The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India, as Represented by the Sanskrit Epic c2.s5.60

c2.s5.60

The Epic proper has, however, no definite terminology for divisions of the army. The same force has different names. Certain appellations denote a relatively large force; certain others, a relatively small one. Any of the names of the larger divisions may indicate the whole army without distinction. The only formal division recognized is that of the four-fold array; not a quantitative, but a qualitative distribution. ‘The four-fold army,’ everywhere alluded to as such in the early Epic, consists of an army divided according to kind into four groups: of foot-men, horse, chariot, and elephant (the last three