ARYAN
KINGS AND COUNTRIES IN KURUKSHETRA WAR
History
of Mahabharat :
Both
Ramayan and Mahabharat are mentioned as Ithihas (translated as history
but more precisely means creative rendering of historical narratives)
and not as Puran (generally interpreted as mythology, but more correctly
referring to creative narratives of events older than the narrator).
Ved Vyas traditionally considered to have written the Puran and
Mahabharat. He clearly distinguishes the two by calling the latter
an Itihas, which in Sanskrit means history [ithi – it; has
– happened so].
The
word ‘Itihas’ is a conjunct that can be broken down
as
iti+ha+s meaning thus+verily+it was / so+indeed+it was/ this is
how it was then
Itihas
thus refers to history and is also a very accurate word. Other words
often listed as synonyms for itihaasa are also used in other contexts.
Examples – caritra can be used in other contexts (eg. character)
and Vrutant usually reporting one incident. However, there is no
other meaning for itihas. It is used only in one context, that of
history. On the other hand, Puran, although understood as mythology,
actually refers to ‘an event of the past, an ancient legend
or old traditional history’. Every Puran would speak high
of the personality central to the theme whereas itihas has no such
compulsions. It would speak of things as they were.
Ramayan
and Mahabharat :
In
Ramayan, ayan means journey. Examples: dakshi yan – Southern
journey; uttara yan – Northern journey; Ramayan – Rams
journey. The word ayan also implies some kind of returning path,
as Ram goes and returns. These are a form of conjunct words where
the first word is a genitive form, so Ramayan actually translates
to Ramasya ayanah.
Mahabharat
refers to ‘narration relating to Bharat’, ‘great
history/legend of the descendants of Bharat’ and ‘great
tale of Bharat dynasty’. Mahabharat composed by Ved Vyas was
originally called Jaya (mentioned in the first verse).
Narayanam
namaskritya - Having bowed to Narayan
Naram
chaiva narottamam - Arjun–naram and krishna–narottam
Devim
sarasvatim caiva - and to Devi Sarasvati
Tato
jayam udirayet - Utter the word jaya / recite the text called jaya
It
is narrated by Ved Vyas's disciple sage Vaisampayan to King Janamejay,
the great-grandson of Arjun. The story is then recited again by
the professional storyteller Ugrasrav to an assemblage of sages
in the forest of Naimisharanyam. All these are mentioned in the
Mahabharat. Parallel sources such as the Brahman texts also give
list of kings mentioned in Mahabharat. Notwithstanding the general
understanding and interpretation, Ramayan and Mahabharat are traditionally
considered historical texts.
Composer
of Mahabharat :
The
name of Ved Vyas, the composer of Mahabharat, is Badarayan (the
one from Badari). He comes in the lineage of Brahma, Sage Vasisht,
Sage Shakti and Sage Parashar. He was the great-grandson of Sage
Vasisht (he therefore was also called Vasisht, i.e. belonging to
the family of Sage Vasisht), grandson of Sage Shakti and son of
Sage Parashar. He was also called Dwaipayana since he was born in
a Dweep (island). He was referred as Krishna Dwaipayana because
of his dark skin (Krishna means black). He is, however, generally
known as Vyas because of his monumental work in organizing the Vedas,
which till then existed as one, into four parts. Vyas, in Sanskrit
literally means to arrange, to compile. Encyclopedia Britannica
mentions of Vyas as having lived near the banks of river Saraswati.
Mahabharat
:
Mahabharat
has 18 parts, 98 chapters, 2352 divisions and 96,635 shloks. It
is said that Vyas originally wrote 60,00,000, i.e. 60 lakhs shloks.
What has come down to us is about 1 lakh shloks only. Vyas taught
Mahabharat to Suka, his son and some of his disciples, one of whom
was Vaisampayan. When Janamejay (great grandson of Arjun) conducted
a yajna, Vaisampayan narrated the Mahabharat as told by Vyas. Ugrasrav
(son of Romaharshan, a disciple of Vyas) known as Sut (referring
to a professional storyteller) was also present at that time. He
went to ‘Naimisharanya’ where there was a gathering
of rishis (one of them was Saunak) and there he told them the epic.
It is mentioned that this is the place where Mahabharat was first
told in public and the version that has come down to us.
Details
of Kurukshetra war :
Army
strength and its divisions :
Ved
Vyas gives extensive details of the army. Eighteen Akshouhinis took
part in the war, 11 on the side of the Kauravs and 7 on the side
of Pandavs. Table 1 outlines the makeup of one Akshouhini.
An
Akshauhini is defined as a battle formation consisting of 21,870
chariots (Sanskrit ratha); 21,870 elephants; 65,610 cavalry and
109,350 infantry as per the Mahabharata (Adi Parva 2.15-23).
