Archaeology and the Mahabharata (Study)

by Gouri Lad | 1978 | 132,756 words

This study examines the Mahabharata from an archaeological perspective. The Maha-Bbharata is an ancient Indian epic written in Sanskrit—it represents a vast literary work with immense cultural and historical significance. This essay aims to use archaeology to verify and contextualize the Mahabharata's material aspects by correlating epic elements w...

Part 10 - Astras (missiles) in the Mahabharata

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Astrani—The word 'astra' literally means a 'missile' and no less than 25-26 such missiles occur in the Mahabharata Their presence adds an exotic touch, a miraculous, superhuman element to the otherwise harsh realities of the war. transform the heroes who use them into almost divine beings, in complete control of their surroundings, manipulating the fortunes of the war and the fate of their enemy with deliberate ease, looking down upon the vast multitude of warring men as mere pawns in their onward march towards victory and everlasting glory. They What then were these missiles and how were they different from the other weapons ? A closer scrutiny

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reveals that they were not any one kind of weapon, but rather a glorification, a kind of personification and at times even a deification of a warrior's prowess, dexterity, alertness and skill in using a particular weapon. It is no wonder then that many of these astras were named after or associated with one or the other god. It would thus be wrong and completely misleading to take Them for (their face value and credit the Epic heroes with all kinds of fantastic feats and with the knowledge of magic chants producing fire, wind, water etc. from nowhere. Some scholars have even gone further and credited them with the knowledge of gun-powder and even nuclear bomb, which is not only unrealistic and unhistoric but simply preposterous. A noteworthy feature of these astras is that they were handed down in a clear student-teacher tradition, which is very much dominated by Brahmin supremacy. SomeOn one 520 how the knowledge of these astras seems to have been a closely guarded secret of a few Brahmin teachers. hand was Sage Bharadwaj [Bharadhvaja] who passed on the knowledge of the highly dangerous Agneyastra, the Fire-missile, to his student Agnivesya, who in turn bestowed it upon his student Drona, all three in the succession being Brahmins (1.121.6). On the other hand was Parasurama, another noted Brahmin exponent of the martial way of life, who was a veritable mine of all possible astras. He handed over their secret

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521 to Drona, since he would give it only to a Brahmin, though he was not his direct pupil (I.121.21-22). Drona in turn taught them to his son Asvatthama. The only Ksatriyas in this close hierarchy were the two great opponents of the Mahabharata, Arjuna and Karna. Karna acquired the knowledge of the astras by a deceit, projecting himself as a Brahmin before Parasurama. Arjuna on the other hand, acquired it through the regular guru-sisya tradition, as the legitimate pupil of Drona, who in Drona's own words, was dearer to him than his own son (1.125.7). There are, no doubt, other Ksatriyas too, who use some of these astras on the battlefield, but none of them came upto the standards of Arjuna or Karna, and certainly not Parasurama or Drona. I. To this category belong those astras which appear to be a glorification a wildly exaggerated but a highly G of a warrior's skill at imaginative glorification shooting different types of weapons, in quick succession and in large numbers, not just at one opponent but at the entire army, all at the same time. 1. Brahmasiras, also known as Pasupata, was, obtained by Arjuna from Siva Pasupati in order to kill Jayadratha (III.89.10-11). Its destructive powers were such that it could destroy the entire universe. Hence it was not to be used as far as possible against a human

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opponent, but only against a powerful, a-human enemy (amanusa satru) (I.123.74-75) (III.41.7-8). According to another tradition Drona taught it to Arjuna and Asvathama who used it recklessly without knowing how to withdraw it. Arjuna had to repeal it on his behalf (V.15.23). The power of the astra lay in discharging, all at once, a 1000 sulas, gadas and arrows, probably smeared with a deadly poison since they are compared to poisonous snakes (asivisakara) (III.41.15). No opponent could possibly bear this savage onslaught. On the other hand, when the Epic says that Asvatthama did not know how to take back the astra, it simply means that he did not know how to combat the equally savage response it must invoke from the opposing side. Able only to attack, but powerless to defend, the very purpose of the astra would be defeated. 2. Narayanastra: another dreaded astral consisted of every possible weapon in the Mahabharata arsenal, all coming down in a mad shower of hundreds and thousands. The best way to combat it was to lay down one's weapons, step down from the car, and on the whole, stop retaliating altogether. This is exactly what the Pandava army did at the behest of Krsna when Asvatthama used the astra against them as an almost last major offensive from the Kaurava side. Bhima alone relented, unable to bear the insult of 522

