Part 5 - Crushing Weapons in the Mahabharata

[[[ p. 34 ]]

I Crushing Weapons 1 Gada 2 Vajra 3 Sataghni 4 Asani 5 Musala 6 Mudgara 7 Ulukhala 491

492 Gada Next in importance to the bow and the sword was the gada or the mace. It comprised of a solid iron or steel head, fastened to an iron or a wooden handle with leather straps, at times embossed with gold or entwined with gold wires (III.157.65; V.50.8, 50.24; VI.19.13, 49.18, 50.21, 58.33, 59.11, 80.26, 83.29; VII.14.28, 93.15; IX.11.1, 31.35). Jarasandha's mace-head, described as red in colour, was presumably made of copper (VII.156.8). The mace-head compared to a mountain-peak (IX.19.22, 32.47) was generally oval in shape, culminating in a sharp point. It was either hexagonal (V.50.28; VII. 109.10) or octagonal (IX.10.50), with sharp corners (IX. 54.14), and well-formed joints (V.50.24). The entire length of the gada was four cubits (kisku) (V.50.28; VII. 109.10). The mace head was also elaborately decorated with gold, jewels (diamonds) and precious stones (mani) (III.225.4; V.50.8%; VI.83.29, 112.47; VIII.20.32; IX.10. 50; XIV.83.20). Ornamentation with gold consisted of gold straps (VI.112.47; VII.14.13, 154.29; VIII.14.32, 23,2, 68.24; IX.10.44, 11.10, 31.59), gold network (VIII. 10.23), gold rings (VII.150.47, 109.10; IX.31.35), gold chains (VII.167.14) and tiny gold dots (II.3.5). Garlands

= of red flowers and lines drawn with sandal and agaru paste added a further decorative touch (VII.101.31%; IX.10.44-45, 57.22). The mace was an extremely heavy weapon (III.23. 36; VI.49.18, 59.11; VII.2.24, 152.40, 170.19), weilded with skill only by warriors of great strength and vigour, prominent among whom was Bhima, renowned for his superhuman strength. Duryodhana, Dhrstadyumna and Satyaki were the other experts in the feild, so also raksasas like Jarasandha, Ghatotkaca and Iravanta. The gada was also a characteristic weapon of Krsna (II.41.33, 42.34; X.6.9; XIII.14.142, 135.71; XIV.2.11, 54.22; XVI.9.19). Balarama, his elder brother, was the expert mace fighter of the Epic, the teacher of both Bhima and Duryodhana. The gada was hurled by the hand, like a spear While or a javelin, with a deadly impact, smashing chariots, crushing horses and elephants, and killing warriors on the spot (III.157.66; VI.50.21, 58.33; VII.109.10; VIII.10.23; IX.19.22). Skilled archeres met the gada hurled at them with a shower of arrows reducing it (the wooden handle) to bits and pieces (III.234.21; VII.112.47-49, 93.16, 101. 31, 150.47). Only, a few like Bhima and Salya had the courage to catch in mid-air the speeding mace hurled at them (VI.80.26%; VII.14.4). The gada was not simply a missile weapon, but was employed mainly in close, hand to hand duals. Bhima 493

and Salya fought two mace duals during the course of the Mahabharata war (VII.14; IX.II). The blows of the one were dodged by the other and taken on the mace and thus the two warriors battled on endlessly. The gadas striking Both against each other with terrifying speed, threw out bits of metal and emitted sparks of fire, reminding the Epic poet of a tree blistering with fire-flies (VII.14.17-18; IX.11.12-14). The most famous mace-dual, however, was fought between Bhima and Duryodhana, providing a gruesome finale to the Mahabharata war (IX.56). the warriors donned armour and helmets, protecting the head and the chest while the safety of the lower body was gauranteed by rules governing a mace-dual. No warrior was allowed to strike below the navel, which is exactly what Bhima did, putting the final curtain down on a longdrawn enemity. With one stroke he broke the thighs of Duryodhana, who crashed to the ground, unable to get up. During this memorable dual, Bhima displayed his great skill at weilding the mace, consisting of different body postures, zig-zag movements and various modes of holding and twirling the mace, before hurling it, or striking with it (IX.56.17). 494 Vajra is mentioned in the Mahabharata as a weapon of Indra

