What was the hierarchy system among Mauryan queens?

Agramahishi/Pattarajmahishi was considered the Chief Queen of the Emperor. She gained a salary and had the right to sit next to the King and even participate in the administration as long as the King allowed.

Durdhara was Agramahishi of Chandragupta Maurya.

Dharma is called Agramahishi of Bindusara in Mahavansh Tika but she was a commoner in Ashokavadana.

Asandhimitra was Agramahishi of Ashoka and after her death Tisyarakshita was given the post till she burnt Kunala’s eyes and Ashoka tortured and burned her alive in his torture chamber.

Then there were Devis who were ladies of good and noble lineage and their children had right of inheritance, Darakas were also secondary wives and then there were Bhoganyas who were pleasure women and kept only for physical satisfaction.

Mauryans Empire also had Ganikas (Courtesans) and Dasis (Megasthenes denies this but Arthashastra explicitly mentions slavery system).

What is the most difficult part of developing a high-speed train system?

 California approved a $33 billion high-speed rail line in 2008. Seventeen years later, the cost has tripled—and not one passenger has boarded a train.

The engineering of fast trains is, remarkably, the easy part. The truly brutal challenge is acquiring the land to put them on.

Right-of-way acquisition is the single most underestimated obstacle in building high-speed rail, particularly in developed, densely populated countries. High-speed trains require extremely gentle curves — a 350 km/h train needs a curve radius of about 7,000 meters — and very modest grades, typically no more than 3–4%. That means the route can't just snake around obstacles the way a highway might. It needs long, straight corridors through landscapes already carved up by private property, existing infrastructure, and environmental protections.

This creates a cascade of difficulties:

• Thousands of individual land parcels must be negotiated or condemned through eminent domain. Each parcel can involve legal challenges, appraisals, holdouts, and political blowback. In California, acquiring land for just the initial Central Valley segment involved more than 2,000 parcels and years of litigation.
• Urban entry points are the worst bottleneck. A high-speed line is only useful if it connects city centers, but that's exactly where land is most expensive and most contested. Tokyo's Shinkansen, built in the early 1960s, succeeded partly because postwar Japan had both the political will and the legal framework to clear corridors quickly — conditions that rarely exist in contemporary democracies.
• Environmental review layers on additional years. In the United States, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process alone can take a decade for a major rail project, as every alignment alternative must be studied for impacts on wetlands, endangered species, historic properties, and noise.

Countries that have built high-speed rail successfully tend to share certain advantages. France's TGV network benefited from a centralized planning authority and vast stretches of low-density agricultural land. China's system — now over 45,000 km, the world's largest — was built under a governance model where land acquisition timelines are measured in months, not decades. Japan and Spain invested heavily during windows of strong political consensus.

The engineering challenges are real but well understood: slab track design, catenary power systems, signaling, tunnel boring, and earthquake resilience all have proven solutions refined over sixty years of global experience. What doesn't have a proven solution — at least not in many Western democracies — is the institutional and political machinery needed to assemble a corridor and keep a project funded across multiple election cycles.

That institutional gap, more than any question of physics or engineering, is why so many high-speed rail proposals stall or die.

Which planet in our solar system would be the most difficult for humans to land on safely?

 To find the hardest planetary landing in our solar system, you have to choose between a world with no surface at all, or one where the air is hot enough to melt lead.

Attempting to land on a gas giant like Jupiter is a paradox because the planet lacks a solid surface.

Jupiter, as seen by the Cassini spacecraft in 2000. It lacks a solid surface, making a traditional landing impossible.

Jupiter is composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. A crewed spacecraft entering its atmosphere would experience a descent with no end. After passing through turbulent, ammonia-rich clouds and lethal radiation belts, the ship would face exponentially increasing pressures and temperatures. Eventually, the pressure becomes so immense that hydrogen gas compresses into a bizarre state called liquid metallic hydrogen. Any vessel would be crushed, melted, and assimilated into the planet's interior long before reaching the core. Because there is no rocky crust to park a vehicle on, a safe landing is physically impossible.