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putting down his weapons and helplessly watching while the astra took its toll. He boldly advanced into the sphere of the astra, was caught in the vortex of weapons and had to be dragged down from his car by Krsna and Arjuna (VII.170-171). With little imagination one can clearly see The then through the poetic fancy of this description. Kauravas led by Asvatthama must have launched a major offensive against the Pandavas, with all possible weapons, which had been safely stockpiled uptill NOW. Acting under the able stewardship of Krsna, the Pandavas thought it wise not to retaliate, in fact to withraw to a safe distance beyond the range of the attack, abandoning their weapons and cars, till the Kauravas had exhausted their arsenal. The move paid off, the astra subsided and could never be used again, for a major offensive can not be repeated again and again. This is what the poets mean when they say that Asvatthama had power to use the astra only once. An entire episode of the war, an entire offensive with the ensuing movements of the armies, the tactical moves of its generals, is, as if, condensed here into the concept of a miraculous astra. 3. Vajrastra : when used by Arjuna against the Samsaptakas saw hundreds of hands being cut, along with bows, bow-strings, arrows and flag-staffs. Horses and 523

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S 524 charioteers too were seen falling to the ground (VII.26.20). Clearly it was a multi-faced and a multi-pronged attack, mainly with sharp-edged cutting arrows but also probably with vajras, heavy wooden clubs. 40 Bhargavastra: consisted of hundreds and thousands of sharp arrows discharged almost simultaneously. And when the attack came from no less an archer than Karna, it left the Pandava army reeling under a terrible shock (VIII.45.34-36). 5. Ksepaniyastra: too evidently consisted in shooting innumerable arrows, lining the sky with a thick curtain, so much so that birds stopped flying and darkness descended upon the earth (VIII.65.34). II. To this category belong those astras which were a poetic glorification of a warriors skill in using a specific weapon for a specific purpose. 6. Nagastra: We are told that Arjuna tied the feet of the entire Kaurava army with this astra, crippling their movement. The reference is clearly to some kind of a lasso, used with consumate skill and quickness wherein the ropes are refered to allegorically as serpents (nagas) (VIII.37.21-22). 7. Suparnastra: was used to combat the nagastra by Susarma. We are told with genuine credulousness that

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as the nagas gripped at the feet of the Kaurava soldiers, the Eagle Suparna, a natural enemy of the serpents, came swooping down from the sky and started eating them up, his tearing them to pieces with sharp-pointed beak. The nagas panicked and ran away, in fright, thus releasing the 'padabandha' or the foot-knot of the Kaurava army. (VIII.37.25-26). In this poetic episode if the nagas are the ropes of a lasso, then the Suparna descending from the sky is none but the arrow used for cutting these ropes. The skill of Susarma lay in accurately cutting the knot with an arrow, without hurting the person concerned. 8. Vaisnavastra: was hurled by Bhagadatta at Arjuna. It consisted of a sharp-pointed ankusa or an elephant-go ad. The accurate throw was aimed at Arjuna's chest and it would certainly have inflicted a mortal wound, but for Krsna who rushed forwards, sheilding Arjuna behind him and took the astra on his own chest. At his divine touch it changed into a beautiful garland of red lotuses (VII.28.16-20). An elephant-goad is not normally used as a weapon, but Bhagadatta's was a special case. He came from a region Pragjyotisa in modern Assam which was famous for its elephants. He was thus the ablest and the most experienced of the elephant riders in the Epic to whom the use of an ankusa was not only to goad and control the elephant, but if need be, even as a missile weapon to be 525

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526 hurled at the enemy, its hooked point of sturdy iron causing a deep and gashing wound. Of course it needed great skill to fling an ankusa with an accurate aim for basically it was never designed as a missile weapon. Therefore only a Bhagadatta could do it. 10. Sthunakarnastra: The etemology of the word suggests that this particular astra comprised of a sthuna, a stout, heavy wooden post or a metal beam which reached right upto the ears (akarna) of a warrior. Thus it stood almost as high as the warrior himself, anywhere between and 5 6 ft. Balarama destroyed the powerful mace (gada) of Jarasandha with this sthuna (VII.156.10). III. K To this category belong 2 astras which seem to personify the quickness, alertness, stift movement and great speed of a warrior in monoeuvring the chariot and in discharging his weapons. 11. Gandharvastra: was used by Abhimanyu fighting a lone but heroic battle against the Kaurava army. He moved about the battlefield in his chariot with such speed and swiftness, all the while shooting his weapons without a pause, that to his opponents he appeared to be everywhere, as if there were hundreds and thousands of Abhimanyus all over. The poet brings home the point beautifully by comparing the phenomenon to that of an elaborate alatacakra, a fire-brand which when moved round

