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War in Ancient India c6.s3: Section IV: The Amukta Weapons

War in Ancient India c6.s3

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Section IV: The Amukta Weapons

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We may now study the Amukta group of weapons, which are of twenty kinds according to Vaiśampāyana. Here also we shall try to follow the list.

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The first was the Vajra or the thunderbolt. In the Tīrthayātra portion of the *Mahābhārata*⁶² a mythological origin is given to this weapon. It was made out of the backbone of the Ṛṣi Dadhīci which was freely given by him to Indra. Originally perhaps it had six sides and made a terrible noise when hurled. There seem to have been different varieties in the use of this weapon. In the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*⁶³ the thunderbolt that Indra hurled against Vṛtra is described as having 1,000 spikes and 100 edges. The sacrificial post in the *Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa*⁶⁴ is referred to as a thunderbolt. Its breadth and length were fifty and a hundred miles respectively. It had sharp points and a good handle. Four movements are attributed to it. Sometimes the ends of this weapon were whirled round in such a way as to hold a bhindipāla in the middle. The Paṭṭiśa,⁶⁵ another weapon of war, is sometimes put to the uses of a Vajra.

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⁶² Vana Parva. 99.

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⁶³ I. 2.4.

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⁶⁴ X. 1.

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⁶⁵ Agni Purāṇa, 252. v. 16.

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The Iṣu is translated as a hand sword by Dr. Oppert, but may be an arrow or a reed-like weapon. Halāyudha identifies it with Kāśāstra.⁶⁶ It had a bent front, and the whole measured two cubits in length. Four movements were associated with it. Perhaps Atikāya, the Rākṣasa, used it in his engagement with Lakṣmaṇa.

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⁶⁶ Raghu., 12.23; Niti. V. 7-8.

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The Paraśu⁶⁷ is the battle-axe attributed to Paraśurāma, of great fame. Its blade was made of steel and it had a wooden handle. Another variety of it was a mighty staff holding the head of an ace at its end. Three kinds are distinguished.⁶⁸ It was used for cutting and rending. The Semitic origin assigned to this weapon of war cannot be taken as correct, for there is nothing in the Ṛg Vedic religion that has not an Aryan source.⁶⁹ The six ways of manipulating it to one's own advantage are raising aloft in a formidable manner, making it descend slowly or quickly, raising it rapidly, making it fixed, and making as if one had nothing in one's hand. The commentator on the Kauṭalīya says it is a scimitar and semi-circular and twenty-four inches long.

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⁶⁷ Ibid., V. 9-10. 68 Auśanasa Dhanurveda quoted in Lakṣaṇa Prakāśa, pp. 310-11. 69 Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, p. 88; Agni Purāṇa, 252. v. 13. 70 Niti, V. 11-14.

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The Gośiras⁷⁰ is probably a spear resembling the shape of a cow-horn two feet in length. The lower portion is made of wood, and the upper of iron. Its action is five-fold. Tradition represents that Indra presented this weapon to Manu, the first king of the world.

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The Asidhenu⁷¹ is a small dagger one cubit in length. It has three edges and is used in close fighting. Its handle is slender and small. Perhaps it is the same as the Asyaṣṭi of Kauṭalya.

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The Lavitra⁷² is a sickle, an instrument used in mowing and reaping. It has a crooked shape, sharp at the end. It has a comparatively big handle. Both hands are used in hurling it.

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⁷² Ibid., 18-19.

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The Astra⁷³ is associated with the boomerang, and has a long head at the top and a knot at the foot, with the middle bent. Whirling, drawing, and rending are its three movements. In the Madras Museum three boomerangs—two of ivory and one of wood—are exhibited. Dr. Oppert had drawn attention to these, and said that they were not of Australian origin but native to the soil and especially to South India, where the boomerang is known as vaḷaitaḍi or bent stick.

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⁷³ Ibid., 20-21.

