Warfare and Military System in Vedic Literature
by Rinki Deka | 2023 | 39,711 words
This page relates ‘Principles of War Ethics’ of the study on Warfare and the Military System of ancient India as gleaned from the Vedic Literature. The purpose of this work is to study the defensive and offensive systems of the Vedic people, including their army divisions, political and administrative systems, use of arms and armours, fortification, ethics and other principles related to warfare; while reflecting the social system and cultural aspects of ancient India.
Principles of War Ethics
In the battlefield, the warrior maintains discipline. The commander-in-chief should pay heed to maintain discipline not merely in camping or marching, but also in the thick of battle. In the battlefield, the king should stand firmly, and not try to turn back, which is stated in the Gautamadharmasūtra—saṅgrāme saṃsthānamanivṛttiśca/[1]
Commenting this Haradatta says—
saṃgrāmo yuddhaṃ tatra saṃsthānaṃ prāṇātyayaḥ/ nivṛttiḥ palāyanaṃ tadabhāvo’nivṛttiḥ/ etau ca rājño’dhikau dharmau//
The Baudhāyanadharmasūtra also states that the king should not turn back in the war.[2] The killing or injuring in the battle is not regarded as a sin for a warrior.[3] But this rule is not applicable for those, who have lost their horses, chariots or arms in the battle, who join their hands in their supplication, who flee with flying hair, who sit down with averted faces, who has climbed on the tree, the messengers and who have declared themselves that they are cows or Brāhmaṇas.[4] If a warrior is killed among them, it is a sin for him.
Haradatta in his commentary says—
The Baudhāyanadharmasūtra also mentions that the king should not fight with those who are in fear, intoxicated, insane or out of their minds, and those who have lost their armour, and also not with women, infants, aged men and Brāhmaṇas.[6] In the Bhīṣmaparvan of the Mahābhārata also it is stated that the warrior should not fight with a foe who was already engaged with another, who has lost their armour, or whose weapons are rendered useless.[7] It also states that chariot drivers and drought animals, men engaged in transport of weapons, drummers and buglers should not be attacked.[8] The Ṛgveda-saṃhitā states that the soldiers who are dying on the battlefield are transported to heaven.[9] A Brāhmaṇa should not take a weapon into his hand, though he is only desirous of examining it.[10]
But in the Gautamadharmasūtra, it is mentioned that if his life is threatened then a Brāhmaṇa may use arms—
prāṇasaṃśaye brāhmaṇo’pi śastramādadīta//[11]
The Vaiśyas and the Śūdras also used the arms if their life is threatened.
Harradatta in his commentary says—
apiśabdātkiṃ punarvaiśyaśūdrau//[12]
The Vasiṣṭhadharmasūtra also states that a Brāhmaṇa or a Vaiśya may take up arms to defend himself and also to protect the mixing of classes.[13] But a Kṣatriya should take up arms all the time because it is incumbent upon him to protect the people.[14] The Agnipurāṇa also lays down that the Śūdras have the right to the art of war and that they also with the mixed castes are expected to contribute to the defence system of the state.[15] Manu also says that the twice-born men may take up arms when their life is threatened.[16] The warrior who disobeyed military regulation were punished to death. In this context, P.C. Chakraborty observes, “A king should in time of war put to death those men who oppose his orders, the soldiers who run away and do not keep their weapons, avaricious generals who fight treacherously, men who do not face the enemy, who fight against each other, who deceitfully tell the enemy the designs of the king, who give way to the enemy and enjoy the king’s misfortune”.[17] The troops should always forsake violence, rivalry, procrastination over state affairs, indifference to the injuries of the king. It is sin for a Kṣatriya, if he dies or of diseases at home, but victory or death in the battlefield is the eternal law of the warrior.[18] The training of war is the essential duty of the Kṣatriya. But a Brāhmaṇa also take the training of war to protect himself or in case of distress of the state. In the Vedic period, every man was given the necessary training about the war skill. The seer prayed to Manyu to teach every people about the art of war.[19]
The drills and exercises for the army seem to have been practised from the early period. Kauṭilya also states that footmen, horses, chariots and elephants were given necessary training in the art of war at sunrise on all days. The king should constantly attend to that and should frequently inspect their arts.[20] He also states that the commander of the army should be trained in the science of all types of fight and the use of weapons, use of chariots, horses, elephants, etc.[21] The army was paid regularly for their work by the king. In the Sabhāparvan of the Mahābhārata, it is stated that the soldiers get their wages and rations at the proper time and any delay hereof amounted to a serious offence.[22]
