War in Ancient India c5.s5.20

c5.s5.20

The kūṭayuddha was the negation of the laws of war. It permitted the use of deadly and poisoned weapons which would slay thousands of men,¹⁴¹ to the entire satisfaction of birds and beasts of prey.¹⁴² From a hymn¹⁴³ of the *Atharva Veda* we may conclude that poisoned arrows were largely used, and the conqueror was usually afraid of them.