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[Page 1] The Vimanika Shastra English translation by G.R. Josyer [1973] This is the English translation of the Vimanika Shastra, which purports to be an ancient Hindu manuscript on the construction and use of flying machines. Title Page Preface Plates First Ten Pages of Sanskrit Foreword Title Page (English Translation) Contents First Chapter Second Chapter Third Chapter Fourth Chapter Fifth Chapter Sixth Chapter VYMAANIKA-SHAASTRA AERONAUTICS by Maharshi Bharadwaaja Propounded by Venerable SUBBARAYA SHASTRY Translated into English and Edited, Printed and Published by G.R. JOSYER SCHOLAR, HISTORIAN, ESSAYIST, SANSKRITIST Printed at CORONATION PRESS, MYSORE-4, INDIA [1973] [Page 2] NOTICE OF ATTRIBUTION This text is NOT in the public domain in any country. This e-text has been posted for archival and research purposes only and must not be exploited commercially. Any other uses may be subject to International Copyright law. PREFACE by John Bruno Hare Have I lost my mind? This was the first reaction when I saw this listed for sale at the used book site, ABEBooks. I had heard rumors of this book for years, but for a long time I thought it was like the Necronomicon , a book which doesn't exist except as an urban myth. Yes, you can buy a Necronomicon at amazon.com, but let's get real. You will not be shredded by shambling extra-dimensional entities if you do . . . The Vymanika Shastra , however, is not a myth. In recent years, I had seen the English text reproduced in Vimana Aircraft of Ancient India & Atlantis, published by Adventures Unlimited , which I highly recommend for the fascinating background material on vimanas. However, that edition waffles a bit as to when the VS was actually first published. It also omits the first half of the book, consisting of over a hundred pages of Sanskrit, which, in my mind at least, is the most notable part of the book. And the original edition is almost unobtainable. Now I was face to face with an offer to purchase a first edition, at $160. That is probably on the low side; probably because the book looks so terrible, but (as will become clear below) that is probably the case with any copy of the 1973 edition. So I didn't hesitate. The story of this book is as follows: sometime in the period just before World War I, a Brahman named Pandit Subbaraya Sastry began to dictate previously unknown texts in Sanskrit which purported to contain ancient Indian technological knowledge. He in turn, credited a Vedic sage named Maharshi Bharadwaja , as well as other Rishis who appear in legitimate Hindu texts. [Page 3] One of these 'channeled' texts was, on its face, a technical manual for the construction and use of 'vimanas,' the flying machines of the Vedic sagas. It is unclear as to whether any part of the present work was actually published in print at that time, even though it is implied in the introduction, so it is unclear whether it was published (in the