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War in Ancient India c15: Appendix III: War Music

War in Ancient India c15

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Appendix III: War Music

c15.2

War musical instruments are mentioned from the Ṛg Veda Saṃhitā onwards. It proves that music was a feature of ancient Indian warfare. There were musical instruments which were intended for use only on sacrificial and festive occasions. There were others which were used in both war and peace like *dundubhi*. There were still others which were used only for war purposes. We are concerned here with the second and third categories. *Dundubhi* was a kettle-drum. It was also the earth drum, made by digging a hole in the ground and covering it with a hide.¹ It was employed in religious rites and ceremonies. We meet with the expression *bhūmi dundubhi* in the Saṃhitās² and the Brāhmaṇas.³ From this one has to infer that *dundubhi* might be of different kinds. And *bhūmi dundubhi* was a later invention of the Aryan peoples.

c15.3

¹ *R.V.* I, 28.5; *A.V.* V. 20.1.

c15.4

² *Taitt.*, S. VII, 5.9.3.

c15.5

³ *Pañcaviṃśa Br.* V. 5.19.

c15.6

In the Ṛg Veda Saṃhitā we meet again with another instrument Bakura with its variations as we conjecture Bakura and Bekura. In the passage in which it occurs⁴ it was possibly an instrument for war purposes. It is said that in the course of an expedition against the Dasyus, the Aśvins blew this musical instrument to help their army against their enemies. From the circumstances in which this is mentioned one has to take it that this Bakura was solely employed for war purposes.

c15.7

⁴ I. 117.21.

c15.8

If we pass on to the Epic period we find different varieties of musical instruments. E. W. Hopkins who has made some study of these instruments⁵ seems to think that *bherī* may not be cymbals. *Bherī* is certainly a special sort of drum. There was also a *mahābherī*. The old *dundubhi* was there and it was often accompanied by the *bherī*. The *bherī* was sounded by beating, and the beating of the *bherī* was a call to arms.⁶ Other varieties of the drum mentioned in the epic are *paṇava*, *krakaca*, *ānaka* (beaten at one end), *mahānaka*, *Peśī* (*kāhalā*), *puṣkara* and *paṭaha*. There is a doubt whether *krakaca* said to be *jayamangala* by the commentator can come under the category of drums.⁷

c15.9

⁵ *JAOS*, XIII, pp. 318 ff. 6 *Mhb.* 11.62: VI. 17.16: *Rāma.* VI. 34.27. 7 *Ibid.*, VII. 39.31; VI. 51.23; 99.17-19; 43.7-8; *Gītā*, I. 13.

c15.10

The same holds true of *goviṣāṇikas*, probably horn instruments. In addition to the drums and their deafening noise in the battle-field, we find a large use of shells (*Śankha*) which served apparently as trumpeting instruments. Among the *śankhas* there were different kinds. As every warrior was distinguished by his own respective flag, he had his own conch which he blew as a war cry at the commencement of the battle, during the actual operations and after a decisive victory. The names of conches used are interesting⁸—

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| Kṛṣṇa | Pāñcajanya |
| Yudhiṣṭhira | Anantavijaya |
| Bhīma | Pauṇḍra |
| Arjuna | Devadatta |

c15.12

Nakula Sughoṣa Sahadeva Maṇipuṣpaka

c15.13

There were besides, the blowing of horn (goviṣāṇika), goṇuka and turya which may represent the trumpets of war. In Bk. IV, ch. 4 of the Arthaśāstra, Kauṭalya’s reference to turya or trumpets along with flags has been already pointed out. Drums and trumpets largely figure as we go on in the march of history. The use of conch-shells becomes rarer until its use was once for all restricted to temple services and other rites and ceremonies.

