Students of Biology will tell you that Cloning is simply the process where genetically identical individuals are created in nature via asexual reproduction. In simpler terms, this is nothing more than the process in which organisms such as bacteria and plants reproduce. This naturally occurring phenomena has long since piqued the imagination of man. Can we create an entire individual artificially with just a small sample of DNA? Several breakthroughs in the field of Biotechnology seem to suggest the same. In the year 1997, mankind witnessed one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the 21st century. Dolly, a sheep, was the first artificially cloned organism. Dolly lived on until 2003, its stuffed remains are now on display at Edinburgh's Royal Museum. The announcement of Dolly was followed by a great commotion in the scientific community. Man now had the power to create life!
However, was this something new? Ancient Indian texts are full of descriptions of several such instances when man created life artificially. Some believe that hidden amidst the mystic and highly cryptic texts of ancient are great scientific breakthroughs that we may not have been able to comprehend as yet. There are entire texts that talk about cloning high yield cows and horses. Whats shocking furthermore is that, there are fantastic tales that talk about creating new beings out of tissue from a dead one. The tale of King Vena is one such example.
King Vena was supposedly a great king that ruled over the earth several millennia ago. According to the puranas, Vena grew so powerful that it poisoned his mind and made him greedy and corrupt. The great sages of the age saw that Vena had become a threat to mankind and decided to put an end it, they killed him. However, there was a new problem now. The kingdom was left without a ruler. The sages then proceeded to create a 'clone' from the thigh of Vena. This brought forth the dwarf named Nishidha. He was supposedly a representation of all the evil contained within Vena. Nishidha was the progenitor for the Nishadha clan. The sages then proceeded to make another being out of Vena's body. Thus came about Prithu.
Prithu was the personification of all that was good about Vena. He took upon the duty of king and protector of the realm. It is said that the earth has been called Prithvi since it came under the protection of the mighty Prithu. A fantastic tale no doubt, but is there any fact to it? Frankly, the absence of any written records of ancient texts puts a halt to any possibility of research. But instances such as these are undeniably interesting. Even the Mahabharatha speaks of cloning; the Kauravas were all supposedly created from a single embryo. Science makes progress in leaps and bounds with each passing year. However, the question that begs to be asked is, are we simply coming back full circle? Are we just rediscovering what our ancestors already knew? This is one puzzle that may not be solved anytime soon.
However, was this something new? Ancient Indian texts are full of descriptions of several such instances when man created life artificially. Some believe that hidden amidst the mystic and highly cryptic texts of ancient are great scientific breakthroughs that we may not have been able to comprehend as yet. There are entire texts that talk about cloning high yield cows and horses. Whats shocking furthermore is that, there are fantastic tales that talk about creating new beings out of tissue from a dead one. The tale of King Vena is one such example.
King Vena was supposedly a great king that ruled over the earth several millennia ago. According to the puranas, Vena grew so powerful that it poisoned his mind and made him greedy and corrupt. The great sages of the age saw that Vena had become a threat to mankind and decided to put an end it, they killed him. However, there was a new problem now. The kingdom was left without a ruler. The sages then proceeded to create a 'clone' from the thigh of Vena. This brought forth the dwarf named Nishidha. He was supposedly a representation of all the evil contained within Vena. Nishidha was the progenitor for the Nishadha clan. The sages then proceeded to make another being out of Vena's body. Thus came about Prithu.
Prithu was the personification of all that was good about Vena. He took upon the duty of king and protector of the realm. It is said that the earth has been called Prithvi since it came under the protection of the mighty Prithu. A fantastic tale no doubt, but is there any fact to it? Frankly, the absence of any written records of ancient texts puts a halt to any possibility of research. But instances such as these are undeniably interesting. Even the Mahabharatha speaks of cloning; the Kauravas were all supposedly created from a single embryo. Science makes progress in leaps and bounds with each passing year. However, the question that begs to be asked is, are we simply coming back full circle? Are we just rediscovering what our ancestors already knew? This is one puzzle that may not be solved anytime soon.
