War in Ancient India c6.s6.t3.3

c6.s6.t3.3

Though the several hymns in the Ṛg Veda bear eloquent testimony to the existence of image worship, it became highly popular only during the epoch of the Purāṇas. Besides Skanda several other war-gods and goddesses waged wars against demons Asuras and Rākṣasas. In this category come Viṣṇu, Sūrya, Gaṇeśa, Śiva, and several goddesses of whom Durgā is the most prominent. Abbé Dubois¹⁶⁴ speaks of thirty-two gods to each of whom one weapon or another is peculiar. Viṣṇu is popularly addressed as Śankha-cakra-gadā-pāṇi, that is, having Śankha or conch, Cakra or disc, and Gadā or wooden mace in three of his four hands. In another verse the Śārngi and the Nandakī (bow and sword) are also attributed to him. By blowing the conch he strikes terror into the enemy. The Cakra attributed to Viṣṇu is of two different forms, as is seen in the sculptured images.¹⁶⁵ The spokes of one are like the wheels of the ordinary car, while those of the other resemble the petals of a lotus. The Cakra belongs to the category of a missile. According to Vāmanapurāṇa¹⁶⁶ as well as the sculptured figure, the Cakra has lustrous and sharp edges. The gadā is the wooden mace or heavy staff with a tapering top and a stout bottom. The Śāranga or the bow of Viṣṇu has a single bend, three bends, and five bends respectively, showing a perceptible evolution of the form of the weapon.¹⁶⁷ Nandakī is the name of the sword attributed to Viṣṇu. Though the Varāha-purāṇa¹⁶⁸ gives an allegorical interpretation of it (i.e. that the conch stands for the destruction of avidyā or ignorance, the sword for dispelling ignorance, the disc for the circles of time, the club for routing irreligious monarchs), yet the fact remains that such weapons were in common use in this land.