c15.14

Even among the war instruments relating to music in the epic period we find a distinction between the music in the field and music in the camp. In the camp the melodies are softened and the warriors are ‘greeted by the milder notes of the lyre.’⁹ This incidentally shows the advance made by epic peoples and their keen artistic sense. The primitive and simple musical style has been replaced by the mature and civilised style. The soldiers enjoyed good and sweet music after the hard and harsh music of the battlefield. Mṛdaṅga and paṇava were more for the use of the camp than for the field.¹⁰ Nanda and upanandakas, special kinds of mṛdaṅga were played upon by mechanical contrivance so as to produce a joyous note.¹¹

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⁹ Hopkins: op. cit., p. 321. 10 Mhb. VI. 99.18: VII. 39.31. 11 Mhb. VII. 23.86. 12 Śilap. p.

c15.16

Tamil literature contains many references to war musical instruments. Some of them are koḍumparai, muraśu, pāṇḍil, neḍuvayir, and mayirkkaṇ muraśu. Muraśu is said to be of three kinds of which there was the vīra muraśu, used in war and victory.¹² There is a description of vīra muraśu in Puram 50. Mayirkkaṇ muraśu is the drum covered over with the hairy skin of the dead bull which had vanquished a tiger when attacked. This was beaten when head offerings were made by warriors at the altar of the bhūta.¹³ In the battle by Senguttuvan with the northern kings it is said that the muraśu thundered along with leather koḍumparai, mayirkkaṇ muraśu, neḍuvayir and pāṇḍil. The last is perhaps cymbals.14 All these made a hell of noise so as to enthuse warriors to fight with redoubled vigour and energy. A similar idea is afforded by a stanza in Villiputtūrār Mahābhāratam.

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¹¹⁸ Puram 58.

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¹³ Śilap. V. 76-88: see also Maduraikkāñji, ll. 732-3. 14 Ibid., XXVI. ll. 193-196. 15 392. l. 5.

c15.19

முரசு கரடிகை கிணைதுடி பெருமர முருடு படுறை
முதலைய கருவிக
ளரச வரிவளை கொடுவயி றெழுமுழ வொலிக
ளசக்கண் முதலைய கருவிக
ளுரைசெய் கருவிகண் முழுவது மெழினகை யிலக
முடிவற விகலிறு நிவிலெழு
கரைசெய் கடலென வெழினெலி யெவமிசை கருவி
புருமெய் கனமென வதிரவெ-கன்ன பருவம், 24.

c15.20

Here the instruments mentioned are muraśu, karaḍikai, kiṇai, tuḍi, perumaram, muruḍu, paṭuparai. Kiṇai seems to be beaten on one side only in the light of a line in Puranāṉūru.15 Karaḍikai is perhaps Sanskrit Krakaca. Paṭuparai and Koḍumparai may mean the same thing. Neḍuvayir is a long horn instrument. Vālvalai and varivalai are varieties of the conch. The instruments like Muruḍu and lute must be more for the camp than for the field.

c15.21

1. One practice among the primitive Tamil tribes was the worship on the eve of an expedition of the War Goddess who was known as Korravai. This goddess is propitiated with sacrificial offerings, often accompanied by dance and song. In the *Śilappadikāram*, the tribe Eiynar whose profession was cattle-lifting invoked the aid of Korravai for the success of their expedition to the neighbouring village or town, and took a vow to offer sacrifices at the successful termination of their expedition. It was their belief that this goddess marched in front of their army leading them stage by stage to ultimate victory.¹ The way in which she is invoked is interesting.

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¹ *Śilap.* canto XII. 2 See Dikshitar, *The Lalita Cult*, p. 62.

c15.23

அடிக்கழுத்தி னொஞ்சிரத்தை அரிவ ராலோ
அறிந்த சிரம் அணங்கின்கைக் கொடுப்ப ராலோ
கொடுத்த சிரம் கொற்றவையைப் பரவு மாலோ
குறையுடலுங் கும்பிட்டு நிற்கு மாலோ.

