War in Ancient India c10.28

c10.28

The above allusions to the use of flying machines are not connected with actual warfare. The aerial wars mentioned in ancient literature belong to the daiva form, as distinguished from the mānuṣa. An example is the encounter between Śumbha and the goddess Durgā. Śumbha was worsted and he fell headlong to the ground. Soon he recovered and flew up again and fought desperately until at last he fell dead on the ground.¹⁴ Again, in the famous battle between the celestials and the Asuras elaborately described in the Harivaṃśa, Māya flung stones, rocks and trees from above, though the main fight took place in the field below.¹⁵ The adoption of such tactics is also mentioned in the war between Arjuna and the Asura Nivātakavaca,¹⁶ and in that between Karṇa and the Rākṣasa¹⁷ in both of which, arrows, javelins, stones and other missiles were freely showered down from the aerial regions. In the Vikramaurvaśīya, we are told that king Purūravas rode in an aerial car to rescue Urvaśī in pursuit of the Dānava who was carrying her away. Similarly in the *Uttararāmacarita* in the fight between Lava and Candraketu (Act VI) a number of aerial cars are mentioned¹⁸ as being employed and it is further said that the flags and chowries with which these cars were bedecked were set fire to and destroyed. News of this reached Rāma who flew immediately in his car Puṣpaka and alighted on the spot. Knowing Lava to be a tried and resolute soldier, Rāma requested him to withhold his missiles, to which he nobly agreed. There is a statement in the *Harṣacarita*¹⁹ of Yavanas acquainted with aerial machines. The Tamil work *Jīvakacintāmani* refers to Jīvaka flying through the air.²⁰