Deciphering ancient India

If we look closely to our history we can discover

some amazing evidence which shows how rich was
our India with knowledge and technologies.
Some of them are still present till now and
others are lost to us. And today we will be looking
into such evidences and writings which will be
reflecting our rich Indian Knowledge.
Mechanics
• In the book Yantrarnav (Nectar of
Mechanism) the basic components of
machine and its working was described .
• The exact period of publication and the
author of Yantrarnav is unknown. But it is
believed to be written somewhere around
14AD.
• Late K.V Vaze was the first to find six torn
out pages of the text. Vaze used the
available text to add a separate chapter on
Yantrashastra, in his Marathi book
“Prachin Hindi Shilpashastra”.
Now we will be looking into some of the
translation form the text Yantrarnav
• The five basic physical
elements(Panchmahabhutas):
According to Yantrarnav each machine
(Yantra) is associated with one or more of the
following five basic physical elements
Pruthwi(Earth)- Gravitational Force
Jala(Water)- Hydraulic Power
Vayu(Air/Wind)- Wind Power
Tej(Fire)- Heat/Light Energy
Akash(Space/Ether)
 • Machine:
The five basic components of any
Yantra(Machine) are listed below
I. Danda- Lever/rod
II. Chakra- Wheel/pulley
III. Danta- Toothed wheel (Gear)
IV. Sarani- Inclined Plane
V. Bhraman- Screw
II III IV V

I
Definition of Machine:

“Generation of power/energy or motion, through the

continuous movement of lever, pulley, toothed wheel,
inclined plane and screw is called a machine.”

•If you search ‘definition of machine’ on the internet,

you will find almost the same answer which was given
by the scholars of modern era. And here our Indian
scholars gave the same definition which indicates that
our teachings was centuries ahead from rest of the
world.
Attributes of a machine
“Great attributes of machines are,
proper union of efforts and result,
good contact, smoothness, least
attention, sustaining, lightness and
noiselessness, when sound is
required its predominance, not
loosening or clogging, good contact
in all moving parts, no break in
action, attainment of results as
desired, adherence to rhythm and
timing, showing results at the
moment desired, returning to
normalcy at the other times ,not
bulging and staying in shapes,
strength, softness and durability.”
Electricity
• The ancient text of Agastya Samhita describes
the method of making electrochemical battery,
and that water can be split into oxygen and
hydrogen.
• In his writings he mentioned about the
composition of water and also he stated that one
of the component of water(Hydrogen) can be
used as a fuel to fly balloons.
• Further he also described the process of
electroplating in his text.
Formula for Electric battery in
Agastya Samhita •Modern battery cell
resembles Agastya’s method
of generating electricity.
For generating electricity,
Sage Agastya had used the
following material:

1.One earthen pot

2.Copper plate
3.Copper sulphate
4.Wet saw dust
5.Zinc amalgam
• His text says
संस्थाप्य मृण्मये पात्रे ताम्रपत्रं सुसंस्कृ तम।्
छादयेिच्छ खग्रीवेन चादार्दा भ: काष्ठापांसु भ:॥
दस्तालोष्टो नधात्वय: पारदाच्छा दतस्तत:।
संयोगाज्जायते तेजो मत्रावरुणसं ज्ञितम॥्

Which means, “Place a well-cleaned copper plate

in an earthenware vessel. Cover it first by copper
sulphate and then by moist sawdust. After that,
put a mercury-amalgamated zinc sheet on top of
the sawdust to avoid polarization. The contact
will produce an energy known by the twin name
of Mitra-Varuna.”
Composition of water

Which means, “If we use

the power of 100 earthen
pots on water, then water
will change its form into If hydrogen is contained in
life-giving oxygen and an air tight cloth, it can be
floating hydrogen.” used in aerodynamics, i.e. it
will fly in air. (Today’s
Hydrogen Balloon)
Electroplating

Which means, “Artificial Gold or Silver plating

on copper plate can be done by using this
battery. When plated with gold it is called as
Shatkumbh.”
Astronomy & Mathematics
• Born in year 476 in Kerla.
• In 499, at the age of 23, he wrote “Aryabhatiyam
which is a text on astronomy and treatise on
mathematics, at Kusumpur in Bihar
• Credited with the knowledge of Zero.
• Formulated a process of calculating the motion of
planets and the time of eclipses.
• First to proclaim that the Earth is round and
rotates around its own axis.
Aryabhatta • Aryabhatta also proposed the theory
of elliptical path of Planets and heliocentrism.
• He also gave an approximate value of Pi which is
correct up to four decimal digits.
Astronomy
Revolution period of planets around the Sun
Planet Aryabhatta’s value Modern value

Earth 365.259 days 365.256days

Mars 1.881 years 1.881 years
Jupiter 11.861 years 11.862 years
Saturn 29.477 years 29.458 years

*revolution of moon around the earth

Moon 27.322 days 27.322days
 Mathematics

•Translated into English, this verse means:

“Add four to 100, multiply by eight, and then add 62,000. By this
rule the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 20,000 can be
approached.”
• In other words, what Aryabhatta said was that circumference of a
circle with a diameter of 20000 is (4+100) x8 +62000= 62832.
• And we know that the value of pi is the ratio of the circumference
to the diameter, so in this case 62832/20000, which is incredibly
3.1416. This is the value of pi accurate to five figures.
• Aryabhatta knew that he was talking about a mathematical
constant, because he uses the term rule, indicating the
value remains the same, even when the numbers change.
And we know the ratio of the circumference of any circle
(whatever its size) to its diameter is always the same – pi.
• He uses the term ‘approached’, indicating that the value is
not exact, but rather an approximation. This could well
have been very first reference to the irrational nature of pi.
• Modern world in fact discovered that pi was irrational
when proved so by Lambert in Europe as late as 1761.

• Other than this he also wrote about Trigonometry,

Indeterminate Equations and Algebras.
Wait! Did he invent all of these? Ah, that’s the question.
Aryabhatta himself claims not a single invention.

He explicitly states that

“By the grace of Brahma, the precious jewel of knowledge
(jnana-uttama-ratnam) has been extracted from the sea of
true and false knowledge (sat-asat-jnaana-samudraat), by
the boat of my intellect (sva-mati-navaa).”
Theory of time dilation
 Two scenario emerges…
• There will be two groups of people with different opinions on this, some of
them will be believing in his incident as described on Bhagvat Puran and
others won’t.
• So, two possibilities arises based on the views of people. Either it may be a
TRUE incident or it is UNTRUE

✔ When you believe it is true, then you must understand that its satisfies the
first condition of this theory to be true i.e, the body has to travel with the
velocity of light or close to it.
Which means we had such advanced technologies and modes of
transportation back then (hundreds-thousand years ago) which made such
insanely high velocity travel possible and time dilation could be seen in
action.

✔ And those who believe it is untrue, then you cannot even deny the fact that
theory of Time Dilation is already mentioned i.e, time runs differently for a
person travelling with a velocity closer to speed of light.
Because Brahmalok is very very far away in space and in order to
reach their in a very short time, one has to travel with speed of light or close
to its speed.
Not just only in Physics
Our ancient Indian knowledge can be observed in
various fields, some of them are
• Atharvaveda (medicines)
• Human science
• Metallurgy
• Civil engineering & architecture
• Aeronautics

But sadly, in the course of time many of them are

lost to us and we should cherish and conserve it
more.
Thank You