War in Ancient India c5.s2.7

c5.s2.7

Going back to the hoary past, to the period of the *Ṛg Veda Samhitā*, there is no reason to suppose that the Samhitā or post-Śahmitā literature of the Veda contemplated any clear distinction between dharmayuddha and kūṭayuddha. No doubt wars were fought, and there is evidence of the use, sometimes, of fraud in such battles.⁶¹ There was nothing like a definite formulation of the rules of conduct. It was only in the post-Vedic epoch that a code came into being, thanks to the foresight of our ancient sages. Here and there we meet with a stray regulation especially in the literature which goes by the name of the Brāhmaṇas. For example, the Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa says: ‘Kin or no kin, crush the foes: conquer the attacking, conquer by attacking’.⁶² Surely there was some unwritten code or convention followed by the members of society, though the written code was still a thing of the future.