A great treasure trove of hypotheses exists in the Mahabharata and other epics from ancient Indian literature that may lead to mind boggling scientific discoveries.
Everybody remembers Dolly, the first sheep produced by cloning. Now it is an obsession among the scientists to go for human cloning, but as per the epics, even five thousand years ago there were human clones lived in ancient India! There were two ‘acharyas’ (teachers)- one was Kripacharya, son of sage Sharadwan and the other was Dronacharya, son of sage Bharadwaj – both were born of one parent only (so it is cloning!), according to the Mahabharata epic.
It’s great to see the wonderful imaginations with a specific scientific edge emanated from people who lived more than thousands of years ago. The scientific researchers have to churn out the Ramayana and the Mahabharata epics with due reverence and then we will be surprised! The churning will deliver the ‘Amrita’ (Nectar), the panacea for all our health issues.
Just to enumerate a few points of importance from the epics, first let us consider the theory of immortality. There are already seven immortal beings described in the epics, who will live forever as long as the world lasts. They are Ashwatama, Mahabali, Veda Vyasa, Hanuman, Vibhishan, Kripacharya and Parasu Ram.
It will now be too immature to say but cloning could eventually lead to the creation of immortals in the near future by constantly replacing old cells and organs with new cloned ones!
Reflect for a while on the ‘Mritha Sanjeevani’ plant which had resuscitated Lakshmana, the brother of Lord Rama and also about the divine drink, ‘Amrita’ which was also supposed to impart immortality.
Another field of research is that of cosmetics and body care. The sage Parasara after having sexual intercourse with the girl named ‘Matsya Gandi’ (fish smelling) had changed her into ‘Kasturi Gandi’ (musk smelling) and also restored her virginity (even after giving birth to a child!)
Then there comes the queen, Panchali who got a boon from Lord Shiva that she would be able to keep her youthful vigour and beauty even though she had to live with five husbands!
Chew upon the story of the sex change operation done by ‘Thumburu Gandharva’ on Shikandini, the daughter of Panchala king wherein she had been converted into Shikandi, a male.
The examples of cloning, immortality, virginity and body care are just a few superficial ideas. There are many more things in the depths of the great epics which the scientific, social and medical experts should dig out, and then there may come many incredible discoveries that will solve all our modern-day health issues.
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