Vivid epic descriptions of a world-destroying weapon are often called proof of ancient nukes.
The Mahābhārata describes divine astras of immense destructive power — blinding light and lasting devastation — invoked by mantra.
— Mahābhārata (various parvas); modern overclaim
(Claimed) nuclear weapons.
A popular claim that doesn't hold up — here's the honest story.
The imagery is awesome, and it is easy to map "blinding light plus devastation" onto a nuclear blast.
But this retro-fits modern imagery onto poetic, mantra-activated divine weapons. There is no fissile material, no physics, and no archaeological signature of ancient nuclear war (the "vitrified ruins" claims do not hold up). We file it firmly as contested: powerful literature, not evidence of lost technology.