SHAKUNA VIMANA
"Shakunaadyaah
Panchavimshat Kritakaah."
"Shakuna and
other 25 types of Vimaanas are Kritakaah."
Bodhaananda Vritti:
In shape and movements there is no difference in the
vimaanas, except in the matter of the use of mantraas and tantraas. The kritaka
or artificial vimaanas are of 25 varieties.
According to Shownaka sootra
"Tishyay kritaka bhedaah panchavigamshatih! teshaam
naamaanyanukramishyaamah: shakuna sundararukma mandala vakratunda bhadraka
ruchaka vyraaja bhaaskara gajaavarta powshkala virinchi nandaka kumuda mandara
hamsa shukaasya somaka krownchaka padmaka symhika panchabaana owryaayana
pushkara kodandaa iti."
Says "Maanibhadra Kaarikaa":
In Kaliyuga, the kritaka or artificial vimaanas are said to
be 25. Their names are given below as indicated by sage Gowtama: shakuna,
sundara, rukmaka, mandala, vakratunda, bhadraka, ruchaka, viraajaka, bhaaskara,
gajaavarta, powshkala, viranchika, nandaka, kumuda, mandara, hamsa, shukaasya,
sowmyaka, krownchaka, padmaka, symhika, panchabaana, owryaayana, pushkara, and
kodanda.
"Raaja-lohaadeteshaam
Aakaara Rachanaa."
"These should
be built out of Raajaloha."
Bodhaananda Vritti:
These 25 kinds of vimaanas are to be made of Raajaloha metal
only.
Says Kriyaasaara,
In manufacturing artificial aeroplanes the best of metals
are those known as Ooshmapaa or heatimbibing or heat resisting metals. Out of
them the variety known as Raajaloha or king of metals is most suited to Shakuna
and other vimaanas.
Three kinds of metals, soma, soundaala, and maardweeka, in
the proportion of 3, 8, and 2, adding borax, to be filled in crucible or
smelter, and placed in furnace, and heated to 272 degrees, and melted
thoroughly, and churned, will result in the alloy Raajaloha.
Vishwambhara also says,
"In the science of metals, for the manufacture of
aeroplanes, 16 types of Ooshmapaa or heatsucking lohas or metals are the very
best. The fourth in that series, is called Raajaloha. Out of that alone should
shakuna vimaana be constructed."
The parts of shakuna vimaana are:
Peetha or floor board; hollow mast; three wheeled keelakas
with holes; 4 heaters, air-suction pipes, water jacket, oil tank, air heater,
chhullee or heater, steam boiler, vidyud-yantra or electric generator, air propelling
yantra, vaatapaa yantra or air-suction pipe, dikpradarsha dhwaja or direction
indicating banner, shakuna yantra, two wings, tail portion for helping vimaana
to rise, owshmyaka yantra or engine, kiranaakarshana math or sun-ray attracting
bead. These 28 are parts of Shakuna vimaana.
The construction of the vimaana:
The floor-board or base should be made of levelled Rajaloha
sheet, shaped quadrangular, circular, or cradle shaped. The weight of the
peetha should be one-hundredth of that of the plane, and its width should be
half the height of the vimaana. In the centre of the peetha the hollow mast
should be fixed with screw joints.
Lalla defines the mast in "Yantra kalpataru". The
stambha or mast should be made of haatakaasya metal and not otherwise.
Haatakaasya metal is described in "Lohatantra": 8
parts of suvarchala or natron, 16 parts of laghukshwinka or light zinc, 18
parts of lagbu bambhaari, and 100 parts of copper, filled in smelter, placed in
koorma vyaasatika furnace, and with the aid of mahormi bellows boiled to 307
degrees, will yield haatakaasya metal.
The Peetha
The height of the peetha should be 80 feet. It should be 56
feet in length and breadth, 70 feet high on the north and south sides. The tip
should be three-cornered. This is for shakuna vimaana.
Naalastambha or Hollow Mast:
At the bottom the mast should be of 35 feet diameter
outside, and 30 feet inside. At the middle the mast should be of 25 feet
diameter outside and 20 feet inside. Higher up it should be of 20 feet diameter
outside and 15 feet diameter inside; The height of the mast should be 80 feet.
It should be made of Raajaloha. In order to fix the mast in the peetha screw
joint should be made. And in order to adjust the air-speed as required, 6
wheels should be inserted inside the mast.
