History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.474.1

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.