Hindu Administrative Institutions c11.s7.1

c11.s7.1

The term *vyūha* is a significant one from the point of view of Hindu military literature. It simply means the battle-array. The detail as to its arrangement is found scattered in the *Dharmaśāstras*, *Arthaśāstras*, *Purāṇas* and the Epics. Manu, the law-giver, furnishes us with the following categorical list of *vyūhas*: *daṇḍa*, *śakaṭa*, varāha, makara, sūchi, garuḍa, pādma, vajrakāra.¹ Kauṭalya speaks of the four principal varieties: the daṇḍa (staff), bhoga (snake), maṇḍala (circle), and asaṃhata (detached). The arrangement of the force in transverse sections is the daṇḍa-array. That which is in one continuous line each force following the other is the bhoga, in the form of a circle is the maṇḍala, and in detached divisions is the asaṃhata.²