The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India, as Represented by the Sanskrit Epic c2.s5.92

c2.s5.92

* In the account of Rāma’s war, compare iii. 285. 6, 7, (rāvaṇaḥ) yuddhaçāstravidhānajña uçanā iva cā ’paraḥ, vyūhya cāu ’çanasam vyūhaṃ harin abhyavahārayat; rāghavas tu viniryāntaṃ vyūḍhānikam dāçānanam, bārhaspatyaṃ vidhiṃ kṛtvā pratyavyūhan niçācaram. As to Vālmīki’s own account of military arrays, owing to the nature of the war we obtain very little information in regard to the vyūhas. The first arrangement appears to have been a mass drawn up in order (R. vi. 16. 2, reading vyūhya), and we find the garuḍa mentioned before this (ib. 6. 11; padma is a cognomen of Rāma, 3. 19); but the war is mainly a siege, and the battle-arrangements amount to nothing. The military proverb preserved in (phalgu sāinyasya yat kiṃcin madhye vyūhasya tad bhavet) ‘put the weakest force in the middle of the general array’ shows us the technical sense of phalgu as distinguished from the sāra or picked troops, as the term is employed in describing the forces in the Mahābhārata (see below). The technical meaning is of course current. Compare R. vi. 31. 33 (vyūhena ghoreṇa); ib. 39. 28, tvayā devāḥ prati-vyūḍhāḥ . . yudhi; ib. 71. 16, balavyūhena mahatā pālitah. It may be parenthetically remarked that a number of impossible and inexplicable ‘orders’ are alluded to in the Epic, under the titles ‘mortal,’ ‘godly,’ ‘angelic,’ and so forth, usually called (e. g. vi. 21. 4) ‘impregnable,’ and usually without reason (45. 4). They are not used definitely, nor explained, but are current on the lists of possible orders (e. g. v. 57. 11; 165. 10 ff.; vi. 19. 2, 18 ff.); and the officers are expected to know them. They are probably merely the ordinary orders in relation to their origin; thus, the common order called ‘thunderbolt’ is called ‘the unshakable,’ and was invented by the Holder of Thunderbolts. This then would be a ‘godly’ order (vi. 19. 7), acalaṃ nāma vajrākhyam, the usual boast; cf. ib. 34, vajro nāma . . vyūho nirbhayaḥ sarvatomukhaḥ; 21. 2, abhedya; 4, akṣobhya masked against this. The irresistible force was always meeting the immovable body on the Hindu battle-ground.