c15.24

Kalingattupparaṇi, 97. Cp. *Śila.* V. ll. 76-88. The Korravai was the counterpart of the Sanskrit Durgā whose help was sought by special prayers by Arjuna, the Pāṇḍava, on the eve of the Great Battle with the Kurus.²

c15.25

It was similarly believed that a prayer to Durgā meant undoubted and even unlimited victory to one's arms. It is striking to note that Iḷango-Aḍigaḷ does not refer to Śeṅguṭṭuvan’s prayer to Koṟṟavai when he set out to the North against its kings. On the other hand it is stated that the blessings came from the local Śiva and Viṣṇu temples which he solemnly accepted. Does this show that the worship of Koṟṟavai was confined to primitive tribes and not to a civilised community to which Śeṅguṭṭuvan belonged? Perhaps it does.

c15.26

2. The consultation of auguries is another feature of the wars in ancient India. Auguries consisted of śakunam and nimittam.³ In this connection a sūtra of the Tolkāppiyam is very significant.⁴ We have a series of nimittams here. The first is nāḷ nimittam or the choice of a particular day auspicious for starting on an expedition.⁵ The astrologer was an important official of the state whom the king often consulted. Secondly from right to left, or from left to right, seeing certain birds, hearing the voice of others were sure indications of the success or otherwise of the undertaking. References to this omen are extensively met with both in early and later Tamil literature.⁶ Among the birds, Kāri (sans. Bharadvāja) is referred to in the Cintāmaṇi in connection with the cattle-lifting.⁷ A third nimittam was viricciyoṟṟal (sans. upaśruti). This is a statement made by a third person unconcerned with the actual decision to be taken. In common usage it is called in Tamil land வாய்ச்சொல்⁸ Then we have what is called orikkural or the howling of a beast, particularly a jackal. It may be also kaḷutukural or the howl of a devil. The fifth was the fall of headless body or bodies in the orbit of the sun (veñcuṭar maṇṭilam). The sixth was the sight of a hole in that maṇṭilam. The seventh was the appearance of the moon in the day-light. The last three are rare phenomena cognizable by the senses only. Kālidāsa⁹ refers to adverse winds on the march of an army. The auspicious day was also fixed by the place occupied at a particular time by the planets.⁹ᵃ The following lines of the Kalingattuparani throw interesting light on this subject of omens.

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³ Purapporul, sts. 13 and 22.

c15.28

⁴ Purattinaiyil, 36.

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⁵ See for instance Śilap. V. ll. 91-92.

c15.30

⁶ See e.g. Puram 20.

c15.31

⁷ St. 420.

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⁸ See also Mullaippāṭṭu, ll.

c15.33

மதக்கரி மருப்பிற மதம்புலரு மாலோ
மடப்பிடி மருப்பெழ மதம்பொழியு மாலோ
கதிர்சுடர் விளக்கொளி கறுத்தெரியு மாலோ
காலமுகில் செங்குருதி காலவரு மாலோ. 209
வார்முர சிருந்தவறி தேயதிரு மாலோ
வந்திரவில் இந்திரவில் வானிலிடு மாலோ
ஊர்மணையில் ஊமமெழ ஓரியழு மாலோ
ஓமவெரி யீமவெரி போலெரியு மாலோ. 210
பூவியலு மாலைகள் புலால்சுமமு மாலோ
பொன்செய்மணி மாலையொளி போயொழியு மாலோ
ஓவிய மெலாமுடல் வியர்ப்பவரு மாலோ
ஊறுபுனல் செங்குருதி நாறவரு மாலோ. 224

c15.34

3. Virakkal. The great warrior who stood to the last and won the laurel of victory did not go unrecognised. To perpetuate his memory it was the

c15.35

तस्य जातु मरुतः प्रतीपा वत्संसु ध्वजतरुप्रमाथिनः ।
चिक्रिशुर्भशतया वरूथिनीमुत्तता इव नदीरयाः स्थलीं ॥ XI. 58
लक्ष्यते स्म तदनन्तरं रविः बद्धभीमपरिवेषमण्डलः ।
वैनतेयशमितस्य भोगिनः भोगवेष्टित इव च्युतो मणिः ॥ Ibid. 59

c15.36

9a Puram 229.