= 495 (1.218.29; III.98.10) and Siva (VII.172.59; XIII.17.14). Indra's vajra, sturdy, sharp, and hexagonal, was made of the bones of sage Dadhici (III.98.10). But it is more likely that the vajra was a There heavy wooden club, and there is a clear indication towards this when the wooden pestle (musala) with which the Yadavas destroyed themselves is identified with the vajra (1.2.221). The Vedic literature too, seems to endorse this view. is no weapon called the gada in the Vedas, but from the descriptions in the Rgveda, Indra's dreaded vajra appears to have been some kind of a mace or a heavy club. It was fashioned by the smith-god Tvastra, made of metal (ayas), ground, whetted, polished, with a notched surface and a hundred thousand joints, edges or spikes, and was so heavy that it had to be held by both the hands (Singh 1965:96-97). Asani Closely associated with the vajra was another of Indra's dreaded weapons, asani, which Zimmer takes to be a rock or a stone in the Rgveda (Macdonell and Keith 1912 : I.19). From the descriptions in the Mahabharata, however, it too appears to have been a club or a bludgeon. The asani was fitted with wheels or sharp discs, generally 8 in number, and was hurled by the hand (III.43. 4-5; VII.131.103, 150.90). It came crashing down like

496 lightening, thundering like a cloud and exploding like a storm (III.43.4-5). However, asani was not a purely mythical weapon. It was seen in action twice during the Mahabharata war, once when Ghatotkaca hurled a terrible 8-wheeled asani at Karna and another time when he hurled it at Asvathama. Both these fearless men, keeping aside their bows, caught the asani in mid-air, throwing it back at Ghatotkaca. It reduced his chariot and horses to ashes before crashing into the ground (VII.131.103-4; 150.90-92). The asani in the Mahabharata like the vajra is not a weapon of Indra alone, as is the case in the Vedas, but also of Siva or Rudra (VII.131.103; XIII.17.14). Sataghni The asani as a wheeled projectile immediately brings to mind another weapon of identical description, the satghni, mentioned much more frequently. It was either a club or a wooden or metal rod fitted with wheels and spikes and adorned with bells (1.199.32; III.274.22; VII. 108.40, 154.46; VIII.7.8, 10.32, 19.26) so that when Karna was surrounded on all sides with arrows, he reminded the Epic poet of a Sataghni studded with numerous spikes (VII.108.40). Sataghnis were carried in the chariots and hurled by the hand. Ghatotkaca killed all the four horses of

B 497 Karna's chariot in one accurate throw of the sataghni (VII.154.46). However, despite the name "hundredkiller", the sataghni failed to produce any great impact. It was easily cut down by arrows (VI.109.38; IX.12.24), and often enemy forces were pelted with hundreds of sataghnis without any devastating effect (VII.29.16, 170. 19). Fortifications of cities like Indraprastha, Dwarka and Lanka were loaded with sataghnis to be hurled at the enemy trying to storm the walls (I.199.32; III.16. 5-8, 268.30). These were probably the larger varities. Dr S. D. Singh (1965:114) believes that only the larger ones were furnished with wheels for easy movement, and if wheeled sataghnis are described as flung by the hand, it should be ascribed to the poet's love of the miraculous. This may be true, but at the same time, it can not also be overlooked that the larger variety is described as wheeled only once (III.268.30). There is also the parallel example of a wheeled asani, which too, was flung by the hand. There was nothing to prevent the poet from describing the larger variety of sataghni by some such adjective as "maha". There were "mahasaktis" as contrasted with the ordinary ones and the "mahacakrani", placed on fortified walls, as contrasted with the smaller ones carried in the hands. The wheels attached to the sataghni, therefore, may not exactly be accessories of movement, but some kind

