Nitiprakasika (Critical Analysis)
by S. Anusha | 2016 | 34,012 words
This page relates ‘Special and vigorous training (Nitiprakashika VI. 55-8)’ of the study on the Nitiprakasika by Vaisampayana which deals primarily with with Dhanurveda, i.e., the science of war, weapons and military strategies of ancient Indian society. It further contains details on Niti-shastra, i.e., the science of politics and state administration but most verses of the Nitiprakashika deal with the classification and description of different varieties of weapons, based on the four groups of Mukta, Amukta, Muktamukta and Mantramukta.
Special and vigorous training (Nītiprakāśikā VI. 55-8)
In these four verses (VI. 55-8), the author explains how all the four-fold army though expert in one field should also be trained to work in the other three factions, when the need arises. Hence, the soldiers specializing as warriors fighting on chariots should also be trained as horse-riders and the expert horse-riders should also be taught to face the fight riding on a chariot.
Likewise they should also be trained to fight from the top of elephants as well as meet the enemy in the ground standing on his own feet (VI. 55-6):
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Further, the soldiers should be made not only to fight but also to become experts in driving the chariots, elephant-riding, guarding the wheels of the chariot which is very important in the war and such difficult tasks (Nītiprakāśikā VI. 57):
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Finally, the text also dictates that all the soldiers of the four-fold army should know to wield all the thirty-two weapons already enumerated (Nītiprakāśikā VI. 58):
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Tattvavivṛti specifically explains the term: [...] as becoming an expert in handling all the thirty-two weapons mentioned earlier (in chapter II-IV of the text)–
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Army’s superiority in the battlefield is credited to the military strategy, methods of warfare and use of superior weapons. These aspects would bear results only if regular effective training practices and routine drill for the warriors are strictly adhered to. These military exercises and training vigorously practised by the soldiers, which keep them physically fit and agile thus assume importance. These drills seems to have been in vogue even till the 13th and 14th centuries. The warriors practised wrestling, stone throwing using sling, weight-lifting, boxing, using of mace, disc-throwing and fencing.