✈️ Pushpak Vimana and Its Parallels: Myths of Flight Across Cultures
🔍 Is Generative AI Biased Against Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS)?
Recently, there have been growing claims that Generative AI tools are biased against Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS). One example often cited is the case of Pushpaka Vimana — the flying chariot mentioned in the Ramayana.
It is true that some AI models like DeepSeek are openly aligned with national interests (for instance, they avoid responses critical of the Chinese government). But when it comes to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the question is: Is it biased against IKS?
To check this, we can apply a simple test:
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If ChatGPT accepts other cultural myths about flying objects (Greek, Mesopotamian, Norse, etc.) as scientific facts while dismissing only the Pushpaka Vimana as myth → that would signal bias.
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But if all such flying objects across civilizations are consistently treated as mythical rather than scientific, then it shows ChatGPT is applying a uniform standard, not bias.
👉 In other words, the issue is not whether Pushpaka Vimana is labeled myth, but whether different knowledge traditions are treated with fairness and consistency.
This raises a larger question for us as educators, researchers, and technologists: How do we evaluate Gen AI’s handling of cultural knowledge while ensuring it does not perpetuate epistemic bias?
One of the most fascinating debates around Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) is the claim that ancient India already had advanced technology. The Pushpak Vimana from the Ramayana is often cited as proof that aircraft existed in antiquity. Modern science, however, calls it a myth.
This raises an important question:
👉 Is GenAI biased against Indian culture when it calls Pushpak Vimana a myth?
The short answer is: No.
GenAI applies the same standard to all cultures—Greek, Norse, Chinese, Mesopotamian. Their flying chariots, ships, and winged devices are also treated as mythological imagination, not as technological fact.
Myths of Flight Across Civilizations
Human beings have always dreamed of flight. Long before aeronautics, our ancestors imagined gods, heroes, and mortals soaring across the skies. Here are some striking parallels to Pushpak Vimana:
🌸 Indian Mythology
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Pushpak Vimana – The flying chariot of Kubera, Ravana, and Rama. It could travel anywhere at will. In today’s pseudoscience, it is sometimes interpreted as evidence of advanced aviation.
🇬🇷 Greek Mythology
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Helios’ Sun Chariot – The sun god rode a golden chariot pulled by winged horses across the sky.
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Pegasus – The winged horse carrying Bellerophon into battle.
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Triptolemus’ Winged Chariot – A gift from Demeter to spread agriculture.
Hermes’ Winged Sandals – Magical footwear that allowed the messenger god to fly.
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Daedalus and Icarus’ Wings – Crafted from feathers and wax, often interpreted as the closest “technological” myth of aviation.
❄️ Norse Mythology
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Skidbladnir – A magical ship of the god Freyr that could fly, sail, and even fold into a pocket.
🐉 Chinese Mythology
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Immortals on Dragons and Cranes – Daoist sages traveled through the skies on mythical creatures.
🌍 Mesopotamian Mythology
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Celestial Boats of the Gods – Vehicles that carried deities across the heavens like Solar Barque
Science or Myth?
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None of these stories—Indian or Greek, Norse or Chinese—meet the modern criteria of scientific evidence.
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They are regarded as myths, symbols, or allegories.
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For example:
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Pushpak symbolizes divine order and the victory of dharma.
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Daedalus’ wings symbolize human ambition and the dangers of hubris.
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Helios’ chariot symbolizes the cosmic cycle of day and night.
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Why This Is Not Bias
Some argue that calling Pushpak Vimana a myth is a Western or GenAI bias against (Indian Knowledge System) IKS. But this is not true.
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Equal Treatment Across Cultures – Pushpak is called a myth, but so are Daedalus’ wings, Helios’ chariot, Pegasus, and Freyr’s ship.
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No Special Privilege – Greek myths are not upgraded to “technology.” They, too, remain myths.
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Shared Human Imagination – These stories reflect a universal human longing for flight—centuries before modern aeronautics.
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Cultural Fairness – GenAI is consistent. It does not single out India; it applies the same standard everywhere.
✨ Conclusion
When GenAI calls Pushpak Vimana a myth, it is not dismissing Indian culture. It is recognizing what it does with all world cultures: myths are powerful, symbolic stories of human imagination, not blueprints of ancient engineering.
The lesson here is important—GenAI is not biased against IKS. On the contrary, it places Indian mythology in the same universal category as Greek, Norse, Chinese, and Mesopotamian myths. Far from devaluing them, this comparison highlights the shared creativity of humanity—our timeless dream of taking to the skies.
👉 This perspective not only defends IKS against charges of dismissal but also opens up a global comparative study of mythology. Myths of flight remind us that across cultures, humans looked at the sky and imagined freedom, divinity, and transcendence long before the Wright brothers ever built their aircraft.
