Great Rishi Agastya -Inventor of Electric Cell

Rishi Agastya The Inventor of Cell Battery

Do you know who invented Battery ? If you google it, you will get the names of western scientists like Georges Leclanché, Alessandro Volta, John Stringfellow. But many people don’t know that an Ancient Indian Sage invented a dry battery thousands of years ago. The name of that great sage is Sage Agastya he is well known for his immense capabilities and contributions to mankind. Sage Agastya was also mentioned in the Epic Ramayana. 

 He is the first person in documented history to have created an electric cell.

Electric cell of Agastya Samhita

Agastya Samhita explains how to construct an electric battery or cell. He also explains how to utilize the battery to ‘split’ water into its constituent gasses. The modern battery that we use today, in fact, follows Agastya’s principle of electricity. 

It is all written in the ancient text “Agastya Samhita” which was written around 3,000 years ago. 

Let me give you the exact verse and its translation from the Agastya Samhita.

Table of Contents

Verse :

संस्था  प्ये  मृन्मये  पत्रे  “तम्रपात्र्न” सुसांकरतम |

तेय्डाछ्च  शिखी  ग्रिवेनड्रारभिही  कस्थापन्सुभिही ||

दस्तलोष्तो  निधताव्याहा  पारडच्छादितस्ताटाहा |

संयोगात  जयते  तेजो  मित्रावरून  संद्यिटम ||

Translation: Insert a copper plate in an earthenware vessel and cover it first by copper sulfate and then with moist sawdust. Then put a zinc sheet amalgamated by mercury on top of an energy known by the twin name of mitra-varuna. Current production will split the water into pranavayu and udanavayu. Combining one hundred such vessels would produce a very strong electrical force.

In the above verse, mitra is cathode and varuna is anode. Pranavayu is oxygen, udanavayu is hydrogen, ghritachi is earthen ceramic beaker, shatta kumbh is 100 cells in series to convert chemical energy to electrical energy,  Apsara is water tight vessel.

Verse:

अणेन  जलभगोस्ती  प्रणोदनेशू  वायूषू |

एवं  शतना  कुंभना  संयोगहा  कार्यक्ृटसमृताहा ||

Translation: If we use the power of 100 earthen pots on water, then water will change its form into life-giving oxygen and floating hydrogen.

Agastya’s experiment was successfully exhibited on August 7 in the year 1990, during the fourth general meeting of Swadeshi Vigyan Sanshodhan Sanstha in Nagpur, amidst all the scholars. When a cell was created according to this technique, it was observed to produce 1.4V of electricity and short circuit current as 23 mA. Some researchers claim that the electric battery was used in Vedic era to create medical ozone from electrolysis of water charged with fresh tulsi or basil leaves.

The above verses are the proof that Rishi Agastya first explained the use and method of electric cells. Our ancient scriptures have immense knowledge. We should study more about them and then you will know how advanced we really are when compared to the world.