The Wheels:
Inside the mast at the height of 4 feet above the peetha,
three wheels should be provided, of 15½ feet diameter, with holes. The wheels
above and below should be fixed with bolts, and unmoving. In order to revolve
the middle wheel keys should be fixed outside on the mast, As there are holes
in the wheels, as two wheels do not move, and as the middle wheel revolves in a
group with the other two wheels, movement of air is, allowed or stopped by the
turning of the key outside.
Similarly at the height of 44 feet above the peetha three
wheels corresponding to those below should be fixed and operated similarly.
Window dome:
The window dome should be of 15½ feet outside circumference.
Its inside should be five feet wide and it should be 2 feet high. It should be
fixed on the top of the mast.
Sun-crystal:
A sun crystal 7 feet round, and 2 feet wide and 2 feet in
height should be fixed so as to crown the window dome .
10 feet above the bottom peetha, on a floor-board 3 inches
thick, three floors or tiers should be built, each 14 feet high, with 3 inch
floor-boards, the upper two floors being supported by pillars fixed at 10 feet
intervals with screw joints and strong bolts. In the four corners 4 heating
yantras should be fixed, 10 feet in circumference and 8 feet high. On the
ground floor along the supporting pillars accommodation for passengers should
be provided in the form of individual boxes.
On the second floor booths should be constructed to
accommodate the anga-yantras, or the various mechanisms recommended for the
safety of the vimaana. It should be 60 feet wide and 14 feet high with 3 inch
thick ceiling board.
The third floor should be 40 feet wide and 14 feet high.
The partitioning boxes for passengers as well as the booths
of the various machines should be divided off by railings starting from the
hollow mast to the side walls in all the four directions.
Beneath the ground-floor board a 7 feet high cellar should
be constructed. In it the several necessary yantras should be located. In the centre
is the foot of the hollow mast. On the four directions from it 4 air pumping
machines should be fixed. In order to stimulate them 4 steam engines also
should be installed. On the two sides of the vimaana two air expelling
machines, and an air heater machine, and 2 machines to keep the heater supplied
with air from outside, should be erected.
In order to enable the wings on either side to spread and
flap, proper hinges and keys should be provided for, safely fixing them to the
sides of the vimaana, and for enabling them to fold and open easily .
The revolving tractor blades in the front should be duly
fixed to the heating engine with rods so that they could dispel the wind in
front and facilitate the passage of the vimaana.
The wings are two, one on each side, very strongly fixed to
the vimaana with bolts and hinges. Each wing should be fixed in a 11 foot
scabbard up to 20 feet length, where it would be 10 feet wide, widening further
up to 40 feet at the end of its 60 feet length, besides its. first 20 feet of
scabbard length.
The tail should be 20 feet long, and 3½ feet wide at the
start, and 20 feet wide at the end.
The air-blower and heater:
The length of the air-blower should be 15 feet, and width 3
feet. The naalaas or pipes should be 3 feet wide, and their outer circumference
should be 4 feet. The rods and hinges and other equipment should be suitably
prepared.
The vaatapaa yantra or air blower should be 12 feet long and
9½ feet wide. Inside it should be covered with circling wires. A pipe should be
fixed inside, for air flow. By the hot oil fumes from the heated tank, the air
becomes heated and should be passed into the owshmya yantra or heater, while
the cold air from outside should also be let in. Tubes and fixings should be
provided in the yantra. In order to emit the fumes of the oil flames to the
outside, a 6 inches pipe should be fixed from the yantra to the foot of the
mast. Air blowers should be installed with 10 feet wheels to pump in fresh cold
air from outside.
To the east of the air machine should be placed a light
burner in order to aid combustion of the oil. An electric generator provided
with switches should light the burner. When the light is off the oil should be
kept duly sealed. A rope should be tied to the tail joint, for the pilot to
manipulate the fluttering of the tail to help the ascent or descent of the
vimaana. Similarly ropes should be tied to the hinges of the two wings, and
passed to the pilot like reins, so that he might spread them out or close them
as needed.
Ten feet beneath the passenger floor of the vimaana, to a
height of 2½ feet from the bottom plate there should be a cellar-like
enclosure. The bottom of the vaatanaala mast should be fixed in its centre with
firm screw joints. In this cellar should be located two oil tanks 15 feet by 9½
feet by 4 feet, with water jackets.
Four bellows of 15 feet by 2½ feet by 6½ feet, should be
provided for storing the air pumped in by the air-blowers, and letting it out
as required.
And underneath, on all the four sides wheels of 7 feet
circumference should be fixed for the movement of the vimaana on the ground.
This vimaana is named
SHAKUNA VIMAANA.
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