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The Kunta⁷⁴ is a lance and also a kind of barbed dart, six to ten cubits long. It can be manipulated in six ways. It is of iron and has six edges. Śukra speaks of ten hastas as its measurement, having the end of a ploughshare capable of opposing another dart. It is mentioned in the Ṛg Veda. According to Kautalya's commentator who seems to follow the Auśanasa Dhanurveda,⁷⁵ it is a wooden rod 5 to 7 hastas in length. It is of three kinds, the best, the middling, and the inferior, measuring 7, 6 and 5 hastas respectively. The Rājavijaya, however, mentions a tool of 11 hastas and 9 hastas.⁷⁶

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⁷⁴ Nīti., 22-23; Śukra, IV, 7, 215; Ganapati Sastri, 252 (Vol. I).

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⁷⁵ Quoted in Lakṣaṇa Prakāśa, pp. 316 ff.

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⁷⁶ Quoted in Lakṣaṇa Prakāśa, p. 318.

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The Sthūṇa⁷⁷ was a pillar-like instrument and has the height of a man with several knots at the top. Dr. Oppert speaks of it as an anvil.

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⁷⁷ Nīti., V. 24.

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The Prāsa⁷⁸ measured four hastas and had a sharp face. Vaiśampāyana speaks of it as made of bamboo with a metallic head. It was handled in four ways. Its length was seven cubits. It figures also in the Ṛg Veda. Kauṭalya’s commentator speaks of it as 24 inches long with two handles.

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⁷⁸ Śukra, 4, 7, 214; Nīti., V. 25-26.

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The Pināka⁷⁹ is the Śūla of Śiva, usually translated as a trident. It had three prongs made of iron and the front is of brass. It measured four cubits. Śukrācārya speaks of it as triśiras measuring three hastas. Its uses are striking, thrusting, rending, cutting to pieces, breaking, and severing.

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⁷⁹ Nīti., 27-29; Śukra, 4, 7, 215; Agni Purāṇa, 252. v. 9.

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The Gadā⁸⁰ is a heavy rod of iron with one hundred spikes at the top. Three kinds are distinguished according to the Auśanasa Dhanurveda.⁸¹ One of four cubits was able to destroy elephants and rocks. It could be handled in twenty different ways. By means of gunpowder it could be used as a projectile weapon of war. Its principal use was to strike the enemy either from a raised place or from both sides and strike terror into the enemy especially of the Gomutra array. Various ways of handling it with skill were bending, stooping low, springing forward, retreating, ready to fly upon, and so doing as to generate fear. Kauṭalya includes it in his list of movable machines.

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⁸⁰ Nīti., V, 29-34; Śukra, 4, 7, 212; Agni Purāṇa, 252. v. 12.

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⁸¹ Quoted in Lakṣaṇa Prakāśa, p. 315.

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The Mudgara⁸² was a staff in the shape of a hammer three cubits in length, and with a strong circular handle. The *Amarakośa* mentions it with the *Durghaṇa* mentioned above. It was used to break heavy stones and rocks. Śaṅkarācārya compares *moha* or magical delusion to a Mudagara in a short poem entitled *Mohamudgara*. It is sometimes used in the sense of a club to break down clods of earth. This is again a movable machine according to Kauṭalya.

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⁸² Nīti., V. 35-36; Raghu., 12-73; Kauṭalya (Tr.), 101.

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The *Sira*⁸³ is translated as a ploughshare by Dr. Oppert. It was bucket-like instrument curved on both sides and with a wide opening made of iron. It was as long as a man's height.

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⁸³ *Ibid.*, V. 37.

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The *Musala*⁸⁴ is a weapon of Balarāma. It was a pestle-like club, both ends well knit together. It was a pointed rod made of *khadira*. It belongs to the category of *Śūla* or trident. In the Rāma-Rāvaṇa yuddha, the Rākṣasas used Musalas of iron embellished with gold.

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⁸⁴ *Ibid.*, 38.

