War in Ancient India c6.s1.7

c6.s1.7

In the *Mahābhārata* and the *Rāmāyaṇa*, the employment of āgneyāstras is frequently mentioned, and this deserves careful examination in the light of other important terms like ayah, kanapa and tulā-guḍa. Though the commentator Nīlakaṇṭha would easily explain them away as guns, kanapa is perhaps the same as kuṇapa in the Matsya Purāṇa.³⁹ In the Daśakumāra-caritra the term is kanapa, and the reading of the Matsya Purāṇa perhaps may be faulty. The other term, tulā-guḍa which is said to produce a noise like thunder is difficult to explain.⁴⁰ Guḍa is perhaps the same as gula, meaning a ball projected by a lever (tula). In the Matsya Purāṇa ayoguḍa stands for a bullet of iron.⁴¹