For a true planetary landing on a solid surface, Venus provides the most hostile environment for human survival.

An illustration of a heavily armored spacecraft descending through the thick, hostile sulfuric acid clouds of Venus.

From orbit, Venus looks like a serene, bright marble, but its atmosphere is a nightmare for aerospace engineering. The atmosphere is composed primarily of carbon dioxide, with thick clouds of sulfuric acid. The atmospheric pressure at the surface is roughly 90 times greater than that of Earth. Standing on the surface of Venus would feel akin to being submerged 900 meters (about 3,000 feet) underwater. Any unreinforced habitat or spacesuit would instantly implode from the weight of the air alone.

In addition to the crushing pressure, Venus experiences a runaway greenhouse effect. The surface temperature averages around 475 degrees Celsius (887 degrees Fahrenheit). This is hot enough to melt lead, zinc, and tin. The extreme heat would instantly cook conventional life-support systems, melt electronics, and rapidly degrade spacecraft seals.

A panoramic view of the surface of Venus captured by the Soviet Venera 13 lander in 1982.

Despite these apocalyptic conditions, Soviet engineers managed to land robotic probes on Venus during the Cold War. Because the atmosphere is so incredibly dense, the later Venera landers did not even need parachutes for the final stages of their descent; they used aerodynamic braking discs to drift down through the thick, fluid-like air.

Once on the ground, the engineering challenge shifted entirely to survival. The Venera 13 robotic lander, which touched down in 1982, holds the record for the longest survival time on the Venusian surface. It lasted for just 127 minutes before the immense heat and pressure breached its protective titanium hull and destroyed its instruments. Designing a crewed lander to keep humans alive long-term on Venus would require specialized high-temperature refrigeration, massive titanium pressure hulls, and materials that push the boundaries of materials science.

While Mars presents difficulties with its thin atmosphere and dust storms, aerospace engineers plan to eventually send humans to visit and inhabit it. On Venus, achieving even a few hours of robotic surface time represents an engineering marvel, making it the single hardest planetary surface in the solar system for humans to reach and survive on.

What is the biggest solar system in our galaxy?

 We know definitively what the biggest solar system in our galaxy is. It’s ours! Our sun and planets.

Because it is the only one called the “solar system”, since “solar” comes from the word “sol” or “sun”. So it’s literally the system of bodies around the sun.

But when we correct that to “star system”, we really have no idea what the largest one is. As strange as it sounds, we know orders of magnitude more galaxies than star systems. So the odds are overwhelming we have not found the largest star system in the galaxy.

However, all jokes aside, it is possible that our own solar system may be up there. The largest star system we have found to date is Kepler-90, with 8 known planets. That happens to be the same number of planets in our solar system. However, smaller planets are difficult to find in other star systems so Kepler-90 very well could have more hiding in there.

Was the Varna system based on birth or based on the character of a person?

 Varna system is always birth based, it was never based on the character or abilities of a person.

In which varna a person will take birth it depends his previous life activities

Proof from Vedic religion scriptures.

Chandyog upanishad 5.10.7

Manusmriti 2.31–2.32 explains how names will be given to New born baby according to his or her varna

These verses describe how a child should be named according to varṇa.

Manusmriti 2.31 – Mentions that the name should be given on the 10th or 12th day after birth (or on an auspicious day).

Manusmriti 2.32 – Specifically talks about naming according to varṇa:

A Brāhmaṇa’s name should express auspiciousness.
A Kṣatriya’s name should express power and protection.
A Vaiśya’s name should express wealth and prosperity.
A Śūdra’s name should express service.

Mahabharata Book 13 anushasan parva section 27 and 28 talk about Rishi matang who was actually chandala by birth because he is born to shudra father and bhraman mother.

