History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.474.2

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).