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11 = 527 and round without a pause, creates the impression that there is a continuous circle of fire when in reality it is the swift movement that deludes the eye (VII.44.21-24). 11. Tvastram astram: Almost the same phenomenon was witnessed when Arjuna fought the Sampsaptakas. The swift movement and great speed of his chariot, manipulated by Krsna, created the impression that there were thousands of different Krsnas and Arjunas. They seem to spring up from nowhere, as a result of which the baffled enemy soldiers mistaking each other for Arjuna and Krsna killed off one another (VII.18.11-13). IV. To this category belong a few astras which seem truly to belong to the realm of poetic fancy. They depict the desire of the Epic poet to turn his human heroes into super-human beings, who like the gods, could tamper even with the processes of Nature by being able to generate at will, any of Nature's powerful elements, fire, water, wind, earth. 12. Agneyastra: or the Fire-missile was the most dreaded and the most destructive of these missiles. It was capable of generating fire (I.125.9) and burning down whoever and whatever came in its way. As noted earlier it had a long tradition of being handed down from teacher to pupil, beginning with Bhardwaj, Agnivesya, Drona and finally

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# 528 Arjuna. It was this power to generate fire which was kept a closely guarded secret by at least 3 generations of Brahmin teachers that has led to the belief in some scholarly circles that the ancient Indians were in as posession of some sort of formulae producing explosives. It is undoubtedly true that fire did seem to have played some role during the Mahabharata war. For example, certain types. of spears like the sakti were used/a fire-carrying and fire -spitting weapons. But this need not entail the use of gun-powder or any other such high-explosive substance. The fire-producing paraphernalia was actually quite elementary and consisted of such things as dry grass, wood cloth, ghee and the juice of the Sarja (Shorea robusta) tree (III.268.4%; V.152.5; VII.24.55). The extent of the damage wrought by them depended on their easy availability and the capacity to stock them on the part of a warring army. That the dreaded Agneyastra was nothing but this crude assemblage of fire-producing devices is all but clear from the two instances where it was actually used. Both the incidents took place outside of the Mahabharata war. In the first instance Arjuna terrorised Citraratha Gandharva by burning down his chariot with this astra. As a preclude to this we are told the story of how the Pandavas tired and thirsty, escaping from the lac-house tragedy, reached the

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= 529 banks of the Ganga, as the night was about to fall, but were prevented from drinking its cool waters by Citraratha Gandharva, who was sporting in the waters with his women. Arjuna was leading the way for his mother and four brothers with an ulmuka or a fire-brand held high to light the way, as well as to guard against any surprise attack. The Pandavas at this stage seem to have been almost without weapons, totally unarmed and vulnarable. Arjuna dodged the arrows of Citraratha with his fire-brand and in retaliation sent the Agneyastra hurling towards his chariot. It is quite obvious that the terrible fire-missile was nothing but an ulmuka which was thrown with great accuracy and agility, easily setting aflame the wooden chariot of the Gandharva (1.158.28). In the second case the astra is nothing but the famous Sudarsanacakra of Krsna. He used it twice and both the times it caused disastrous fires. The entire city of Saubha was reduced to ashes by it (III.23.33) and so also the Khandava forest (I. 216.21-24). As discussed earlier it is quite likely that some easily inflammatory substance most probably cloth dipped in oil etc. - was attached to the spokes before hurling the cakra at the enemy. The skill lay in hurling the mechanism in such a way and with such terific speed, so as to bring a maximum of the surface to be set aflame in its fiery contact, before the fire emanating from it subsided. It probably travelled a full circle before

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530 comming back into the hands of Krsna like a boomarang. This was not something every warrior could do. Hence the unique position of Krsna's Sudarsanacakra as a terrifying fire-missile. 13. Parjanyastra: was used to generate water in a twofold way one, to draw out water from the earth and two, to create clouds and rain from them (I.125.19). Arjuna had to shoot an arrow deep down into the bowels of the earth and water came gushing out to quench the thirst of the dying Bhisma (VI.116.23). This feat, though incredible, is not wholly impossible if the underground resevoire of water was situated immedietely below the surface and the exact spot was known. But it is well neigh impossible to imagine how artificial clouds were created by arrows. 14. Varunastra: too was used to generate water (I.125.19), but it is difficult to see how Bhisma managed to kill the horses of Salva with this water-generating missile (1.96.37). It just proves that the Epic poets themselves had no clear idea of what these missiles were. 15. Vayavyastra : was used to generate wind (I.125.19), stormy wind, which carried away arrows, as well as the very soldiers who shot them, along with horses, chariots and even elephants of the enemy, as if they were a pack of dry leaves (VII.18.22-23).