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The *Paṭṭiśa*⁸⁵ is a kind of spear with a keen edge made of copper or iron. Dr. Oppert translates it as a battle-axe. This does not seem to be correct, because the same weapon is mentioned in the previous list. There was a hand-guard in the handle. It had two keen blades of iron and measured the height of a man. Mention is also made of it both in the *Śukranīti* and the *Agni Purāṇa*. Kauṭalya speaks of it as a razor-like weapon.

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⁸⁵ *Ibid.*, 39; *Śukra*, 4, 7, 212; *Agni Purāṇa*, 252. 16.

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The *Mauṣṭika*⁸⁶ or fist-sword, may be a sharp knife perhaps used in boxing encounters. It had a strong handle and was capable of making all sorts of movements. It had a sharp end in the shape of a navel and was radiant as the moon.

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⁸⁶ *Nīti*, V. 40-44; 40-44; *Śukra*, 4, 7, 213.

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The Parigha⁸⁷ was a wooden beam used for locking or shutting a gate, and was a battering ram. According to Vaiśampāyana it was made of wood and circular in shape. It was so heavy that a whole army of soldiers would be required to handle it.

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⁸⁷ Raghu., 16.84; Niti., V. 45.

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The Mayūkhi,⁸⁸ or a staff with a hilt, had the height of a man and was furnished with small bells. A shield was also provided for it.

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⁸⁸ Niti., 46-47.

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The Śataghni,⁸⁹ literally means that which had the power of killing a hundred at a time. It looked like a Gadā and is said to be four cubits in length. It had a strong handle, and also possessed a number of iron spikes in it. It is generally identified with the modern cannon and hence was a projectile weapon of war. Mallinātha quotes from Keśava in his commentary on the word occurring in the verse 95 of Chapter 12 of the Raghuvamśa:

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⁸⁹ Ibid., 48-49; Raghu., 12. 95; Ar. Śās., (Trn.) 101.

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śataghni tu catustāla lohakaṇṭaka samcitā yaṣṭiḥ!
iti Keśavaḥ.

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It was generally placed on the walls of a fort and is included among the movable machines by Kauṭalya. These and other weapons are frequently mentioned as employed actually in the wars of the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata. Thus both the mukta and amukta weapons are 32 in number, all made according to tradition from the bones of the sage Dadhīci as explained in the Mahā- bhārata. They were made out of the bones of his body except the backbone, of which was formed the Vajra. But in the Amukta category an important weapon of war, the Asi or the sword,⁹⁰ is not included. Its omission is due, not to the lack of knowledge, for Vaiśampāyana has practically devoted a whole chapter to its description, but to the fact that it has been referred to elaborately enough in a previous chapter. Vaiśampāyana thought it unnecessary to repeat it here. Or it may be that it was such a useful celestial weapon that it had to be treated separately and not along with the ordinary weapons that are given in the list. The Asi⁹¹ is also known in Sanskrit literature by different other names—Nistrimśa, Viśamana, Khaḍga, Tīkṣṇadhāra, Durāsada, Śrīgarbha, Vijaya, and Dharmamūla, meaning respectively cruel, fearful, powerful, fiery, unassailable, affording wealth, giving victory, and the source of maintaining dharma. And these are generally the characteristics of a sword. It was commonly worn on the left side and was associated with thirty-two different movements. It measured fifty thumbs in length and four inches in width.

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⁹⁰ Niti., III.

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⁹¹ For the practical uses of the weapon see Lakṣaṇa Prakāśa, p. 293.