c15.37

Tamil custom to instal a stone called vīrakkal with an inscription containing his name and heroic deeds. Sometimes the hero stone became an object of veneration by the public. The Kural-veṇba has it:

c15.38

என்னேமுன் நில்லன்மின் தெவ்விர் பலரென்னை
முன்னின்று கல்நின் றவர் (படைச்செருக்கு—1)

c15.39

The vīrakkal is mentioned largely in epigraphy and is found throughout the districts of Anantapur, Cuddapah, Nilgiris, Coorg, etc.¹⁰ From the earliest extant Tamil literature, Tolkāppiyam, it appears there was a regular ceremonial attending the planting of the hero stone. Any stone and every stone was not to be used. Only stones appropriate for the occasion were selected. Then an auspicious hour was fixed to carve out an image and also the inscription thereon. The next stage was to get the stone bathed in sacred waters, being a purificatory ceremony. Then came the pleasant function of planting it at the suitable place already fixed. The last was to celebrate it as a deity, sometimes enclosing it in a building.

c15.40

¹⁰ *Aham.* 347, 11. 3-5: 127.

c15.41

4. *Kāvanmaram*: It was a custom with ancient Tamil monarchs to rear a tree at the outskirts of their dominions, and to guard it with great care and zeal. The idea was that if the invading enemy would first attack this Kāvanmaram, and if this were felled down, the owner of the tree felt it a public shame as it amounted to vanquishing him.¹¹ The enemy king removed the tree to his kingdom and put it to different uses, one of which was to make out of the cut trunk a war drum.¹² The Kāvanmaram was a symbol of sovereignty. It is said that Imayavaramban Neḍuñceralātan felled the Kadamba tree in an island which he captured. The idea of this Kāvanmaram may be traced back perhaps to the Pillar cult which may have been a part of the ancient Dravidian worship. As in ancient Crete the Tamils of South India attached value to the cult of the Pillar. It may be that the kings of the Tamil land attached religious significance to this Kāvanmaram, and hedged it with divinity.

c15.42

¹¹ *Puram*, 23, 36, 57.

c15.43

¹² தாள்பூந் கடம்பின் கடியடை முழுமுதல் துமிய (பதிற். 11) கடம்பறுத் தியற்றிய வலம்படு வியன்பணை (பதிற். 17) கடம்பறுத் தியற்றிய பண்ணமை முரசு (அகம். 347)

c15.44

5. Another peculiarity of the Tamils was to erect images of women with balls in their hands at the entrance gates of the king's palace:

c15.45

செருப்புகன் றெடுத்த சேணுயர் நெடுங்கொடி
வரிப்புனை பண்கொடு பாவை தூங்கப்
பொருநர்த் தேய்த்த போரரு வாயில் (திருமுருகு. 67--69)

c15.46

The idea was to treat the enemy kings as members of the weaker sex. The conquering king felt that he was superior to all the princes. If the latter had the courage to attack him they had to cut off the cords with which the image was fastened, and this amounted to a declaration of war. It was one method to discard and despise the enemy as such.

c15.47

6. If the men of the Tamil land were heroes, their women were heroines. There are interesting passages in the *Puranānūru* where poetesses have sung in praise of the heroism of Tamil women, mothers who had given birth to heroic sons. Okkūrmāsāttiyār, a poetess, praises a certain lady who gave birth to only one son and who sent him to the field of battle when there was the country's call for it. Born in a family of heroes, this lady dresses the hair of her only son (it may be noted here that the wearing of tuft was an ancient Tamil practice) and gives him the armour to get ready for action in the field of battle. She encourages him by saying that both his father and grandfather gave up their lives heroically in battle, and it was but proper that he a young fellow should follow the example of his dear and near forbears.13

c15.48

This may be contrasted with another verse where a heroic mother heard the disquieting news that her son lost his courage in action and had fled in fear. If it were true, she expressed that she should cut off her breasts that had fed him with milk. With this determination she entered the battle-field with a sword in her hand and went on searching for her fallen son. When she saw her son’s body cut in twain, she felt much more happy than when she gave birth to him.

