War in Ancient India c9.s4.3

c9.s4.3

In dealing with the conduct of war from the point of view of tactics, the range and the effect of different weapons are important. In tactics, however, we are concerned with arms in a finished state and not with their construction.⁷⁴ At the outset it must be remarked that Indian literature is replete with a number of mystical weapons, which seem to have been used by superhuman heroes and which legitimately belong to the Daiva and Asura forms of combat.⁷⁵ They were chiefly fought with charms and spells. The Atharva Veda Samhitā is full of these. The object was to confuse the enemy and steal a march over him.⁷⁶ It is not to our purpose to mention these, as we are dealing with the mānuṣa form of battle, far from the realm of mythology.