In the same volume, p. 392, there is an account of a flying chariot, “with a pneumatic contrivance,” made by a carpenter. A man flew two hundred yōjanas (each some eight miles in length) before descending; he then started it afresh and flew another two hundred. On p. 390 wooden automata made by the same carpenter are mentioned; they “moved as if they were alive, but were recognised as lifeless by their want of speech.” A similar automaton is mentioned in Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii, p. 170; it was able to sing and dance. (This work consists of translations from the Chinese Tripiṭaka; all appear to have been translated from Indian originals, usually in the early centuries after Christ.)
In The Indian Antiquary, vol. x, p. 232 (Tales of the Panjab, p. 42), in the story of Prince Lionheart, by Mrs. F. A. Steel, his carpenter friend went in search of a Princess who had been carried off by a King. He made a flying palankin, and returned in it with her.
[1] Tīndu kālakanni mōdayā. [↑]
[2] Mānikka-ratnē, the jewel of a Cakravarti sovereign or universal monarch. It casts a light for a distance of four miles (Clough). [↑]
[3] Kaemati dawasaka, on any day you like. [↑]
[4] So, also, in the Mahā Bhārata, it was an old woman who, when others were unable to do it, undertook to bring to Lomapada, King of Anga, the horned son of an ascetic whose presence was declared to be indispensable for causing rains to fall. She effected it by the aid of her pretty daughter, who decoyed him. [↑]