Saubha: The Mahabharata's Flying City That Could Turn Invisible
A flying fortress-city in the Mahabharata that could go anywhere, vanish, and rain weapons, until Krishna split it with his discus.
The Saubha is a flying city belonging to King Salva, an enemy of Krishna, in the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata. It attacked Dwaraka from the air until Krishna cut it in two with his discus.
The Saubha is a flying city belonging to King Salva (Shalva), an enemy of Krishna. The story is told in the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata, where Krishna explains to Yudhishthira that he missed the fateful dice game because he was away fighting Salva, who had attacked Krishna's city of Dwaraka from the air.
In Ganguli's translation, the Saubha moves at will through the sky, can be seen in one place and then another, and is described as appearing in the sky, on the earth, and on the water. From it Salva's forces pour down weapons on the city. Krishna's arrows seem to have no effect, and the city at times becomes invisible.
After a long battle, Krishna uses his discus, the Sudarshana chakra, which cuts the Saubha in two, and it falls. He then kills Salva. The Bhagavata Purana retells the story and adds that Salva had obtained the Saubha by worshipping Shiva, and that it was built by the demon architect Maya.
Among ancient flying-machine stories, the Saubha is the most 'science fiction': a crewed, armed, cloakable craft that moves between air, land, and sea. The text, though, speaks of divine illusion and magic, not machinery. Still, the image of a sky fortress that hides and reappears has made it a favorite of modern readers of ancient flight.
Salva's flying city is said to have appeared in the sky, on the ground, and on the water, sometimes all within the same battle.
Scholars read the Saubha as epic fantasy of a demonic sky-fortress, akin to the three flying cities (Tripura) destroyed by Shiva, rather than a memory of real technology.
