History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.486

v4.c62.486

The Nītiprakāśikā (chapters 2-5) names and describes numerous weapons divided into four classes viz. *mukta* (thrown or discharged such as arrows), *amukta* (not thrown such as swords), *muktāmukta* (thrown and not thrown, such as *astras* which after discharge can be taken back) and *mantramukta* (*astras* which cannot be taken back). The Agnipurāṇa (249-252) and the Viṣṇudharmottara (II 178-182) give a summary of the Dhanurveda (both agreeing almost word for word, but the latter containing more verses than the former) and speak of five kinds of weapons viz. yantramukta (discharged from a machine, a sling, bow &c.), pāṇimukta (thrown with the hand such as a stone or *tomara*), muktāmukta (like a prāsa), amukta (sword) and niyuddha or bāhuyuddha (wrestling). The science of astras was of a supernatural kind. In the epics and purāṇas, the great heroes are said to have learnt *astravidyā* either from a teacher or from their father or by practising austerities and sometimes (as in the case of Kuśa and Lava) certain astras pass to the son by the mere fact of his birth and the wish of his father. Whether the Dhanurveda often referred to in the epics had consigned this science of astras to writing and could have enabled a reader to possess the miraculous powers attributed to astras is more than a modern can say. The Agnipurāṇa (chap. 134-135) contains magical incantations for victory in war and conquest of the worlds. The Paraśurāmapratāpa (Rājavallabhakāṇḍa folios 9-12) contains numerous mantras and yantras and incantations derived from Tantra works like the Brahmayāmala.