Mahabharat Mein WiFi Tha Kya?
Biplab Kumar Deb, then Chief Minister of Tripura · 2018-04-18
Addressing a Regional Workshop on Computerisation and Reforms at Pragna Bhawan, Agartala.
Exhibit A · The claim
“Internet and satellite communication had existed in the days of Mahabharata. How could Sanjaya give a detailed account and description to the blind king about the battle of Kurukshetra? It means internet was there, the satellites and that technology was there in this country at that time.”
Exhibit B · What the record says
Satellite communication dates to the mid-20th century (Sputnik, 1957; the first geostationary communications satellite, 1963-65); modern computer networking protocols underlying the internet date to ARPANET in 1969. The Mahabharata itself is understood by historians and Indologists to have been composed and compiled over centuries, roughly 400 BCE to 400 CE. Within the story, Sanjaya's ability to see the battle from afar is presented as “divyadrishti,” a divine vision granted by the sage Vyasa, a supernatural narrative device, not a described piece of equipment.
Divyadrishti is a plot device. It is not, on reflection, a broadband connection.
The JUMLE