shouldn't be part of the event, which was organised to brainwash the audience.

  3. What do you have to say about the official statement issued by Bharatam Reawakening on the Vaimanika Shastra event on its Facebook page?

    I am not asking anyone to accept my version of events as final; the organisers had video recordings of the event. If they make the recordings available, the readers can see for themselves and make up their minds.

    After the event, members of the audience actually came to us and told us that the questions we asked were relevant!

  4. Bharatam Reawakening describes itself as being “interested in ancient Indian knowledge systems, history and culture” and spreading awareness on these. By itself, it can be argued that these are noble goals. Why exactly would you oppose an event like the Vaimanika Shastra seminar?

    I have worked on the history of Indian astronomy; I have published papers on it. Yes, ancient Indians were very knowledgeable in fields such as astronomy and mathematics. For example, the Kerala school of mathematics was far ahead of its contemporaries. There is nothing wrong in focusing on historical Indian knowledge and publishing research on it; I would encourage people to do that as very little work has been done in the field.

    At the same time, such research has to follow the recognised processes of science, adhering to international standards such as presenting evidence, publishing your work and having it reviewed. Or such ancient ‘knowledge’ would only be used for brainwashing people.

    A lot of critics of the BJP-RSS have claimed over the past 15-20 years that promotion of myths and ancient scriptures has been a method to boost the spread of Hindutva as a political force. Do you agree with this and what in your view is the threat to scientific research in the country as a result of this?

    In the current political climate, the promotion of these knowledge systems does have a political favour. If you examine world history, regimes have often promoted their ancient history in an attempt to promote nationalism; this trend has been seen over and over again.

    As a science educator, I don't see my work as a political activity. As long as the space for critical thinking and research is there, we needn't worry about which party is in power. My personal political preferences should not interfere with the cause of science. Our objections to dubious claims should not be construed as opposition to a particular party.

    You have been part of the March for Science initiative and were also instrumental in drafting a petition to get Union Minister Satyapal Singh to retract his statement that Darwin’s theory of evolution was wrong, earlier this year. How seriously do you take your role as an activist and why do you do so?

    In addition to my interest in science, I like to read about history. I remember a quote made about Nazi-era Germany on standing up for your principles, which, in our context, roughly means the next generation will ask you, “Where were you when India became a country where nobody was allowed to think?”

    If such a question is asked to me, I want to say with my head held up high, “I tried to take a stand”.

    For me, the choice to become a scientist-activist was made the day (rationalist and author) Narendra Dabholkar was murdered in Pune in 2013. Dabholkar's murder signalled the era of being a mute spectator in the face of pseudoscience was over and time for action has come. Or the few who are vocal in standing for rationalism would be silenced in the same way.

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