War in Ancient India c10.16

c10.16

An aerial car⁶ is made of light wood looking like a great bird with a durable and well-formed body having mercury inside and fire at the bottom. It has two resplendent wings, and is propelled by air. It flies in the atmospheric regions for a great distance, and carries several persons along with it. The inside construction resembles heaven created by Brahmā himself. Iron, copper, lead and other metals are also used for these machines. All these show how far art was developed in ancient India in this direction. Such elaborate descriptions ought to meet the criticism that the vimānas and similar aerial vehicles mentioned in ancient Indian literature should be relegated to the region of myth.