Pandit Subbaraya Shastry
Mystic who dictated the Vaimanika Shastra, 1918–1923
- Born
- 1866
- Died
- 1940
- Known for
- Dictating the Vaimanika Shastra (1918–1923)
- Claimed source
- Psychic transmission from the ancient sage Bharadvaja
- Published
- Announced 1952 by G. R. Josyer; Sanskrit and English edition 1973
The Indian mystic who dictated the 'ancient' aircraft manual Vaimanika Shastra between 1918 and 1923, saying it came to him psychically.
What is Pandit Subbaraya Shastry known for?
Pandit Subbaraya Shastry (1866–1940) was a Sanskrit-speaking mystic from what is now Karnataka. Between 1918 and 1923 he dictated a long Sanskrit text on aircraft, later called the Vaimanika Shastra, to an assistant. He said it was delivered to him psychically by the ancient sage Bharadvaja.
The text came to public attention in 1952, when G. R. Josyer announced it, and a Sanskrit edition with English translation followed in 1973. Popular books and videos have since presented it as an ancient manual for building aircraft.
In 1974 a team at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, led by H. S. Mukunda, studied its designs and concluded they were poor concoctions that could not fly, and that the text dates from the early 20th century. Mainstream scholars agree it is a modern composition, whatever the sincerity of Shastry's own belief.
He is the real author behind the Vaimanika Shastra, which the site discusses as a modern text, not an ancient one.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeVaimanika Shastra
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'Vaimanika Shastra'Reference
- Wikipedia, '2015 Indian Science Congress ancient aircraft controversy'Reference
- H. S. Mukunda, S. M. Deshpande, H. R. Nagendra, A. Prabhu and S. P. Govindaraju, "A Critical Study of the Work Vymanika Shastra," Scientific Opinion (1974)Primary text
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