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531 16. Bhaumastra: was used to go underground by splitting open the earth with arrows (1.125.20). 17. Parvatam astram : also known as Sailastra was used to create monutains, probably huge stone boulders from nowhere (1.125.20). V To this category belong 2-3 astras which seem to involve some use of magic and hypnotism. They are certainly fictions, a product of the poet's imagination and it is very unlikely that any of the Epic heroes were trained in magic or hypnotism. 18. Kauberastra: helped a person to dissapear from the scene of action, whenever he so desired. Hence it is also called 'antardhanam astram' The astra also had power to cause a kind of stupor in the opponent, as if he had gone to sleep, (I.125. 20%; III.42.33). 19. Samohanastra: too performed the same task. How exactly the Kaurava army was lulled to sleep by Arjuna is explained in the Virataparva. While shooting a continuous stream of arrows Arjuna deliberately kept on twanging his bow-string and blowing his conch. The vibrating notes of the string coupled with deep resounding cry of the conch created a peculiar hypnotic effect on the minds of the Kauravas, causing them to keep down their weapons

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11 532 and stand still as if in deep slumber, so much so that Prince Uttara was able to take their expensive and colourful garments off their bodies without any protest (IV.61.8-13). 20. Indrajalastra: The word 'Indrajala' which means 'magic' and 'jugglery' suggests the use of these mediums. But since its actual working in nowhere refered to, it is more likely to be a beautiful piece of imagination (VII.43.21). VI. To this category belong a few astras which derive their names from one or the other god of the Hindu pantheon, but their working is nowhere explained. 21. Paurandarastra : is associated with Purandara or Indra (I.181.20). 22. Aindrastra: So also this astra (V.139.31; VII.132.31). 23. Brahmastra : is associated with Brahma (V.139.31). 24. Yamyam astram : with Yama, the god of death (VII.132.29). 25. Prajapatyam astram with Prajapati, the creator (VII.132.31). 26. Savitram astram : with Savitr, a solar god (VII.132.29).

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533 VII. The Mahabharata describes a few other feats of 'astrayuddha' or missile-warfare, although these astras do not have any special names of their own. Two of these feats relate to a superb display of archery one by Drona and the other by Arjuna. 27. Drona created a rope of arrows, with one arrow lodged in the other to lift up a wooden Vita from a well. This masterly display won him the coveted post of a teacher for the Kuru princes (1.122.16). Arjuna. 28. Another great feat of archery came from With the aid of an astra he was able to split open the earth with his arrows and create a beautiful little lake of clean water right in the midst of the battlefield for his tired and thirsty horses. We have already noted a similar miracle performed by him with the parjanyastra for the sake of the dying Bhisma. At the same time he also created a house, a shelter of arrows (sarvesma), for the horses to rest inside while he continued to fight on foot (VII.74.56-57). 29. Arjuna figures again along with the other princes displaying his great prowess at archery in a specially erected arena. He drew out an astra with the help of which he seemed suddenly to expand and contract in height, to grow very tall one minute and to shrink the next minute (I.125.21).

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534 30. Krsna, another great exponent of astrayuddha' was able to delude Saubha by alternately creating light and darkness, heat and cold. One moment the sun was shining bright, the next moment it was the moon and the stars. This is ofcourse sheer poetic fancy, and so the Epic has no hesitation in dubbing it as 'mayayuddha' (II.21.32-38). It is hoped that the above detailed account will dispel all doubts as regards the true nature of these astras. On one hand, there is a tendency to ignore them while studying the Epic weapons, on the other, to look upon them as lingering memories of some long-lost miraculous powers known to ancient Indians. It would be wrong to ignore them if one desires to get an authentic and a full picture of Epic warfare. At the same time those who credit the Epic heroes with impossible super-human feats would do well to remember that each of these great men wheather he be Drona, Asvatthama, Karna, Arjuna or Krsna, had his own weak moments on the battlefield, and finally succumbed to an inglorious end. The power of the Epic lies in cutting down these godly men to their human size.

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