Mahabharat book 13 anushasan section 48 explains how child varna depends upon parents varna

All these knowledge are given by bishma before his death after kurukshetra war, bishma given these knowledge to yudhishtir on the the request of Krishna, according to Krishna bishma was very knowledge full person, his knowledge will clear confusion of yudhishthir who was upset because he won war by killing his relatives. you can read this thing in Mahabharata Book 12 Shanti parva section 51 and 52.

Vidur who was minister of kuru kingdom, denied to give high level knowledge when king asked to him, he said iam shudra by birth iam not eligible to give high level knowledge to anyone.

Sanat-sujata Parva

SECTION 51

Dhritarashtra said, 'Dost thou not know what that immortal Rishi will say unto me? O Vidura, do thou say it, if indeed, thou hast that degree of wisdom.'

"Vidura said, 'I am born in the Sudra order and, therefore, do not venture to say more than what I have already said. The understanding, however, of that Rishi leading a life of celibacy, is regarded by me to be infinite. He that is a Brahmana by birth, by discoursing on even the profoundest mysteries, never incureth the censure of the gods. It is for this alone that I do not discourse to thee, upon the subject.

In Bhagavad Gita 1.40 Verse arjun show his tension about varan shankar child ( child born from inter mixing of different varna

Adharmābhibhavāt Kṛṣṇa
Praduṣyanti kula-striyaḥ
Strīṣu duṣṭāsu Vārṣṇeya
Jāyate varṇa-saṅkaraḥ

Meaning:

When irreligion (adharma) prevails, O Krishna, the women of the family become corrupted.
When women are corrupted, O descendant of Vrishni, varna-saṅkara.

Krishna also accept that inter mixing varna is dangerous for human race in bagvath Gita 3.24

Bhagavad Gita 3.24

Transliteration:

Utsīdeyur ime lokā
Na kuryāṁ karma ced aham
Saṅkarasya cha kartā syām
Upahanyām imāḥ prajāḥ

Meaning:

If I did not perform action,
these worlds would perish.
I would be the cause of social disorder (saṅkara),
and I would destroy these beings.

Krishna in bagvath Gita Verse 3.35 and 18.47 said that , it is better do you your down duty even though it is done imperfectly rather than doing others duty perfectly.

In bagvath Gita Verse 18.48 Krishna says you can't leave your duty which is decided by your birth, even though you don't like it

Last but not the least, bagvath Gita Verse 4.13 the most Miss interrupted Verse by many people to prove varna is by quality not by birth.

chātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛiṣhṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśhaḥ

tasya kartāram api māṁ viddhyakartāram avyayam

Chatur varnyam - four varna

Maya srishtam - were created by me.

Guna-karma -Vibhagash - divided by nature of work.

Tasya kartaram api - even though iam the creator

Mam viddhiyakartam avvyam - i cant control and it is unchangeable.

Krishna in this verse is saying that four varna were created by me, the sentence is in past perfect it is means a person varna is already decided.

In the next line he is saying that a person varna is decided by nature of work or quality of work which are three types according to Krishna in bagvath gita. We can read about that three types of nature of work in in chapter 14.

In chapter 14 Krishna is saying how the dominance of three types of quality satav, rajo and thama decides a person next birth.

A person who do his duty without expecting any benefit are satvic. For such person duty is first priority, he don't bother about benefits

A person who do his duty expecting benefit are rajo, for such person benefit is first priority, he do his duty expecting benefits.

A person who is lazy and don't his duty is thama.

So according to the dominance of three types nature of work in a person life before his death, he will born into any four varna in his next birth.

More dominance of satvic quality in the life leads to take birth in upper varna like kshatriya or bhraman in next life

More dominance of qualities like thama in the life leads to take birth in lower varna like shudra or even avarna (out side varna) like chandala in next life.

Varna has been decided always by birth.

Will we ever leave our solar system? By what means might we do that?

 The biggest challenges are Time and Energy ! It will take a lot of onboard energy that has to run for centuries !