c15.49

மீனுண் கொக்கின் றூவி யன்ன
வானரைக் கூந்தன் முதியோள் சிறுவன்
களிறெறிந்து பட்டன னென்னும் முகவை
யீன்ற ஞான்றினும் பெரிதே கண்ணீர்
நோன்கழை துயல்வரு நிழலது
வான்பெயத் தூக்கிய சினவேல் பவிவே

c15.50

Puram 277.

c15.51

When a certain mother heard that her son threw his spear over the enemy's elephant but could not take it back, and so unarmed, he had to retreat from the field, she got distressed and despised her bowels which yielded that son. She felt that her son had let down the honour of her family.

c15.52

வாதுவல் வயிறே வாதுவல் வயிறே
நோவ லத்தை நின்னை றன்னே
பொருந்தா மன்னர் அருஞ்சாம முருக்கி
அக்களத் தொழிரல் செல்லாய் மிக்க

c15.53

13 Puram, 279.

c15.54

புகர்முகக் குஞ்சர மெறிந்த எஃகம் அதன்முகத் தொழிய நீபோந் தனையே. *Tol. Porul.* 24. *Comm.*

c15.55

Equally interesting is the stanza of the poetess Ponmuḍiyār who sets out the duties of parents, son and king.

c15.56

ஈன்று புறந்தருதல் என்றலைக் கடனே சான்றோ னாக்குதல் தந்தைக்குக் கடனே வேல்வடித்துக் கொடுத்தல் கொல்லற்குக் கடனே நன்னடை நல்கல் வேந்தற்குக் கடனே ஒளிறுவாள் அருஞ்சம முருக்கிக் களிறெறிந்து பெயர்தல் காளைக்குக் கடனே. *Puram* 312.

c15.57

Sometimes heroic wives who heard of their husbands' death in the field were unwilling to survive them. They went to the scene of action in search of the dead bodies of their husbands. When they found them out they embraced them and sought voluntary death by entering the funeral pyre.¹⁴

c15.58

¹⁴ See for details the article on *Virāttāymar* in M. Raghava Aiyangar's *ārāiccittogudi*, pp. 167-177.

c15.59

7. There are other curiosities which marked ancient Tamil warfare. One was the heroic impulse which animated the wounded soldier. Normally we would expect him to get treated and nursed. But the Tamil soldier who fell in battle badly wounded, refused to undergo any treatment for his wounds. He preferred to make his wound more and more ulcerous and thereby he invoked death. He did not like the idea of living after having been beaten to death in the battle. This is explained in the Purattinaiyiyal of the Tolkāppiyam and goes by the name of Marakkāñci being one of the ten sub-divisions of Anparkāñci of the Kāñcitturai.

c15.60

8. Puram consists of seven tiṇais or themes, and of these veṭci, vañci, uliñjai, tumbai and vāhai are related to war efforts on the part of the ancient Tamils. Later on the tiṇais became twelve. It is veṭci when a chieftain sends out his troops to seize the cattle of the neighbouring chief and to distribute the prize among the villagers and others. Here it was usual for the conquering chief to wear veṭci garland. This is the explanation of the theme given by Tolkāppiyanar. Recovering the cattle from the enemy is said to be Karandai where, as a consequence of the success, the Karandai flower was worn. It is really curious that the Tamils attached significance to the different flowers representing various stages of an expedition. In fact the whole of the Purapporul veṇbāmālai of the 7th century A.D. deals with these various themes in detail, though by this age the mode of wars in general in South India had been considerably changed. At the best the Purapporul Veṇbāmālai can be said to record the old tradition rather than the contemporary usage.

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