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It is of particular interest to read the legendary origin of the sword. Nakula, the best swordsman of his day, asked Bhīṣma on his death-bed how it came into being. The following is the substance of what Bhīṣma said in reply.⁹² Brahmā created all creatures and also the Vedas. But the Asuras never paid heed to these and often had recourse to evil ways. The people could no more bear their misdeeds and prayed to Brahmā for help. Then he made a great sacrifice. Out came from the sacrificial fire an ugly creature at which the whole world trembled. It soon changed into a sword lustrous and sharp-edged. It was given to Rudra who single-handed cut and pierced a mighty host of the Asuras. After this Rudra gave this weapon to Viṣṇu, who in his turn presented it to Marīci, from whom it successively came into the hands of Vasava, the Lokapālas, Manu, his son Ikṣvāku, and Purūruvas. Then it changed several hands such as Nahuṣa, Yayāti, Bharata, Raghu, Bharadvāja, Droṇa, Kṛpa, and from this last to the Pāṇḍavas. It had for its star the Kṛttikā Nakṣatra. Its presiding deity was Agni, the god of fire. It belonged to the Rohiṇī community and its first preceptor was Rudra himself. Hence all soldiers were to worship this weapon of weapons.

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⁹² Śānti and Āpad Parva. 166. Compare this account with that given in the Viṣṇudharmottara.

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The Purāṇic literature knows of different varieties of swords.⁹³ Those which were manufactured in Khaṭi and Khaṭṭara were famous for their lustre, those of Kaiśika for power in felling, of Sūrpāraka for durability, and of Vanga and Anga for sharpness. The best swords were those which measured fifty fingers in length. The rest were inferior. The inferior ones must not be used. The test of a good sword was that it must not only be sufficiently long but when used in any way must produce a ring sound. The sword that had an end like the edge of a lotus was an auspicious one. The sword was generally worn on the left side hanging from the belt, the scabbard being held in the left hand. The use of it consisted in rending, cutting, lopping, and striking the enemy. The *Śukranīti* speaks of it as four *hastas* in measurement and of keen edges. A sword was valuable for the acquisition of wealth, kingdom, fame and the destruction of the enemy. A sword was to be made of iron and was of the colour of the cuckoo's neck. Its blade should be like the petal of a lotus. It should be deep inside, bulging in the middle, with keen edges and with no blot of any kind; natural symbols were also said to be visible on it from which its value could be determined. So whenever kings used it they should get it previously examined as to its qualities.⁹⁴

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⁹³ Agni Purāṇa, 245. 22-27. The Lakṣaṇa Prakāśa gives extracts on this subject from two works, Lohārṇava and Khaḍgakośa, pp. 295-97.

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⁹⁴ *Agni Purāṇa*, 251. 7.8; and 252 Ref.; *Śukra*, 4-7-214.

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There is a different kind of measurement given in the texts. The best sword measured fifty inches, a middling one forty inches, and the least good thirty-six inches.⁹⁵ Those which were cracked, basket-like, and of broken edges, perforated, devoid of handle, and crooked were not fit for practical use. Those in which the Linga, Garuḍa, swan, and other auspicious and artistic images could be seen were good. They were usually made of Pandrara iron found in the Jāngala country, black iron in the Anūpa, white iron in the Śataharaṇa, gold-coloured iron in the Kalinga, oily iron in the Kambhoja, blue-coloured iron in Gujarat, grey-coloured in the Mahārāṣṭra, and reddish white in the Karṇāṭaka.⁹⁶ More details are seen in the same taranga. According to Kauṭalya again, Nistrimśa, Madantagara, and Asiyaṣṭi are swords and their handles were made of horn, tusk, or wood. It is interesting to examine in this light the several swords of Arjuna, such as the long sword with the bee mark, a big sword finished with good blade and a sheath of tiger skin, one with a golden hilt cased in cow-skin, a gold sword manufactured by the Niṣādhas and cased in goat-skin, an iron sword with gold points, all without any stain or knot in them.⁹⁷

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⁹⁵ The sword of fifty inches is named, according to *Devipurāṇa*, Triśikha (see *Lakṣaṇa Prakāśa*, p. 299). See also Varāhasamhita for more details; *Ibid.*, pp. 299 ff; *Loharatnākara*, *ibid.*, pp. 305 ff.

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⁹⁶ *Śārngadhara*, 4621, 26, 38, 44, 52-60 and 4689. *Śiva T. R.* 5—9th sarga.

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⁹⁷ Mhb., Virāṭ Parva, 42. 21.

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