Total non returnable trip time to nearest solar system (4 light years ) in proposed ship at max speed 4% speed of light , 12,000 km/per/sec. 300 years.

If we built a sufficiently large space ship in earth orbit maybe with internal volume of at least 10,000,000 cubic meters (approx 3 times the size of NASA Vehicle Assembly Building ) and would be constructed of very light composites and super alloys to keep weight down . It will also be fitted with 5 nuclear power stations that can run for 50 years without refuelling (fast breeder reactor type) and 350 years worth of fuel and spare parts totaling 30,000 tons . It will also have a 3D printing workshop where anything can be duplicated including high strength metal components.

Accommodation for 2000 crew and families , plus food for 10 years and a highly efficient recycling system and very large hydroponic growing system . Plus 100,000 tons of water . There would be no shortage of heat as the power plants will put out prodigous quantities of waste heat that will be utilized throughout the ship which will be transported by water .

Everybody on board would work and families would be expected to start having children in a designated time period to replace people that had passed on , pop. limit 2500–3000 people . The ship will have a very large diameter and will spin at approx 1.2 rpm producing normal gravity in the Toroid (main living) and various other gravity gradients through out the rest of the ship . Large area on center line of ship reserved for very low gravity sports .

Nothing could be discarded from the ship in interstellar space , everything will have to be recycled including people that pass on, there will be no such thing as garbage ! Schools/ Universities on board plus a plethora of entertainment possibilities for everyone . Everything that is required to keep people sane for centuries.

Propulsion ? With a large amount of electricity available (40,000 megawatts ) a large number of NASA Evolutionary Xenon Thrusters (NEXT) would be the most viable propulsion engines today using xenon gas as fuel . The ship would need 300,000 tons of Xenon Liquid (102,000 Cubic Meters ) and a total ship weight of 600,000 tons.

Say 35,000 megawatts available to engines would deliver 121,730 kilograms of thrust from the Xenon fueled engines .

It would take 100 years of acceleration to achieve 4% of c and travel just over 1 light year then cruise for 50 years to traverse 2 light years then 100 years of de-acceleration as it approached new star system . Total trip time 300 years , total distance traveled 4 light years to Alpha Centauri Star system .

At this velocity relativistic effects are rather minor. Ship time will be dilated down to 3.9967987189749747 years instead of 4. So the occupants of the ship will be approx 4 minutes younger than those left on earth !

When did caste system become rigid in India?

 Scholars believe that caste system became rigid during the Post Vedic times (1100BCE- 500 BCE)

Literary evidences:

Kautilya (375 BCE - 283BCE) , also known as Chanakya, was the Royal advisor to the Mauryan king Chandragupta Maurya.

Credit : Wikipedia

Kautilya in his political treatise Arthashastra, gives us details of the caste system practiced during his times.

Arthashastra: Book 3 :

Chapter 7 - Distinction Between Sons

[1]

“On the birth of a natural son, Savarna sons shall have one-third of inheritance while asavarṇa sons shall have only food and clothing”

“Sons begotten by Brāhmans or Kshatriya on women of the same caste (anantarāputra) are called savarnas ; but on women of lower castes are called asavarṇas. (Of such asavarṇa sons), the son begotten by a Brāhman on a Vaisya woman is called Ambhaṣṭha; on a Sudra woman is called Nisada or Parasava. The son begotten by a Kshatriya on a Śūdra woman is known as Ugra; the son begotten by a Vaiśya on a Śūdra woman is no other than a Śūdra.”

“Sons begotten by men of impure life of any of the four castes on women of same castes are called Vratsyas. The above kinds of sons are called anuloma, sons begotten, by men of higher on women of lower castes.”

