Warfare and Military System in Vedic Literature
by Rinki Deka | 2023 | 39,711 words
This page relates ‘Winning the Battle and the Principles thereof’ 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.
Winning the Battle and the Principles thereof
After winning the battle, the conqueror announces to the enemy that heaven and earth are propitious to him and he is free from rivals from all directions.[1] The main object of warfare is to establish the peace in a country. Therefore, after winning the battle, the warriors went to their spheres and they had no hegemony over the enemy’s country.[2]
In the Vedic period, great battles were fought and thousands were done to death[3] or sometimes drowned in the rivers.[4] In the battlefield, the dead bodies were collected and thrown into pits. When the foes had fallen, they were collected and laid in the pit of death pierced and mangled.[5] Wilson also has observed that wherever the enemies have congregated they have been slain and utterly destroyed, they sleep in a deep pit.[6] The word vailasthānaṃ in the relevant verse of the Ṛgveda-saṃhitā (1.133.1) refers to śmaśāna or burning ground.
Sāyanācarya interprets this word as—
vailasthānaṃ/ bilaśabdo gartasamānārthaḥ/ sa ca gartaḥ śmaśānavacanaḥ/ ataḥ ayamapi śmaśānavācī/ athavā bilasaṃbandhisthānaṃ nāgalokaḥ/ tatra vā aśeran/ yadvā/ vila kṣepe iti dhātuḥ/ tatra śavāḥ kṣipyante iti vailasthānaṃ śmaśānam//[7]
But in the battlefield, it was not possible to burn down all the dead bodies. They were simply cast into deep pits and burial.
Sāyaṇācārya in the same context (1.133.1) states—
tatra tvayā hatāḥ bhūmim śaṃśānavatkṛtvā sarvatra śerate/ tān dahāmītyarthaḥ//[8]
In one of the Ṛgvedic verses, Indra is prayed to beat off the aggressive host’s strength, cast them within the deep and narrow pit.[9] In the Atharvaveda-saṃhitā, it is mentioned that the battlefield, strewn with the dead bodies of the fallen warriors, was a place of feast of vultures, beasts and ghosts.[10]
Thus, it can be stated that the laws of war came to be formulated and strictly followed in the Vedic period. The warriors had to follow certain principles while launching any campaign of conquest. During the Vedic period, the Āryan people knew both dharmayuddha and kūṭayuddha. The warrior maintained discipline and stood firmly in the battle until death. The king divided the booty among the warriors according to their positions. They followed some rules and regulations and war code to defeat the enemy and gained victory in the battlefield. They carried war flag on a pole while marching to the battle and held high when the battle began and continued. They started their marching at proper seasons also.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
idamucchreyovasānamāgāṃ śive me dyāvāpṛthivī abhūtām/ asapatnāḥ pradiśo me bhavantu na vai tvā dviṣmo abhayaṃ no astu// Atharvaveda-saṃhitā , 19.14.1
[2]:
[3]:
adhvaryavo yaḥ śatamā sahasraṃ bhūmyā upasthe’vapajjaghanvān/ kutsasyāyoratithigvasya vīrānnyāvṛṇagbharatā somamasmai//Ṛgveda-saṃhitā , 2.14.7 Also vide, Ibid., 4.16.13, 4.30.21
[4]:
Ibid., 7.18.12,19
[5]:
[6]:
Vide, H.H. Wilson., Ṛgvedasaṃhitā, Vol. II, p. 26
[8]:
Sāyaṇa, Ibid.
[9]:
avāsāṃ maghavañjahi śardho yātumatīnām/ vailasthānake armake mahāvailasthe armake// Ṛgveda-saṃhitā , 1.133.3