The king should fight face to face against each other with their enemies. But sometimes more than one king was on one side and only one the other.[23]
Sāyaṇācārya in his commentary says—
yathā rājānaḥ pararāṣṭraṃ vināśayituṃ samaguḥ saṃyanti saṃhatā bhavanti/ ṛṇāni bahūni saṃyanti/ ekasminnṛṇe anapasārite uparyupari ṛṇāni bahūni bhavantīti prasiddhiḥ//[24]
The Ṛgveda-saṃhitā also refers to such a battle, in which king Sudās fought against his ten enemy kings.[25] It may also be considered that there were many leaders of the troops in an army and they hosted the flags in their respective chariots. For instance, the
Atharvaveda-saṃhitā refers to a battle where there were many commandants.[26]
Sāyaṇācārya explains this verse uttiṣṭhata saṃ….etc., as follows—
he udārāḥ audāryaguṇopetāḥ senānāyakāḥ ketubhiḥ ātmīyairdhvajaiḥ saha uttiṣṭhata yuddhārtham udgacchata…//[27]
The warrior should always try to kill the commander-in-chief of the enemy force at first. The Atharvaveda-saṃhitā contains a verse where it is stated that Indra slays each bravest person whom Agni has confused.[28]
Sāyaṇācārya in his commentary says—
teṣāṃ tādṛśānām agnimūḍhānām asmadāhutitṛptena agninā vyāmohaṃ prāpitānāṃ vaḥ yuṣmākaṃ madhye varaṃvaram śreṣṭhaṃśreṣṭhaṃ nāyakaṃ indro devo hantu mārayatu/[29]
At the time of war, the king or the warrior freely mixed with the common people. The king mixed with the commoner to enlist his sympathy and support and tried his best to make a united stand against a common enemy. For the sake of victory in war and cooperation of the people, the king did not hesitate to eat food from the same plate of the people. The Śatapathabrāhmaṇa holds that a chief or noble may eat from the same vessel with the people for the sake of victory.[30] He gave special favours and graces upon those ministers or the warriors who helped him in times of war. In the Aitareyabrāhmaṇa, it is mentioned that Indra, the king of god, conferred special favour to the Maruts, who helped Indra during his fight with Vṛtra.[31] In the battlefield, only equal should fight with each other. The cavalry should fight with cavalry, men with men, heroes with heroes.[32] The Mahābhārata also refers to such rules that the charioteer should fight with the charioteer, the cavalry should fight against cavalry, the infantry against infantry and the elephantry against the elephantry.[33] Kālidāsa also in his work Kumārasambhava mentions that an infantry man should attack an infantry, a charioteer should fight with another charioteer, a horseman should fight with another horseman and an elephantry started fighting with another of his kind.[34] When the warriors stood upon the battlefield then they moved the way like that the enemy could not imagine where they go.[35]
During the time of war, the warrior should keep their wives and children in the king’s house as a place of safety. The Aitareyabrāhmaṇa mentions that once the gods were defeated in the hands of the Asuras and therefore, they convened conferences in small groups. God Agni conferred with eight Vasus, Indra with the eleven Rudras, Varuṇa with the twelve Ādityas and Bṛhaspati with the Viśvedevās. They took a decision that they would keep their beloved wives and children in the house of the king Varuṇa.[36]
Sāyaṇācārya in his commentary says—
asmākamatyantaṃ priyā yāḥ putrakalatrādirūpāstanvaḥ santi, ‘tāḥ’ sarvā asya varuṇasya rājño gṛhe saṃnidadhāmahai bandīrūpeṇa sthāpayāmaḥ//[37]
During the time of war, the defeated king threw away their riches and secret articles in the sea, so that the enemy might not seize those. When the Asuras were vanquished by the gods, then they threw away all their riches in the sea. The gods had to lay hold on that booty after recovering the same from the depths of the sea with the help of a particular metre.[38] The king, who lost his kingdom, was recalled and reinstated by his enemy friends.[39]
Sāyaṇācārya interprets this as—
pratijanāḥ he rājan tvā tvāṃ vayantu sāṃtatyena sevantām/ tathā pratimitrāḥ pratikūlāni mitrāṇi avṛṣata virodhaṃ parityajya saṃbhajantām//[40]
The Aitareyabrāhmaṇa also states that if the king is dethroned from his kingdom and takes his refuge with the newly consecrated king, then the later takes him to the north-eastern direction and thus he recovers his dominions.[41]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Gautama-dharma-sūtra , 2.1.16
[2]:
saṅgrāme na nivarteta // Baudhāyana-dharma-sūtra , 1.10.9
[3]:
na doṣo hiṃsāyāmāhave / Gautama-dharma-sūtra , 2.1.17
[4]:
anyatra vyaśvasārathyāyudhakṛtāñjaliprakīrṇakeśaparāṅmukhopaviṣṭasthalavṛkṣādhirūḍha-dūtagobrāhmaṇavādibhyaḥ // Ibid., 2.1.18
[5]:
Haradatta, Ibid.