of a sharp circular projections, which enhanced the power As we shall see presently, large and small of the weapon. metal wheels with razor 1000 sharp edges, did form part of 498 the Mahabharata arsenal. opinion. Later writers too, seem to be divided in their The commentator of the Arthasastra, describes it as a huge pillar, studded with big and long nails (Shamasastry 1956: 110, foot note 24), while Vaijayanti describes it as a gada or a sila, a block of stone, four cubits long and studded with iron spikes (Chakravarty 1941:173-4). Musala The musala is originally a stout but tapering wooden pestle, often paired with the wooden mortar ulukhala, and used for cleaning and pounding grain. In the Mahabharata it is a weapon of the same class as the gada, mentioned fairly frequently, but generally in small groups of weapons (III.242.17; VI.92.54; VII.82.34; VIII.16.25; IX.44.104). It was a heavy wooden club, decorated with gold bands (IX.13.23), used as a missile to be hurled at the enemy, but easily cut down by arrows (VI.114.56.; IX.13.23). An entire Parva in the Mahabharata the Mausalaparva is named after this weapon, and records the tragic destruction of the Yadavas, who, in a drunken orgy, killed

499 each other with a terrible musala. The musala, along with the hala, was a characteristic weapon of Balarama, one of the Yadava cheiftains, also renowned as an ace macefighter (IX.48.6). The musala is sometimes described as 'ayasa', 'ayomaya' or 'ayasmaya' i.e. made of metal (IX.13.23; XVI. 2.8, 4.34). However, a metal club or a bludgeon would be too heavy to weild and impossible to cut down with arrows. a It is more likely that the musala was/wooden club, with only the head encased in a metal cap, and the body strapped with metal bands. Ulukhala The wooden mortar, ulukhala, associated with the wooden pestle musala, for pounding and cleaning grain, is listed once in the Epic along with a group of other weapons (VII.153.21). It is difficult to imagine it as an effective weapon, unless it was simply hurled for its crushing impact. Mudgara Often occurs together with the musala in small groups of weapons (III.170.4, 268.5; VI.54.3, 114.2; VII. 24.55, 29.16-17, 82.34, 154.26; VIII.14.36%; XII.121.16). It was some kind of a hammer, serving the same primary function of crushing. in the Mahabharata The weapon is not at all conspicuous

= 500 II. Crushing Weapons To the second category of these weapons belong certain wooden and metal bars, used for crushing and smashing :- 1 Parigha 2 Danda 3 Sthuna 4 Huda Parigha was a metal or a wooden bar, adorned with gold bands (I.17.16; VI.66.18, 72.4-6; VII.137.26-27; VIII.68. 26) and in some cases furnished with spikes (VII.154.26). Some idea of its shape and size, length and breadth, can be had from the constant comparison of strong, muscular arms with a parigha (III.79.18, 116.24; V.46.10; VI.66. 18; XV.4.7-8). When hurled it was easily cut down by arrows (VII.137.26-27; VIII.45.14; IX.13.28), but was more effective as a crushing weapon e.g. when Dhrustadyumna hit out and rained blows on Karna's horses with a huge parigha (VII.148.6). On the whole, it was not a very effective weapon, either individually or collectively. Danda a metal rod, was a dreaded weapon, associated with

= 501 'various gods, like Siva (VII.172.59), Visnu (XIII.175.105) and Yama (VII.64.14). Among mortals it was weilded with ease by Bhima, smashing chariots, elephants, horses and men (VII.21.82; VIII.62.2). Sthuna was a huge wooden post, firmly held by iron bands (VII.154.36). Huda was a similar wooden post, but probably much larger, for they were stocked on the fortified walls of Dwarka and Lanka (III.16.5-8, 268.30). The Vanara army storming the walls of Lanka, took hold of these huge beams and threw them down into the city with a crashing sound (III.268.30). Hudas were also carried in chariots and flung with the hand (III.21.32, 43.45; VII.154.36). These were probably the smaller variety. The proto-type of these various crushing weapons the mace, the club, the bars and the bolts, were no doubt, primitive weapons such as wooden sticks and even thick branches of trees. In the Mahabharata itself, Bhima is credited with such superhuman feats as uprooting entire trees and flinging them at the enemy. In the Aranyakaparva, he battled on for hours with the raksasa Kirmira, with

branches and trees, till not a single tree in the surrounding forest-area was left standing (III.12. 46-49). Even during the Mahabharata war, Ghatotkaca used trees and branches as missiles, along with the most sophisticated weapons (VII.24.55).