Consider these verses from the ancient Mahabharata:

"a single projectile charged with all the power of the Universe. An incandescent column of smoke and flame As bright as the thousand suns Rose in all its splendour…

"a perpendicular explosion with its billowing smoke clouds… the cloud of smoke rising after its first explosion formed into expanding round circles like the opening of giant parasols…

"it was an unknown weapon, an iron thunderbolt, a gigantic messenger of death, which reduced to ashes The entire race of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas. …The corpses were so burned as to be unrecognizable. The hair and nails fell out; Pottery broke without apparent cause, And the birds turned white. After a few hours All foodstuffs were infected… to escape from this fire, the soldiers threw themselves in streams to wash themselves and their equipment."

“Dense arrows of flame, like a great shower, issued forth, encompassing the enemy… A thick gloom swiftly settled upon the hosts. All points of the compass were lost in darkness. Fierce wind began to blow upward, showering dust and gravel. Birds croaked madly… the very elements seemed disturbed. The earth shook, scorched by the terrible violent heat of this weapon. Elephants burst into flame and ran to and fro in a frenzy… over a vast area, other animals crumpled to the ground and died. From all points of the compass the arrows of flame rained continuously and fiercely." - The Mahabharata