[6]:
bhītamattonmattapramattavisannāhastrībālavṛddhabrāhmaṇairna yudhyetā’nyatrā” tatāyinaḥ// Baudhāyana-dharma-sūtra , 1.10.11
[7]:
[8]:
na suteṣu na dhuryyeṣu na ca śastropa nāyiṣu/ na bherīśaṃkhavādeṣu prahartavyaṃ kathañcana// Ibid., 6.1.32
[9]:
ye yudhyante pradhaneṣu śūrāso ye tanūtyajaḥ/ ye vā sahasradakṣiṇāstāścidevāpi gacchatāt// Ṛgveda-saṃhitā , 10.154.3
[11]:
Gautama-dharma-sūtra , 1.7.25
[12]:
Haradatta, Ibid.
[14]:
kṣatriyasya tu tannityameva rakṣaṇādhikārāt// Ibid., 3.25
[15]:
yuddhādhikāraḥ śūdrasya svayaṃ vyāpādi śikṣayā/ deśasthaiḥ śaṅkaraiḥ rājñaḥ kāryyā yuddhe sahāyatā // Agni-purāṇa ,249.8
[16]:
[18]:
[19]:
eko bahūnāmasi manyavīḷito viśaṃviśaṃ yudhaye saṃ śiśādhi/ Ṛgveda-saṃhitā , 10.84.4 Also vide, Atharvaveda-saṃhitā , 4.31.4
[20]:
Arthaśāstra , 5.3.35-36
[21]:
Ibid., 2.33.9
[22]:
[23]:
[25]:
Ṛgveda-saṃhitā , 7.18, 7.83.7,8
[26]:
[27]:
Sāyaṇa, Ibid.
[28]:
mūḍhā amitrāścaratāśīrṣāṇa ivāhayaḥ/ teṣāṃ vo agnimūḍhānāmindro hantu varaṃvaram// Atharvaveda-saṃhitā , 6.67.2
[29]:
Sāyaṇa, Ibid.
[30]:
sa yathā vijayasya kāmāya viśā samāne pātre’śnīyādevaṃ tadyadasmā’etaṃ marudbhiḥ samānaṃ grahamagṛhṇan// Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa , 4.3.3.15
[32]:
arvadbhiragne arvato nṛbhirnṛṛnvīrairvīrānvanuyāmā tvotāḥ /Ṛgveda-saṃhitā , 1.73.9
[33]:
[34]:
[35]:
[36]:
te devā abibhayurasmākaṃ vipremāṇamanvidamasurā ābhaviṣyantīti te vyutkramyāmantrayantāgnirvasubhirudkrāmadindro rudrairvaruṇa ādityairbṛhaspatirviśvairdevaiḥ// te tathā vyutkramyāmantrayanta te’bruvan hanta yā eva na imāḥ priyatamāstanvastā asya varuṇasya rājño gṛhe saṃnidadhāmahai….// Aitareya-brāhmaṇa ,1.4.7
[37]:
Sāyaṇa, Ibid.
[38]:
[39]:
[40]:
Sāyaṇa, Ibid.