History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.474
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.474
- Language
- English
v4.c62.474.1
In the Bhīṣmaparva (I. 27-32) certain rules of war agreed upon between the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas are set out, such as one should fight only with one similarly equipped (i. e. a footsoldier with a foot-soldier and so on), one should not kill a soldier who is already in combat with another, or who has turned back from fight or is without armour. Āp. Dh. S. II. 5. 10. 12, Gaut. X. 17-18, Yāj. I. 326, Manu VII. 90-93, Śānti 95. 7-14, 96.3, Śānti 98. 48-49, 297. 4, Droṇaparva 143. 8, Karṇa 90. 111-113, Sauptika 5. 11-12, 6. 21-23, Śaṅkha (quoted by the Mit. on Yāj. I. 326), Baud. Dh. S. I. 10. 10-12, Vṛddha-Hārīta VII. 226, Bṛhat-Parāśara X. p. 281, Śukra IV. 7. 354-362, Yuddha-kāṇḍa 18. 27-28 contain rules of war dictated by noble sentiments of humanity and chivalry. Some of these (that will bear comparison with the conventions of the Geneva and Hague Conferences) are set out here. Gaut. (X. 17-18)²⁷⁵ states: 'no sin is committed by injuring or slaying men in battle excepting him who has lost his horse, charioteer or weapons, him who joins his hands (in supplication for life), whose hair are dishevelled (in flying), who turns away from the field, who sits down, who climbs an eminence or a tree (in flight), except envoys or messengers, except him who declares himself to be a cow or a brāhmaṇa'. Vṛddha-Hārīta VII. 216 exempts spectators. Manu (VII.
v4.c62.474.2
90-93) declares "one should not fight with treacherous (or concealed) weapons, or with barbed or poisoned weapons or with weapons the points of which are blazing with fire. Let a fighter not strike one who has climbed on an eminence, nor a eunuch, nor one who joins the palms of his hand (in supplication), nor one with flying hair (in flight), nor one who sits down or says 'I am thine', nor one who is asleep, nor one who has lost armour, nor one who is naked or disarmed, nor one who is merely looking on without taking part in the fight, nor one who is fighting with another foe, nor one whose weapons are broken, nor one who is afflicted with sorrow, nor one seriously wounded, nor one who is in fear, nor one who has turned to flee." Śaṅkha adds that a soldier should not kill another while the latter is drinking water or taking his meals or is taking off his shoes, nor should one kill a woman, a female elephant, nor a charioteer, nor a bard nor a brāhmaṇa nor should one who is not a king (or noble) kill one who is a king. Baud. Dh. S. I. 10. 10 forbids the use of poisoned or barbed arrows (*karṇin*). Śānti 95. 11 also does the same. Śānti (95. 13-14) enjoins that even an enemy soldier, when wounded, should be treated with medicine and allowed to go when his wounds are healed.²⁷⁶ Śānti adds that a soldier should not kill boys or old men nor from behind nor one who holds a blade of grass in his mouth (as a mark of submission).
v4.c62.474.3
These rules, though probably ideal and not strictly followed in every case, are far more humane as compared with the practice in modern warfare when non-combatants are killed from the air even at night without warning. In ancient times non-combatants went generally unmolested, to which Megasthenes bears testimony when he says (Frag. I. p. 32) 'Tillers of the soil even when battle is raging in the neighbourhood are undisturbed by any sense of danger, for the combatants allow those engaged in husbandry to remain quite unmolested.' Manu VII. 32 allows a king to harass his enemy's country, but Medhātithi on VII. 32 asks the invader to save his enemy's people if possible (particularly brāhmaṇas). The rule in *gadāyuddha* (fight with maces or clubs) was that no blow was to be struck below the navel (Śalyaparva 60. 6). But this rule was violated by Bhīma when he struck Duryodhana on the thigh with his mace. Duryodhana recounts (in Śalya 61) all the bad deeds of Kṛṣṇa and the Pāṇḍavas and the only reply that Kṛṣṇa makes is that he too was guilty of numerous breaches of morality and the chivalrous rules of war (such as the slaying of Abhimanyu by many engaging him at one time). The general rule was that fighting ceased when the sun went down (Bhiṣma 49. 52-53). But in Droṇaparva 154 and 163. 16 ff. we have a description of night battles and it is provided that chariots, elephants and horses should carry lamps.