War in Ancient India c4.s6.t3.8

c4.s6.t3.8

escaped the fatal axe of Paraśurāma enjoyed the enviable status of Mahāratha. Thus by high-flown exploits did the ancient heroes win honourable titles, of whose deeds the epics and the Purāṇas are full.¹⁷ Some of the champions again go by the name of Atiratha¹⁸ and Apratiratha. In the later mediaeval works, like *Hariharacaturanga*, towards the close of Book vii, it is said that in a battle where a thousand śūras were slain the Kabandha engaged itself in a tāṇḍava or devil dance. But the author of the *Hariharacaturanga* would go further and state that in a war where one śūra killed a thousand śūras like him, the Kabandha danced in glee. This devil dance in a war is not a later idea introduced into the military literature of the Hindus. That it was a very ancient concept is seen from the description of the battle on the Ganges between Senguṭṭuvan and northern kings in the *Śilappadikāram* where Śūra Senguṭṭuvan slew hundreds of śūras of Northern India; the Kabandha (Tamil—Kavandam) felt overjoyed at this, and to the accompaniment of music by the daughter of the Devil, danced what is called the Peykkuravai.¹⁹