“Sons begotten by a Śūdra on women of higher castes are Ayogava, Kṣatta, and Candala; by a Vaiśya, Magadha, and Vaidehika; and by a Kṣatriya, Suta. But men of the names, Sūta and Māgadha, celebrated in the Puranas , are quite different and of greater merit than either Brāhmans or Kṣatriyas.—The above kinds of sons are Pratiloma, sons begotten by men of lower on women of higher castes, and originate on account of kings violating all Dharma”

“The son begotten by an Ugra on a Niṣāda woman is called Kukkutaka, and the same is called Pulkasa if begotten in the inverse order. The son begotten by an Ambhaṣṭha on a Vaidehaka woman is named Vaina; the same in the reverse order is called Kusilava. An Ugra begets on a Kṣatta woman a Svapaka. These and other sons are of mixed castes (Antarālās).”

“A Vainya becomes a Rathakara, chariot-maker, by profession. Members of this caste shall marry among themselves. Both in customs and avocations they shall follow their ancestors. They may either become sudra , if they are not born as Candalas.”

“The king who guides his subjects in accordance with the above rules will attain to heaven; otherwise he will fall into the hell.”

“Offsprings of mixed castes (Antarālās) shall have equal divisions of inheritance.”

---

What can be inferred from above ?

1. Mixed caste marriages happened, but the sons begotten through mixed castes were discriminated.
2. A son who was born of an union between same caste groups was called “Natural born “
3. Those who are born of mixed origins - don’t inherit the property
4. Kautilya mentions that a Vainya should marry only among their castes. First step towards segregation.

---

Book 3, Chapter 6 :

With regard to sons of many wives:

[2]

• Of sons of two wives of whom only one woman has gone through all the necessary religious ceremonials, or one of whom has been married as a maiden, and the other not as a maiden, or one of whom has brought forth twins, it is by birth that primogenitureship is decided.
• In the case of sons such as Suta, Magadha, Vratya, and Rathakara, inheritance will go to the capable; and the rest will depend upon him for subsistence.In the absence of the capable, all will have equal shares.
• Of sons begotten by a Brāhman in the four castes, the son of a Brāhman woman shall take four shares; the son of a Ksatriya woman three shares; the son of a Vaisya woman two shares; and the son of a sudra woman one share.

---

Note : Brahman can marry four wives - he can take Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra wives, but the Brahman wife’s son gets the highest share. A Sudra can’t marry an upper caste woman.

---

Punishments based on Castes :

Book 4 : Chapter 13 - Punishment for Violating Justice

[3]

“He who causes a Brahman to partake of whatever food or drink is prohibited shall be punished with the highest amercement. He who causes a Kshatriya to do the same shall be punished with the middlemost amercement; a vaisya, with the first amercement; and a Sudra, with a fine of 54 pandas.”

“A Kṣatriya who commits adultery with an unguarded Brāhman woman shall be punished with the highest amercement; a Vaiśya doing the same shall be deprived of the whole of his property; and a Śūdra shall be burnt alive wound round in mats.“

“A man who commits adultery with a woman of low caste shall be banished, with prescribed mark branded on his forehead, or shall be degraded to the same caste.”

A Śūdra or a Svapaka who commits adultery with a woman of low caste shall be put to death, while the woman shall have her ears and nose cut off.

Points to be noted :

1. If the victim is a Brahmana, the punishments are usually severe
2. If the victim is a Shudra - punishments are mild.
3. If the offender is Shudra - he gets the severe punishment. In the above case, if he commits adultery with a Brahmana woman - he will be burnt alive.
4. There seems to be no punishment for a Brahmana committing adultery with a Brahmana woman.
5. Adultery with a low caste woman - will result in loss of caste.

Fun fact :

Whoever commits adultery with the queen of the land shall be burnt alive in a vessel (kumbhīpāka).

That includes all castes.

---

All the above examples show how the system of discrimination existed even during Mauryan times. The system got even worse during medieval times.

Footnotes

[1] 

Distinction Between Sons [Chapter 7]

[2] 

Special Shares in Inheritance [Chapter 6]

[3] 

Punishment for Violating Justice [Chapter 13]