The
Rishis said, 'We have a desire to know, O son of Suta, what is implied
by the term Akshauhini that hath been used by thee. Tell us in full
what is the number of horse and foot, chariots and elephants, which
compose an Akshauhini for thou art fully informed.'"
Sauti
said, 'One chariot, one elephant, five foot-soldiers, and three
horses form one Patti; three pattis make one Sena-mukha; three sena-mukhas
are called a Gulma; three gulmas, a Gana; three ganas, a Vahini;
three vahinis together are called a Pritana; three pritanas form
a Chamu; three chamus, one Anikini; and an anikini taken ten times
forms, as it is styled by those who know, an Akshauhini. O ye best
of Brahmanas, arithmeticians have calculated that the number of
chariots in an Akshauhini is twenty-one thousand eight hundred and
seventy.
Calculations
:
1
chariot, 1 elephant, five foot-soldiers, and three horses = 1 patti
3
Pattis = 1 Sena-Mukha (3 chariots, 3 elephants, 15 infantry, 9 horses)
3
Sena-Mukhas = 1 Gulma (9 chariots, 9 elephants, 45 infantry, 27
horses)
3
Gulmas = 1 Gana (27 chariots, 27 elephants, 135 infantry, 81 horses)
3
Ganas = 1 Vahini (81 chariots, 81 elephants, 405 infantry, 243 horses)
3
Vahinis = 1 Pritana (243 chariots, 243 elephants, 1215 infantry,
729 horses)
3
Pritanas = 1 Chamu (729 chariots, 729 elephants, 3645 infantry,
2187 horses)
3
Chamus = 1 Anikini (2187 chariots, 2187 elephants, 10935 infantry,
6561 horses)
10
Anikini = 1 Akshauhini (21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 109,350
infantry, 65,610 horses)
Adi
Parva (MBH 2.15-23)
Military
details :
From
Pandav Side :
7
Aksauhini Details of Pandav Army Udyoga Parv (MBh 5.151)
From
Kaurav Side :
11
Aksauhini Details of Kaurava Army Bhishm Parv (MBH 6.19)
Total
18 Akshauhini which consists of :
109,350
* 18 = 1,968,300 Infantry Soldiers
65,610
* 18 = 1,180,980 Cavalry Soldiers
21,870
* 2 * 18 = 787,320 Chariots (one driver one warrior)
21,870
* 2 * 18 = 787,320 Elephants (one driver one warrior)
Total
= 4,723,920
Loss
of Life in the Battle :
Vaishampayan
said, "Hearing these words of Vasudev that were disagreeable
to her, Gandhari, with heart exceedingly agitated by grief, remained
silent. The royal sage Dhritarashtra, however, restraining the grief
that arises from folly, enquired of Yudhishthir the just, saying,
‘If, O son of Pandu, thou knowest it, tell me the number of
those that have fallen in this battle, as also of those that have
escaped with life!’
"Yudhishthir
answered, ‘One billion 660 million and 20,000 men have fallen
in this battle. Of the heroes that have escaped, the number is 240,165.’
Yudhishtira's
figure :
1,660,020,000
Martyrs
240,165
Alive
Total
= 1,660,260,165 participation
Importance
of the number 18 in Bharat Varsh :
The
importance of number 18 in Bharat Varsh has been pointed out by
many. The recurrence of number 18 in Mahabharat is also very interesting.
Vyas wrote 18 Puran. Mahabharat is divided in 18 Parvs (parts).
The Gita has 18 chapters. The Kurukshetra war lasted for 18 days.
The
war in Ramayan continued for 18 months and the war between the Devs
and Asurs took 18 years. Bhishma teaches Yudhishthir 18 different
Raj Needhi (dharma) and so on.
Interestingly,
the number of Akshouhinis (army unit) that took part in the Kurukshetra
war was also 18.
Even
in the composition of one Akshouhini, number 18 seems to play a
role. For example, it is interesting that individual addition of
the numbers in each unit adds upto 18 :
21,870
chariots/elephants (2+1+8+7+0=18)
65,610
horses (6+5+6+1=18)
1,09,350
cavalry men (1+0+9+3+5+0=18)
If
all these numbers are added (i.e. make up of one Akshouhini) , i.e.
21870 + 21870 + 65610 + 109350, the resultant number 2,18,700 also
displays the same feature, i.e. addition of the individual numbers
(2+1+8+7+0+0=18) results in 18.
Warrior
competence :
Rathi
– Fights with one charioteer at a time
Atirathi
– Fights against many soldiers at the same time
(eg
– Krup, Dhurmug, Vivimsathi, Uttamauj and Uttra)
Maharathi
– Fights against 10,000 charioteers at the same time
(eg
– Dhron, Kripacharya, Bowrav, the five sons of Draupadi, Virat)