War in Ancient India c5.s1.2

c5.s1.2

War was inevitable in primitive communities as there was neither a social organization nor a pronounced political status. In the earlier stages of civilisation war was regarded as a normal feature of life. But with the growth of civilisation, war came to be looked upon as a serious business, which should not be entered into recklessly and ruthlessly but should be governed by ethical and moral codes. From the earliest times the warrior was a robber and a pillager, as we see in the *Silappadikāram*. But when society became organised and a warrior caste came into being, it was felt that the members of this caste should be governed by certain humane laws, the observance of which, it was believed, would take them to heaven, while their non-observance would lead them into hell. In the Vedic age we have no evidence to indicate the existence of an accepted code of fighting. Political society was just then emerging from the tribal community. But in the post-Vedic epoch, and especially before the epics were reduced to writing, lawless war had been supplanted, and a code had begun to govern the waging of wars. The ancient law-givers, the reputed authors of the *Dharmasūtras* and the *Dharmaśāstras*, codified the then existing customs and usages for the betterment of mankind. Thus the law books and the epics contain special sections on royal duties and the duties of common warriors. The seers and the legists thought that the high road to peace lay in the consummation of a social order guided by a code of humane laws, moral and ethical in character.