History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.514
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.514
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pp. 94-95.) speak of four sandhis, *maitra*, *parasparopakāra* (agreement to help each other), *sambandhaja* (by offer of a princess in marriage) and *upahāra*. An interesting example of a sandhi is furnished by the Lekhapañcāśikā which gives a form of treaty dated Monday, Full Moon of Vaiśākha in *saṁvat* 1288 (1232 A. D.) between Yādava king Siṅghaṇa of Devagiri who is styled *mahārājādhirāja* and Lāvaṇyaprasāda (Lavaṇaprasāda) a Vāghela king who is styled *rāṇaka* and *mahāmaṇḍaleśvara*, whereby the high contracting parties agreed not to invade each other's possessions, to combine and oppose anyone else who invaded one of them. Vide Bom. G. Vol. I part 1 p. 200 based on Bhandarkar's Report on the search for Mss. 1882-83 pp. 38-40. Kām. IX. 23-26 and Agnipurāṇa 240. 10-13 mention twenty kinds of persons with whom *sandhi* should not be made, Kām. (IX. 27-41) states the reasons why it should be so and in IX. 42-52 seven persons are enumerated with whom he recommends *sandhi* and gives reasons. A king should make sandhi even with one equal in strength (not only with one who is more powerful), since victory in battle is doubtful (Kām. IX. 59).³⁰³ Kaut. uses a striking simile when he says that if one king comes in conflict with an equal they both will be destroyed in the same way as two unbaked earthen pots striking against one another.
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If a more powerful king rejects the proposal of a weaker king for sandhi, the latter should take up the attitude of offering his army or follow the course prescribed in book XII (*ā balīyasam*). In VII. 12 when dealing with agreements between kings, about undertakings to build forts or irrigational works or forests &c. Kaut. makes very interesting remarks about land routes being superior to water routes and about the route to the Deccan and the south being more profitable than the one leading to the Himālayas.³⁰⁴ Kām. X. 15 (== Agni 240. 19) says that *vaira* (hostile attitude) is of five kinds viz. that of step-brothers, that due to land (seizure of or encroachment on lands or houses), due to woman (carrying away one's wife or loving the same woman), due to words (cutting speech) and due to wrongs. Kām. X. 2-5 ( = Agni. 240. 20-24) enlarges upon the 16 ways in which *vigraha* (hostility) springs, such as seizing the kingdom, wife, districts, vehicles (horses, elephants) and wealth of another, pride, harassment of subjects &c. When a king feels that his own army is well-nourished and pleased, that his subjects are prosperous and contented and that the army and subjects of another are the opposite of this, then he may adopt a hostile attitude and when he feels sure that he will secure one of the three fruits of hostility (viz. land, ally and wealth—Kām. X. 26-28). Kauṭ. VII.
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15 deals with the attitude and conduct of a conquered king who has offered to the conqueror his army (*daṇḍopanata-vṛtta*), while VII. 16 speaks of the conduct of the *daṇḍopanāyī* (an aspiring king who wants to make by means of his army another king submit to him). *Yāna* means marching for invasion on the part of a *vijigīṣu* whose army and prowess are of the highest and whose subjects are contented on account of his good qualities (Kām. XI. 1). The Matsya 240. 2 and the Agnipurāṇa (228. 1-2) add that when the enemy in the rear is overwhelmed by an *ākranda*, then the vijigīṣu should start on an invasion or when the enemy is plunged in calamities. But before actually invading the enemy who is *yātavya* (chosen for attack) an ambassador (*dūta*) should be sent (Kām. XII. 1) to see whether the enemy will submit without fighting. That is, there was to be no war without negotiations and an ultimatum. In the Mahābhārata (Udyoga 83. 5-7) it is said that Kṛṣṇa started as an envoy from the Pāṇḍavas to the Kauravas at the end of *śarad* (autumn) on the Revatī nakṣatra in the month of Kārtika (verse 7, *Kaumude māsi revatyām śaradante himāgame*). In the Purāṇas and the medieval digests elaborate rules are laid down about the religious and propitiatory ceremonies before starting on an invasion. The Viṣṇudharmottara II. 176 and Agnipurāṇa 236.
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1-18 require that for seven days before starting on an invasion the king is to engage in the worship of and make offerings to various gods, first to Gaṇapati, then to all the guardians of the quarters, the planets, Aśvins, Viṣṇu and Śiva and the images in the temples of his capital. Then he is to note what good and bad dreams he sees on those days in his sleep and judge accordingly. Vide Matsya 242, Agnipurāṇa 229 for dreams portending good and evil. This prognostication of good fortune from dreams is very ancient. The Chāndogya Up. (V. 2. 8-9) quotes a verse to the effect that when a man is engaged in the performance of solemn sacrifices for securing some object and sees a woman in a dream he should feel that his rite will be crowned with reward. Similarly the Ait.³⁰⁵ Ār. III. 2. 4 mentions the signs of approaching death, one of which is to see in a dream a dark person with black teeth. Both these passages are quoted by Śaṅkara in his bhāṣya on Vedāntasūtra II. 1. 14. The Viṣṇudharmottara II. 132-144 (based on Garga), II. 164, Matsya 228-241, Agni 230-232 are concerned with the portents and omens in the heavens, in the sky and on the earth and rites (śāntis) meant to avert the evil prognostications from them. The Mānasollāsa II. 13 pp. 97-112 and Rājanītiprakāśa pp. 331-351 also deal with these and other astrological matters, which are passed over here, though some of them are very interesting e. g. Viṣṇudharmottara II. 135. 1 refers to the weeping and dancing of images.
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On the 6th day from the time the rites begin which is the day previous to the starting of the invasion the king undergoes a ceremonial bath for victory called *jayābhiṣeka*. This is described at great length in the Rājanītiprakāśa pp. 351-395 quoting extensive passages from the Liṅgapurāṇa. The ceremony of *Jayasnāna* resembles the coronation ceremony in many respects. The Matsyapurāṇa 243. 15-16 and the Viṣṇudharmottara II. 163. 18-31 contain the same long list (with very slight variations) of articles, persons and animals the sight of which is auspicious when the king starts on an invasion and Matsya (243. 2-14) contains another long list of inauspicious sights. A few of the auspicious ones are white flowers, jars full of water, cows, horses, elephants, fire in flames, a courtesan, dūrvā grass, gold, silver, copper, all gems, sword, umbrella, banner, corpse not accompanied by crying persons, fruits, the *svastika* sign. Among the inauspicious things and sights are dark grains, cotton, dried cowdung, fuel, jaggery, tonsured or naked man or man with dishevelled hair or wearing reddish robes, a lunatic, a cāṇḍāla, a pregnant woman, broken pot, chaff, ashes, bones. The Mānasollāsa II. 13 verses 811-823 (pp. 102-103), Nītimayūkha pp. 58-59 also give long lists of inauspicious and auspicious sights or events. Matsya 243. 27 and Viṣṇudharmottara II. 163.
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32 are both careful to add that all evil signs are counterbalanced by the confident (or joyous) frame of the mind, which is the highest sign of victory.³⁰⁶ Gaut.